Category Archives: Montessori Philosophy

Pennies for Peace 2015-2016

By: Camilla Nichols-Uhler, Hannah Ferris, and Alex Chiu

Since September, MCA students have been raising funds for Pennies for Peace, a “service learning program that brings cultural and philanthropic education to students and educators all over the world”. Each campus recently totaled its pennies, with the help of our math-savvy students, and now plans to send the contributions on to assist children at schools throughout Asia. Read on to learn how many pennies our MCA students counted, resulting in a significant contribution to this very worthy cause!

Program Overview

Pennies for Peace is part of the educational component of the Central Asia Institute (CAI). CAI is an international development organization that works with communities to improve access to education in Asia. The CAI believes that education can alleviate poverty and reduce conflict.

Pennies for Peace is a fundraising program designed specifically for children, and its philosophy of “students helping students” is relatable even to preschoolers. MCA students, whose capacities for compassion find their foundation in the Montessori Philosophy, have taken ownership of this yearlong project. The children collected pennies from home and then brainstormed additional ways to engage the community to help them with their fundraising efforts.

Through their classroom Cultural studies, the children have learned a great deal about the state of education in certain areas of Asia. And perhaps of more significance, they have also come to understand the importance of sharing some of what they have with others who are less fortunate. When the MCA students discovered that just a few pennies could buy school supplies like notebooks and pencils for children in these far-away communities, they realized that many pennies could do even more. They wondered if they could work toward collecting enough pennies to build an entire school.

Connecting Curriculum with a Cause

The Pennies for Peace program ties in nicely with the Montessori Culture and Science curriculum. Over the course of the year, MCA students have learned a lot about life in the more educationally deprived areas of Asia. For example:

In many communities, the need for children to work on family farms often prevents them from going to school;
Often the physical terrain is very difficult to travel, and many children cannot get to schools in larger villages because roads through the Himalaya Mountain Range are dangerous;
Cultures place an emphasis on boys’ education at the expense of girls’ education. In some areas, only 12% of girls can read.
The culture in countries is very different from that in the United States: many families move from place to place based on the seasons to farm, they celebrate different holidays, and they eat different types of food.

In addition, participation in Pennies for Peace relates to the Montessori Peace curriculum, which aims to teach children how people working together peacefully can make the world a better place for everyone. The Pennies for Peace program also taught the MCA students about organizing their efforts for a good cause. They learned the process of brainstorming ideas, developing a plan for collections, and then putting that plan into action. All of these efforts resulted in building their understanding that working together towards a common goal is hard work, but that it reaps wonderful results and is well worth it!

MCA Students and Families Take Initiative

At first, the children came to school with handfuls pennies that they found around their homes. The sound of the pennies clinking as they were dropped into the collection jars was music to the children’s ears. As the number of pennies in the jar grew, so did the enthusiasm and creativity of our students, leading some of our students and families to go beyond dropping their pocket change in the classroom penny jars. We are extremely grateful to everyone for supporting this schoolwide project, and we wanted to recognize a few for their extra special effort:

One of our students took advantage of the warm autumn weather and sold lemonade to his neighbors. He accepted payment only in pennies and explained to his customers that the lemonade proceeds would benefit MCA’s Pennies for Peace He collected thousands of pennies in one afternoon!

Back in December, on an unseasonably sunny and warm Saturday, one family spearheaded a community fundraiser with the help of our friends at Café Beethoven in Chatham. Their children and friends from MCA created posters illustrating facts about the project and shared their knowledge about the countries they studied through the program with passersby. Many kindly donated their coffee change after learning about the project. This group of friends raised a total of $270 at the Saturday morning Café Beethoven fundraiser.

Recently, our MCA Elementary students sent a letter to the Short Hills Director, Mrs. Amy Hidalgo, and our Elementary Director/Senior Director, Mrs. Jeanine Christiana, pitching an idea for yet another Pennies for Peace In this letter, they asked permission to host a car wash before the end of the school year. They explained in the letter:

Bragging Rights

The students at MCA are growing in their sense of responsibility as citizens of a global community through their involvement with the Pennies for Peace project. As part of the Pennies for Peace philosophy, MCA students have helped spread the word about the project to other Montessori schools in the Tri-State Area, including sharing information about their participation with their pen pals at Brooklyn Heights Montessori School. Our students recently found out that their friends at Brooklyn Heights are also in the process of totaling their pennies. They realize that together they are making a difference!

Across our three campuses in Morristown, Chatham, and Short Hills, the MCA community has raised a grand total of $1,081.43 so far this year for Pennies for Peace. That’s a lot of pennies… 108,143 to be exact! Our Elementary students are currently working on a Math project to determine exactly how many school supplies this $1,081.43 can purchase for their friends on the other side of the globe. Perhaps they will not build an entire school, but they are well on their way to building enormous positive changes in the lives of children in Asia who will benefit from their hard work this year.

We are incredibly proud of our students for sharing information about Pennies for Peace with their families, their Montessori counterparts at other schools, and their communities. And we want to sincerely thank all of the parents, staff members, and community members from Chatham, Morristown, and Short Hills who contributed their pennies and their time to our various projects this year.

For more information about the Pennies for Peace program, please visit their website http://www.penniesforpeace.org.

References for this post:

“Pennies for Peace – a Free Service Learning Program.” Pennies for Peace. Central Asia Institute, Oct. 2015. Web. 10 May 2016.

More Than Blocks

By: Alex Chiu and Hannah Ferris

There is no question that Montessori materials are beautiful and intriguing. However, there are often many questions asked about how these materials help children learn. Today, we’d like to give you a peek inside one of our Montessori classrooms with a close-up view of some of the most notable Montessori materials.

Maria Montessori, as a medical doctor, applied her knowledge of the developmental stages of the child to her educational method. She understood above all that children learn by doing. The materials that are used by our students today are specially designed to allow children to learn a lesson by engaging with them. In fact, many of these materials are designed according to specifications left behind by Dr. Montessori.

In our mixed-age (3-6 years) classrooms, the materials first are presented by the teacher and then utilized by the students at different levels of difficulty according what is appropriate for each child. The teacher introduces materials in a formal lesson where the teacher demonstrates how the materials are meant to be used. The child will then conduct the lesson independently according to teacher’s (usually non-verbal) demonstration.. Materials are controlled for error and the use of physical objects allows abstract, complicated ideas to become accessible to young children. As children become ready to learn more complex concepts, the same materials ‘grow’ with the children, offering new information to add to their understanding, moving from very concrete to more abstract learning.

This post will highlight one material from each of the five main areas of the prepared learning environment that MCA provides in its 3-6 classrooms. It will serve as an introductory guide to the Montessori curriculum and to the science behind the materials that your children encounter daily.

Practical Life

The Practical Life area of the classroom contains activities that are designed to improve fine motor skills through daily functions like spooning, pouring, and hand washing. Dr. Montessori believed that learning how to carry out daily functions fostered independence, coordination, concentration, and confidence even among her youngest students. At MCA, the youngest members of our family begin their Montessori journeys in the Practical Life area.

Parents and visitors alike are always amazed to see our students engaged in Food Preparation, using real cooking utensils, inviting friends to eat snack with them, and then cleaning up when they are finished. Child-sized tools welcome students to the Practical Life area and provide greater opportunity for success in completing the activities. Parents are delighted when the confidence and skills gained in this area transfers to home life and children participate in cooking, setting the table, and cleaning up with their families.

Recently, during our Montessori Education Week celebrations, our students demonstrated their Practical Life skills for parents and visitors. Using the ‘flower arranging’ materials, they made lovely decorations with fresh flowers for their classrooms to mark the 109^th anniversary of Montessori education. This task required planning, measuring, careful handling of the flowers, and resulted in making our classrooms bright and cheery. It was a popular Practical Life activity!

Sensorial

The Sensorial area of the classroom contains materials designed to develop sensory perception. The most basic materials, designed for the youngest students in the classroom, may force the isolation of the senses. For example, Color Tablets focus on the visual sense and Sound Boxes focus on the auditory sense. As students grow and progress in this area, the activities become more complex and begin to prepare children for reading, writing, math, and logical thinking.

The Pink Tower is perhaps the most famous Montessori material. The Pink Tower is more than blocks; the ten cubes are classified in size from one centimeter cubed to ten centimeters cubed. A child is able to visually and physically differentiate between large and small as he or she carries one cube at a time from the shelf to the workspace to construct the tower. This pattern of movement forces the child to be aware of the surroundings, to control the body, and to concentrate on the task. Over time, understanding of the ten size classifications of the cubes will help prepare the child’s mind for math.

Language

Although our classrooms have a specific Language area, language lessons are not restricted to just one part of the classroom. Students practice their spoken language and vocabulary skills through conversation with their teachers and classmates, by singing songs, and when engaged in reading or listening to stories at circle times. Like the Sensorial area, the materials in the Language area of the classroom gradually become more advanced, and the children’s language skills progress into independent reading and writing exercises.

Sandpaper Letters help with both verbal and written language skills. Consonants (pink cards) and vowels (blue cards) are introduced to students by their sounds to teach recognition of the letter. The focus is on the sound the letter makes rather than the name of the letter. This allows for greater ease and understanding when moving from sound identification to reading words and later, sentences and entire books. After the sound of the letter is presented, students are instructed to trace the letters with their middle and index fingers – the fingers they will later use to hold a pencil. Again, as we have seen with so many Montessori materials, this provides the foundation for future skills. Sandpaper Letters may be used in a variety of other activities, like forming patterns and complementing sound games. Students will move on to the Moveable Alphabet to make words and sentences once they have mastered recognition of letter sounds using the Sandpaper Letters.

Mathematics

Montessori math allows students to physically hold the materials they are counting. This teaches them to recognize and distinguish between quantities of the numbers 1 through 10 and beyond. Such a hands-on approach makes understanding abstract math concepts easier when the student is ready to forgo materials and do math in his or her head. More complex math lessons for children ages 3-6 years include an introduction to the decimal system with the Golden Bead Material and forming large numbers with Number Cards. Montessori students graduate Kindergarten with a very strong foundation of mathematical ideas.

Number Cards and Counters are used by children who are ready to demonstrate that they recognize the numbers and can relate quantity to numbers. Our students often use seasonally-themed objects to count instead of beads or discs. These Valentine hearts nicely complemented our February holiday celebration, which is part of the fifth and final area of the classroom: Culture.

Science and Culture

The area of the classroom dedicated to Science and Cultural studies encompasses many activities, including maps, flags, calendars, and holiday celebrations, as well as the study of plants and animals, changing seasons, simple machines, and how things work.

Through the study of geography and different cultures, tolerance, grace, and curiosity are fostered and contribute to the Montessori ideal of Peace Education. At MCA, we are fortunate to have families and staff from various cultural backgrounds across all three of our campuses. These members of our community truly complement the study of culture when they come into the classrooms and share traditions from their home countries.

Students use Puzzle Maps to gain understanding of both physical and political geography. This promotes curiosity about different countries and demonstrates to the children that the world is a big place!

Science exploration often overlaps cultural studies as students learn about animals and climates in the regions of the world that they are studying. Creating a relationship with nature by observing the changing seasons, collecting natural objects to study closely, and caring for plants and animals in the classroom also shows our students that there are connections to be made across all disciplines and in their lives both inside and outside of school.

In every 3-6 classroom at The Montessori Children’s Academy, you can distinguish between Practical Life, Sensorial, Math, Language, and Science and Culture areas. When observing our students during a work cycle, you will likely see materials from each area being used diligently and appropriately. Our teachers, who are skilled observers, determine when a child is ready to advance in a particular area to further sharpen his or her skills. Such careful observation on the part of our teachers provides great insights into each student’s personality and learning style, and therefore allows MCA’s teachers to give each student individualized lessons that will lead to their success. It is a very special environment indeed! The best way to learn more is to spend time in one of our classrooms. Call us to schedule a visit:

Morristown

(973) 410-9669

Chatham

(973) 665-0071

Short Hills

(973) 258-1400

References for this post include:

Montessori Matters by Srs. Mary Ellen Carinato, Agnes Julia Cluxton, Anne McCarrick, Mary Motz, and Marguerite O’Connor (1973).

The Pink What? by Deede Stephenson.

A Word of Welcome from MCA

By: Alex Chiu and Hannah Ferris

“Montessori Education”

For some, those two words might not mean very much. For others however, they bring about many misconceptions of discipline, pedagogy, or purpose. But for those who have become familiar with the Montessori Method and have seen the beauty of its effectiveness as a model for educating children, those words conjure up a kaleidoscope of feelings ranging from joy, relief, and excitement, to an urgency to spread the news and create more Montessori opportunities for children everywhere.

This is how The Montessori Children’s Academy came into being. In 1999, The Montessori Children’s Academy opened the doors to its first school in Madison, NJ. Serving 45 families, the school became a place where the essence of the Montessori Method came alive. With the vision of its founder and president, the school transformed physically from a typical concrete and stone structure with a basic outdoor play yard to a warm, family community in which teachers welcomed children into a home-like and beautiful environment.

Our classrooms came alive with the highest quality Montessori materials – Pink Towers for children to construct as they absorbed the meaning of order and size, colorful Puzzle Maps to construct the continents of the world and countries from each continent, Practical Life areas where children learned simple food preparation and daily life skills with materials that caught their attention because they were not only pretty, but also just the right size for little hands. And the outdoor play yard was transformed into a safe, attractive outdoor learning and playing environment with a top-of-the-line climbing structure, shade area, and little garden patches.

But even more than the cosmetics, it was the devotion of the administration and the teachers who brought their love of and confidence in the Montessori Method to the school each and every day. Nick DiGiacomo, MCA’s founder, recalls: “I remember opening the doors that very first day and wondering if anyone who walked through them would understand why I was there, and why it was so important to me to make a difference in the lives of their children. I wanted them to think of our school as a special place, a place that was warm and inviting, with friendly and caring teachers who were passionate about educating their children in a very special way.”

“That first day was a long one,” Nick remembers, “with all the glitches that you would expect to occur on the first day of any new adventure. It was toward the end of that day, when I sat all alone at the front desk, waiting for the last few children to be picked up, still wondering if I did the right thing, when it happened… One of the moms stopped by on her way out and said, ‘Thank you. My son doesn’t want to leave. He just loves it here.’ Those simple words just made all the difference in the world to me. All of a sudden, the never-ending preparation, the planning, the hard work, and those endless hours, didn’t seem so difficult any more.”

Fast forward to 2016:

The Montessori Children’s Academy has grown to serve over 450 families on three campuses in Northern New Jersey.

Our oldest operating campus, which opened in 2003, is found in Chatham, NJ. Chatham is a residential enclave for families with children. Its tradition of being a tight-knit, family-friendly community made it an obvious choice for the expansion of our family of schools. Our Chatham campus is within close walking distance of the Main Street business district and we love that many of our families are beginning to walk to school again; a sure sign that spring is coming! MCA has thrived in Chatham and our Chatham school serves families from Chatham Borough and Township, Madison, Summit, New Providence, and Florham Park. MCA is a proud member of the Madison/Chatham Chamber of Commerce and we have recently worked with the Library of the Chathams and the Chatham Newcomers & Social Club to share the benefits of Montessori education in the Chatham community.

Our Chatham campus serves families with children ages 2½ – Kindergarten.

In 2007, we opened our Short Hills campus. This campus is incredibly diverse and serves families from many suburban Essex County towns. The Millburn/Short Hills community has been incredibly accepting of MCA. We’ve recently welcomed members of the Millburn Seniors Club to campus as guest readers and our students have seen many productions at the Paper Mill Playhouse. What makes our Short Hills campus truly unique is our Elementary program. In addition to our preschool and Kindergarten programs, we offer Montessori classroom settings for children ages 6-12 years. The Elementary program expands on the foundation of learning that we provide in our 3- to 6-year-old classrooms. It includes many opportunities and academic projects inspired by a wide-ranging curriculum, activities in the community, and our beautiful outdoor classroom.

Our Short Hills campus serves families with children ages 2½ – 12 years.

Our newest campus is located in the Convent Station neighborhood of Morristown. This school (which relocated from Madison in 2010) lies in the heart of Morris County and serves families who reside in the county or who come to Morristown specifically for work and school. The Mayor of Morristown, Tim Dougherty, recently recognized MCA as he officially proclaimed February 28 – March 5, 2016 as Montessori Education Week. Our Morristown campus has much to offer both children and adults, as our Montessori teacher education program, Montessori Center for Teacher Development, has its home on the Morristown campus. Additionally, our youngest students have been learning the ways of the classroom on our “youngest campus”. In the fall of 2015, we launched Montessori, My Child, & Me, a class for 18-30 month old children and their caregivers. It’s been an absolute joy to watch these little ones grow and begin to test their own independence.

The Morristown campus serves families with children ages 18 months -Kindergarten.

MCA and Beyond!

As you can see, MCA has a lot to offer and we’re continuing to grow. That’s why we decided to start The MCA Blog! We want to use it foremost to stay in touch with our current, alumni, and prospective families. You’ll hear from MCA’s Director of Montessori Development, Camilla Nichols-Uhler, MCA’s Senior Director, Jeanine Christiana, our support staff, teachers, and maybe even some of our students. We’ll use this blog to share detailed information about our programs, our expertise in the ways of the Montessori Method, news from our classrooms, and other unique insights on early childhood education and development.

Please leave us a comment and let us know what kind of topics you’d like to see on The MCA Blog and how we can better educate you and your child for tomorrow’s world. We’re glad that you’re coming on this Montessori journey with us!