by Camilla Nichols, Senior Director of Montessori Development
and Tori Inkley, Executive Director
During the week of February 25 – March 2, 2024, several hundred students at The Montessori Children’s Academy (MCA), along with Montessori students from around the world, will celebrate Montessori Education Week! Montessori Education Week is an annual event that is celebrated around the world in honor of Dr. Maria Montessori and the legacy that she left behind. In 2007, the year Maria Montessori would have turned 100 years old, some of our MCA students celebrated with a cake that had 100 golden icing dots, representing the Golden Unit Beads from the Golden Bead Material. Students work with this actual material in the Math area when they are introduced to the Decimal System. In past years, parents and students have written about their most memorable Montessori experiences, which MCA has displayed in the hallways of our school. [A few are included at the end of this blog post.] And one year, our Elementary students even created a replica of the Montessori Pink Tower using the school’s 3D printer. Other highlights from past Montessori Education Weeks have included proclamations and/or visits by the Mayor of Morristown and the Deputy Mayor of Millburn, and one year, MCA was even recognized by the New Jersey Governor for the valuable role Montessori schools play in providing education to young people.
This year, one of the ways the children at the three MCA campuses (Chatham, Florham Park, and Short Hills) will commemorate this special week is by demonstrating Montessori Practical Life exercises to parents and visitors during school drop-off and pick-up. The children will also sing Montessori songs, study Italy, review the timeline of Dr. Maria Montessori’s life and work, and practice the Silence Game while thinking of peaceful things, much like Dr. Montessori did. Also, during the 2024 Montessori Education Week, current parents are invited to spend time observing their children working in the classrooms and noticing the pride they exhibit while demonstrating their growing independence in the Prepared Montessori Environment. This year, the grand finale of our Montessori Education Week celebration will be a pizza party, with pizza being supplied for all staff and students by Nonna’s Italian Restaurant in Florham Park.
In addition to the special “in-house” activities, each year, MCA students create artwork or other items that represent some of their favorite Montessori materials or work. These beautiful pieces are showcased in displays titled, “I Am a Montessori Child, and I Can Change the World” at the public libraries in Chatham, Florham Park, Livingston, and Millburn. During this week, posters and banners with decorate the local areas around and inside our schools, so that children, parents, and our local communities will observe that “Maria Montessori is all over town!”
Lastly, for the first time in our 25 year history, MCA has established an international relationship with a Montessori school in Malmö, Sweden. Our students are learning that children all around the world use the same types of Montessori materials as they do right here in their classrooms in New Jersey. During Montessori Education Week, the students in Sweden will sing “Light a Candle for Peace”, along with our MCA students, and students from both countries have been engaged in an “exchange program”. Across our three campuses, our students created items representing the United States that have now been shared with their Swedish counterparts, and the students from Sweden created items representing their country that are being shared with MCA students during this special week. MCA is thrilled with our newly established, international collaboration and is excited to offer our students the opportunity to gain a global awareness and broaden their horizons at such a young age.
The Montessori Children’s Academy is proud to be making a positive difference within our immediate communities, within our state, and around the world. We are grateful to everyone involved in celebrating this special week with us. No doubt we will all have memories that will last forever.
Some “Most Memorable Montessori Experiences” from MCA Alumni Parents:
“Our three-year-old son suddenly took control of his Daddy’s birthday celebration. Placing his flashlight on the floor and a world globe in his Father’s hands, he then proceeded to walk his Dad around the light singing, “The Earth goes around the Sun, the Earth goes around the Sun and daddy turns one… and so on, until through our tears of joy (having never seen the Birthday Walk before), we had to suggest he might not want to go all the way to thirty-something! We plan to adopt the Birthday Walk for all our family birthdays from now on. Thank you, Montessori! Every day is truly a memorable Montessori experience for him and for our family.”
“For a recent playdate, our friends brought a giant-sized bag of baby carrots to share. While the other kids ran off to play, Erin immediately asked to do some “cutting work” with the carrots. She carefully sliced about twenty carrots, and then she only ate from the bowl of carrots she cut herself.”
“Eddie remarked recently, “Mommy, I like learning in my class, it’s so peaceful there.” I answered, “Do you know what Peaceful means?” He replied, “Yes. It’s when we use our inside voice.”
“My most memorable Montessori experience with my daughter Alexandra was when I saw her interacting with my friend’s 1 ½-year-old daughter. Alexandra (5 years old) was gently and patiently explaining to the younger child how to open and close a container, as the girl listened intently. She was able to teach this new skill to the younger girl with patience and kindness, the same way that older students at MCA have taught her to do things.”
