Tag Archives: Montessori Chatham

Spotlight On: Dr. Timothy Purnell

This past summer, we had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Timothy Purnell to discuss all things Montessori. Not only is Dr. Purnell the Chief Executive Officer of the American Montessori Society (AMS), but we are proud to say that he is also the parent of an alumna from The Montessori Children’s Academy. With vast experience in the field of education as a teacher, superintendent, professor, public speaker, and current CEO of AMS, Dr. Purnell continues to be driven and determined to promote the best practices in education for children today and for future generations to come. Experiencing his high energy and an array of engaging stories, we came away from our visit with Dr. Purnell enlightened and eager to share his passion for education, and especially Montessori education.

MCA: Can you tell us a little about how you were introduced to education as a career?

Dr. Purnell: I actually started out studying medicine. But as I got deeper into it, I realized it wasn’t for me. My father—who is himself a doctor—suggested I study teaching instead. I said, “No way!” My own experience had been that much of school was a nightmare, and I couldn’t imagine replicating that for others. But my father responded, “Exactly! Change the things you do not like.” And that really impacted me. So after college, I took a job as a guide in a Montessori summer program; and that fall, I accepted a position in a Montclair public school. To my surprise, I discovered that education was really my calling and that I wanted to create an environment for children that was contrary to my own experiences.

Dr. Purnell eventually became a professor in higher education, and he shared how Montessori resurfaced in his life during his experiences in the university setting.

Dr. Purnell: At Georgian Court University and Fairleigh Dickenson University, I asked the students to explore different pedagogies and to report back about what interested them most. They responded with many ideas about different theorists they were eager to learn more about in class—such as Dewey, Erikson, Piaget, Vygotsky—and, quite often, Maria Montessori. I am grateful to my students for “resurfacing” Dr. Montessori in my life!

Montessori did, indeed, find Dr. Purnell, and the Montessori Method further became the inspiration for his work as Superintendent of Schools in Somerville, NJ, where he launched a high school program incorporating Montessori values, which has since become a lighthouse for best practices.

Dr. Purnell: In Somerville, during my second year as superintendent, my team and I were doing data analytics at the high school and our metrics showed the dropout rate to be increasing. We realized if we didn’t take decisive action, the graduation rate would continue to decrease. So I assembled a team of like- and unlike-minded individuals—students and teachers, along with input from a local resident and professor from Fairleigh Dickinson University, Dr. Randall Westbrook—and my team came up with an idea to launch an inspirational, non-traditional learning space in the public sector, designed for students who were metrically at risk for dropping out, such as students who had been incarcerated, were struggling with school anxiety, were exploring sexual orientation, and/or just didn’t fit into the traditional mold.

Although it wasn’t strictly Montessori, it would include such Montessori tenets as uninterrupted blocks of work time, the opportunity for self-paced learning, teachers who served as guides rather than “masters,” and classes with multi-age groupings. The program was set up to be rolling, allowing for graduation mid-year.

The program was specially equipped with its own non-Child Study Team School Psychologist full time for support. Students were greeted every day with food, and eventually they started a small farm, growing crops and giving them to a local restaurant. The program became a smashing success with credit recovery escalating rapidly, students progressing greatly—some were even graduating early—and enrollment and graduation rates improving. The program won awards, and we became a top school district for approaching learning in a differentiated way. The strength of the Montessori pedagogy approach allowed for these students who did not fit the traditional mold to achieve success.

Dr. Purnell’s great success as the Superintendent in Somerville, led to him being selected as NASS Superintendent of the Year in 2016. His reputation spread, and Dr. Purnell later became the CEO of the American Montessori Society, where he has been advocating for Montessori education and working internationally on initiatives to promote high quality Montessori programs through teacher education programs, conferences, podcasts, keynote addresses, and TEDx talks.

Dr. Purnell is currently leading an initiative at AMS to ensure that there’s emphasis on quality Montessori schools over quantity of Montessori schools. He is especially proud of the increasing number of AMS member schools that are pursuing AMS accreditation—the gold standard of Montessori education—as well as those that are taking advantage of a resource called the AMS Pathway of Continuous School Improvement.

But Dr. Purnell also has another personal connection to Montessori, and that is with his youngest child, who attended MCA.

MCA: What drew you to MCA?

Dr. Purnell: When my wife and I were looking for a school for our daughter, we knew we wanted a Montessori environment that was not only high-fidelity, but a place where she would flourish—as it’s not just the pedagogy that makes for Montessori, but the entire look and feel of a program. When we entered MCA, we knew right away that this was going to be the right place. We quickly fell in love with the teacher, whom we recognized as an incredible educator and nurturer, the classrooms, the joy that we saw on the students’ faces, and their focused concentration; the everything. We agreed we could make it work with our schedules, even though it meant some tricky logistics for my wife, regarding drop off and pick up.

We wanted to know how the Montessori philosophy may have filtered into his own home life.

MCA: In what ways have you seen how an early Montessori education positively impacted your own child?

At home, we see it in how she takes care of the environment, treating things well and putting them back in their proper places. She speaks to us respectfully (usually!) and is helpful, especially when it comes to cleaning up, and is independent (and opinionated) about selecting her clothing. I can see her gaining confidence in herself and realizing that she doesn’t always need to come to me or another adult to solve things—she’s learning to draw on her own resources. On top of all this, she loves to go to school. What more could a parent ask?

MCA: What do you tell your neighbors and friends about Montessori?

Dr. Purnell: I talk about the independence of the Montessori child. I talk about the joy of the Montessori child. Of my Montessori child. About how she loves school, and loves learning—as do her classmates. Another thing I address is the focus on early learning, that is, is, birth through age 6, This is a period Maria Montessori called the “absorbent stage,” when children experience intense mental activity that allows them to “absorb” learning from their environment quickly and easily without conscious effort. It’s a critical time in their lives, and a Montessori environment is an ideal place to nurture and support it. As Dr. Montessori said, “Education must begin at birth.”

MCA: If Dr. Montessori were alive today, what would you want to ask her? What do you want to know straight from the source?

Dr. Purnell: That’s a tough question because there are so many things I would want to know! To start, I would like to hear her stories about teaching children who were dismissed because they were thought to be “mentally deficient,” to use the very un-PC parlance of the times, and what surprised her most. I’d also be interested to know her creative process in developing Montessori learning materials—the prototypes of the very same materials we see here in MCA.

I’d be fascinated to know about the “Glass Classroom” that she staged for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. This was a glass-walled demonstration Montessori classroom where hundreds of visitors would gather round to observe children at work. The children, who had never attended Montessori school before, worked with such focus that it seemed they didn’t notice. How did Dr. Montessori have such confidence that this would work?

And I’d want to know about her experiences living in exile in India during WWII, and her development as a pacifist. Did you know she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize three times? And of course I’d want her perspectives on our world today: the use of technology in the classroom and beyond, strides made in women’s rights—she was also a feminist—teaching tolerance. and so much more.

MCA: It would be a great conversation! Finally, we’d like to ask, how do you see Montessori changing and benefiting our world?

Dr. Purnell: This is what Montessori is truly all about and actually the topic of my next TEDx talk in Delaware, “The Future with Montessori.” I’ll be talking about how by operating humanely, and by that I mean equitably, inclusively, respectfully, and kindly in all facets of our lives: professional, personal, familial, governmental, and especially with those less fortunate than we are, we can make the world a better place. And how the place to start is with our children. In her book, Education and Peace, Maria Montessori said, “The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind.”

And speaking of making the world a better place, this past year I had the privilege of leading the AMS Board of Directors and AMS staff in rewriting our mission statement. It was an interesting process that derived from personal stories they told about individual experiences with Montessori and AMS. We eventually dissected all the stories and isolated key words that everyone agreed were impactful in describing the “what and why” of our organization—that is, our mission—and came up with these simple but powerful words: “Empowering humanity to build a better world through Montessori.” We are very proud of it, and even had it printed on T-shirts that we wore during a recent service learning project with Habitat for Humanity NYC!

We truly believe Montessori can change the world. It will happen through the children at MCA—and, if we are fortunate, with children throughout the world.

The Montessori Children’s Academy extends its deepest gratitude to Dr. Purnell for taking the time to share his thoughts and experiences with us. For more information about AMS and to access resources about Montessori for families, you may wish to visit their website at amshq.org. There you may also view Dr. Purnell’s impactful TEDx video presentation, “Truth in Leadership: #GetOffYourIsland”.

Enriching the Day with After School Activities

Childhood is a time of discovery. Young children are naturally curious, and they find wonder and joy in many things we, as adults, have come to take for granted. Children often are more open to trying new things, as everything is novel and there are no expectations of perfection. Parents can seize this opportunity to introduce their children to a variety of activities as a way of finding a new hobby, learning new skills, and for the simple enjoyment of recreation.
MCA is fortunate to partner with LEAF Approach to Enrichments, which offers many different after school activities for our MCA students to explore. Program offerings range in topics from sports to STEM, animal worlds to art, karate to yoga, and so much more. There really is something for everyone. Broadening your child’s experiences to things he or she might not normally do at home has some lasting benefits, too.

1. Enrichments might spark a new interest.
While your child might engage in familiar activities at home and on the weekends, trying a new after school activity could open the door to a new passion. As LEAF’s sessions are short, usually seven or eight meetings over the course of two months, children have the opportunity to try out something new without making a huge commitment. However, upon engaging in a new program, your child may find that one thing that really sparks his or her enthusiasm. Then, as a family, you can decide whether to pursue this interest even further.

2. They could lead to new friendships.
The after school activities offered at MCA bring together students from different classrooms depending on who has enrolled. Your child then has the opportunity to enjoy activities with children who might not be in their regular school day program, allowing them to branch out and form new personal connections through their enrichment classes.

3. Enrichments teach new skills.
Our young children are learning every day. They are developing their daily Practical Life skills of self-care, care of the environment, time management, etc. They are also expanding their academic learning and practicing social skills. Enrichments provide yet another avenue to expose children to new things that round out their skill sets. Whether it’s learning the rules of a game, the techniques of cooking, breathing exercises, or how circuits work, children in enrichment classes have the opportunity to widen their net of experiences. Exposure to new ideas and situations in and of itself is a learning opportunity, and when presented in a fun, stress-free environment, the new learning is all that much easier to absorb.

4. Enrichments are fun!
In our busy worlds, many of us forget the importance of doing something just for the sake of enjoyment. Taking time to have fun allows us to break away from the many stressors that can overwhelm us in our daily schedules. It’s important for our mental wellness to attend to our personal well-being, and teaching our children this lesson from an early age may help them to lead more balanced lives going forward. Knowing that work and play are equally valuable is something we could all benefit from remembering (and practicing!).

Registration for LEAF Approach to Enrichments for our MCA students will begin on September 19th and run through October 3rd. All registration is done online through the LEAF website, www.leafenrichment.com. Classes begin the week of October 14th and will run for a total of seven weeks. Note: Class offerings may differ across MCA campuses.

MCA’s Top 10 List for Starting Back to School

Our MCA classrooms are ready to welcome you to the 2019-2020 school year!

It seems like the summer, once again, is passing by in the blink of an eye. And while some folks are eking out the most of their remaining vacation time, many teachers have already made their way back into their classrooms to start preparing for the upcoming school year. Now is actually the perfect time for parents and children to also begin to do some preliminary planning to help ease into the start of school in September. Below are some helpful hints shared by some of our MCA professional staff of things families can do now to build excitement and alleviate any stress about the upcoming school year.

1. For Parents First: Read through your Parent Packet and complete any necessary forms prior to the first day of school.
By now, our MCA families should have received their Parent Packets filled with information about the school year, the calendar, school policies, the Parent Handbook, and much more. Included in the packet are several forms which should be completed and ready to turn into the school office on or before the first day of school. Especially important are the medical forms, which were mailed earlier in the summer and are due back to school by August 26th. The State of New Jersey has very specific requirements about what schools must have on file before any student may enter the school building. Reading through this information and completing the necessary paperwork ahead of time will help parents be prepared for that first day of school.

2. Adjust activities at home.
One of the wonderful things about summer is the opportunity to have some ‘down time’ which often is missing from September through June as children’s days are filled with their time at school, which is often followed by after school enrichment activities, sports, homework, and very little ‘down time’. If the house rules for summer allow for more screen time—television viewing, computer games, etc. —it’s probably a good idea to trim those hours now. Instead, consider initiating a reading time (perfect for when parents are preparing dinner—children can read aloud while you cook or look at books silently nearby until supper’s ready). Or, engage as a family in a few more activities that require more concentration and focus—a large jigsaw puzzle, card games, or even art projects. Helping children return to tasks that need their full attention will help them when they enter or re-enter the classroom.

3. Start easing into a “school day” morning and evening routine.
A few weeks leading up to the first day of school is a good time to begin adjusting your family’s morning wake up times and evening bedtimes, which may have become a bit lax during the summer months. Knowing how early your family needs to get up to get through all of your necessary morning activities makes starting each school day so much easier. From brushing teeth and getting dressed to having a nutritious breakfast and making the morning commute, some families benefit from doing a ‘test run’ a few times to see if they can accomplish their morning rituals and arrive to school on time.

Equally important is establishing a healthy bedtime which ensures your child has adequate sleep for the busy hours spent at school. It’s not always easy to settle down for bed when the sun still hasn’t set in the summer, but even easing into a bedtime routine of listening to soft music or reading a few books in bed helps with this summer to school year transition.

4. Consider creating a family calendar.
One family activity you might consider is to create a school year family calendar. Many dollar stores sell wonderfully large calendars which you can customize with your own important information. After looking through the school calendar, mark important dates on the family calendar. Invite your child to decorate special event days with their own illustrations, or color-code the days of the calendar according to school days and days off from school. As children see some of the exciting activities that await them each month, their excitement about school may grow and override any nervousness they may be feeling about that first day.

5. Visit with friends.
Some of us have the best intentions to reconnect with friends and family during the summer when we think we have more time to get together only to find that we’ve blinked and haven’t had a chance to do so! If your child hasn’t seen neighborhood friends or former classmates over the past few months, now is a nice time to reconnect. If you know some of the children who will be in your child’s class for the upcoming year, having them come together at a local playground might be enough to spark that joy of returning to school to see old friends and make some new ones, too.

6. Attend “Meet the Teachers Day”.
If you’ve created a family school calendar, then you’ve marked the date for “Meet the Teachers Day” already! At MCA, parents and children together visit their new classroom, receive their lists of necessary school supplies, and meet their teachers face-to-face.
Meet the Teachers Day is followed by a “Phase-In” (see your Parent Packet for details), aimed at helping to alleviate any separation anxiety and providing the children with a smooth transition into their new school environment. Meet the Teachers Day is just one part of the orientation to school where the children acclimate both socially and emotionally to being apart from their parents and begin to take part in all aspects of their classroom community. At home, use your child’s teachers’ and classmates names in conversations, and begin to initiate conversations that are related to school.

7. Take your child shopping for school supplies.
Allow your child to get excited about going back to school by bringing him or her with you when you go shopping for any needed supplies or a special first day of school outfit. Giving your child the freedom to pick out his or her backpack and lunch box will also create a sense of ownership around these items, which will inherently point your child in the direction of being responsible for his or her things. Now is also a good time to remember to label all items with your child’s name.

8. And while you’re shopping, consider making a grocery list for lunches!
Sometimes planning for mealtimes is the most stressful part of a busy school or work day. Get a jump start on this and together with your child, create a list of things your child would like to have packed in his or her lunch each day. Creating a one or two week schedule of meals that can rotate may alleviate any of the issues your family may have regarding food. Keep in mind your school’s nut-safe policies, your child’s personal tastes, and what is important for a healthy lunch that will sustain your child for the afternoon.

9. Separate your anxieties about separation from your child’s.
Whether this is your first child heading off to school or your fourth, it is normal for parents to have some hesitation about leaving their children in the care of others. As parents ourselves, we at MCA know the internal struggles of sending our children off to school. We also know that our children will thrive and grow in their school settings, and that our children’s schools are nurturing, safe, and enriching places for our children to be!

In order to assist our children in making a smooth transition, it is important for us, as parents, to put forth a positive attitude and send our children off with a big smile, a brief hug, and assurance that we are looking forward to sharing stories about each of our days when we meet again after school and work. Your positive attitude helps your child sense that you believe he or she will be able to manage the school day just fine, and that positive attitude just might be contagious!

To help you maintain a smile before you say goodbye, take some time to reflect on the successes your child has exhibited in play groups or at other times when you were not right by his or her side. And be confident that should your child need some extra support, the teachers at MCA will help you both through this new transition and with becoming comfortable with a new school routine.

10. Consider starting a new ‘last day of summer vacation’ or ‘first day of school’ family tradition.
Again, using your family calendar, mark something special to do on the day before school starts or for that first day of school. Maybe it’s a special outing to a favorite nature spot, an end of summer ice cream treat, or a family splash in a pool. Or perhaps it’s a first day of school dinner picnic in the park, ride to a favorite bookshop to purchase one new book for bedtime, or an evening walk around the neighborhood in pajamas. Whatever you decide, make it something that will bring about a heightening happy anticipation to the start of school.

We can’t believe that the summer is almost over, but we are anticipating another wonderful school year ahead!! The MCA school calendar is filled with fun activities for everyone, starting with our Welcome Back Coffee. We hope you’ll mark your calendars now for our Parent Workshops and our highly anticipated night with guest speaker Dr. Robert Brooks, author of Raising Resilient Children, which was the featured selection for our MCA Parent Book Club last year. Our teachers are preparing their classrooms, just as your family is preparing for the new school year in your own way. To all of our new and returning MCA families, we look forward to seeing you in September!

Summertime Reading Buzz

by Alex Chiu

Summer is a wonderful time for storytelling and reading together. Long car rides to the beach, lazy Saturday mornings in bed, and twilight evenings on the back deck are ideal moments to listen to books on tape, share memories and stories, or read with your children. But what types of books should you read? There are so many delightful choices available – both the familiar titles parents will remember from their own youth and many brand new and equally engaging options which seem to come on the market daily. Consider this quote from Dr. Maria Montessori: “Travel stories teach geography; insect stories lead the child into natural science; and so on. The teacher, in short, can use reading to introduce her pupils to the most varied subjects; and the moment they have been thus started, they can go on to any limit guided by the single passion for reading.” So, it doesn’t really matter what you choose!

As their children’s first and most influential teachers, parents are instrumental in opening up new worlds for their children, particularly through the sharing of books. As you read together, invite your child to ask questions and share thoughts and ideas related to the book. Ask open-ended questions or help your child discover connections between what is in the story and your child’s own experiences. Encourage active engagement with others by having your child relate the plot or information from favorite stories with friends, neighbors, and relatives.

With summer in full swing, we thought we’d share a few titles specifically related to geography (including maps and different places or experiences from around the world) and insects, as featured in Dr. Montessori’s quote. Geography and insect themes can promote many summer adventures. These certainly are two areas that lend themselves especially well to the summer months and often become a springboard for other points of interest. Adults may provide the first selection of books to enjoy together, and then based on the children’s responses, parents may offer more similar suggestions or veer off on a different path.

When diving into the ocean of books offered at your local library or favorite bookshop, follow your child’s lead as he or she shows a special curiosity about a character, topic, or genre. See where your summer reading adventures can take you this summer. It could be miles away to discover faraway lands and cultures, or right to your very own backyard where you can delve into the world of the creatures that crawl and fly about. Wherever you go, we wish you happy reading, happy exploring, and a very happy and safe summer!

A Small Sampling of Books Related to Geography and Culture

A Country Far Away by Nigel Gray
A Single Pebble: A Story of the Silk Road by Bonnie Christensen
Katie in London by James Mayhew
As the Crow Flies: A First Book of Maps by Gail Hartman and Harvey Stevenson
Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney
Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures by Jeff Brown
Smart About the Fifty States by Jon Buller
Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
Vanilla Ice Cream by Bob Graham
Where on Earth? by Helen Abramson

A Small Sampling of Books Related to Insects

A Butterfly is Patient by Dianna Aston
Bee and Me by Alison Jay
Bugs A to Z by Caroline Lawton
How to Survive as a Firefly by Kristen Foote
Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
Insect Detective by Steve Voake
Step Gently Out by Helen Frost and Rick Lieder
The Big Book of Bugs by Yuval Zoomer
The Disgusting Critter Series by Elise Gravel
We Dig Worms! By Kevin McCloskey

*Note: Several authors have used the same titles for different books, so pay special attention to the complete titles and/or author names above to ensure you find the right book!

Sewing Up the School Year

By Fiorella Benson with Alex Chiu

As the 2018-2019 school year comes to a close, we are delighted to share a special photo blog featuring a special end of the year project from one of our MCA classes which beautifully illustrates how skills gleaned from across the Montessori curriculum come together “seamlessly” with stunning results!

The students in one of our MCA classes have been working on a new extension of the Montessori Constructive Triangles, using a sewing machine and their hand sewing skills to make their very first quilt. The children deepened their knowledge of the different shapes they can make with triangles, while learning about symmetry, patterns, and how to design a quilt. This hands-on approach to geometry also gave the children the opportunity to work on a fiber arts project, improve their fine motor skills, develop a sense of order, promote independence, and deepen their concentration. It was an empowering experience for the class to work on this project as a team and to realize that each one of them could thread and operate a sewing machine independently.

The creative process involved the following steps:

Working with the Constructive Triangles and Extensions
The children first created different shapes and patterns with triangles. They worked with the Constructive Triangles and worked on different extensions, such as tracing, coloring, and gluing triangles made out of construction paper.

First Stitches
The children learned how to thread a sewing machine and practiced sewing a straight line, while leaving a ¼- inch seam allowance. They also practiced putting the right pressure on the pedal.

Patterns and Symmetry
The children explored the different shapes and patterns present in a finished quilt, and then proceeded to create their own design as a team. We talked about symmetry and how you can use the same pattern at the top and bottom, or at the right and left side of a quilt.

Sewing Half-Square Triangles
Each child learned how to sew a half-square triangle, which is a square made from two equal right triangles. Then they sewed them together following the pattern they created for their quilt.

Putting the Pieces Together
Once again, students used the sewing machine to put their half-square triangles together.

Hand Tying the Quilt
The students quilted their project by hand, using a tie stitch that runs through the three layers of the quilt and is secured with a few knots.

Topstitching by Hand
To give a colorful final touch to their project, the children topstitched the perimeter of their quilt by hand with running stitches.

Presenting Their Finished Quilt!

Applying the skills the children have developed over the school year to a project such as this is a wonderful way to keep those skills sharp when school is out while at the same time having some family fun and perhaps learning new skills along the way. We hope this photo feature inspires some of our MCA families to consider taking on a special family project that involves creativity, new learning, and fun this summer.

We wish you a happy, healthy, and rejuvenating summer season!