Tag Archives: Montessori Short Hills

What We Love About Montessori

Evidenced by the red and pink hearts, candy, and flowers displayed in stores everywhere, February is a special month. Not only do we acknowledge Valentine’s Day on February 14th with little exhibits of love and kindness for those around us, but we also celebrate Montessori Education Week February 24th – February 28th and pay tribute to Dr. Maria Montessori with gratitude for the incredible philosophy of education she shared with us over 100 years ago.

Mrs. Adamo, Mrs. Fasolas, and Mrs. McShane, three of our MCA Head Teachers, recently asked the students in their classes what they love most about their Montessori classrooms and what they think is important about school. What follows are some of the quotes and written
responses shared by the children.


“I love math.”

“I love Golden Bead Addition.”

“I love the Stamp Game.”

“I love all the friends, Math, and Language.”

“I love my friends.”

 

 


“I love the maps in Culture, Math, and the
teachers.”

“I love the calendar and the material.”

“I love Music class.”

“I love Circle time.”

 


“I love working with the Language material.”

“I love the teacher, the hamster, and the
library.”

“I love using the Moveable Alphabet to make words.”

“I love reading in the library area.”

 


“I love the Red Rods Maze.”

“I love all the Practical Life work.”

“I love Food Prep in Practical Life.”

“I love eating lunch with my friends.”

“I love free play in the gym.”

 

 

“I love playing with my friends on the playground.”

“I love chillin’ in the Peace area.”

“I love working with my friends.”

“I love helping the younger children.”

“I love EVERYTHING!”

 

 

2020 Goals: A look at how to approach goal setting with your children

How many of you started out 2020 by making a New Year’s Resolution? And be honest… how many of you by now have already discarded all hope of following through on that resolution? After holidays filled with excess (excessive eating, socializing, shopping, and more!), lots of people have grand notions of reigning it all in on New Year’s Day. Losing 25 pounds in a month. Exercising seven days a week. Burning the credit cards (well, maybe not quite that drastic, but you get the picture). We want a fresh start. We aim big. But by aiming too high, we can easily fall flat.

However, that doesn’t have to happen if we make our resolutions a little more realistic and manageable. Lose ten pounds by the start of spring. Add one new exercise routine to your schedule each week for eight weeks. Limit shopping expenditures by a certain amount each month. In order to start fresh, change our behavior, and stick to our goals, we can turn to countless resources to help us along the way—weight loss programs, smoking cessation techniques, fitness centers, and of course, our friends and family. We can read books, search the internet, or ask our friends who’ve reached goals we aspire to for advice, and then set forth on our path towards reaching the goals we’ve set. If we think about it, having a realistic goal feels good. It motivates us to move in a positive direction, gives us focus, and allows us to celebrate our accomplishments.

Children benefit from goal setting, too. Having goals teaches children about planning, perseverance, and positive behavior. It gives them a sense of control and responsibility for their actions and over their learning. Believe it or not, Montessori students, perhaps without knowing it, set and achieve goals almost daily. Many students enter their classrooms knowing exactly what work they want to do that day. Then, they go to the shelf, collect the work, perform the tasks, and voilà! They’ve achieved their goal! Or, a Montessori student might have been inspired by an older student using a certain material in a more advanced way in October, and then spends time observing to learn how it’s done, until one day in the spring, he or she tries it him or herself. Check—another goal met!

Goals can provide inspiration for trying new things or doing things in new ways. And like adults, children do best in their goal setting with some guidance to help them set attainable goals, develop a plan to achieve them, and support and cheer them along the way. Here are just a few ideas for setting goals with your children this year:

1. Explain what goals are. Merriam-Webster defines the word goal as “the end toward which effort is directed”. By this definition, our goals need to answer the questions “What effort do I want to make?” and “Why?” Equally important is considering the answer to the question “By what date (or in what timeframe) do I want to achieve my goal?” Especially for younger children, shorter-term goals may be best in starting to learn the skill of goal setting.

2. Share your own experiences in setting and achieving goals with your child. Having an example to follow is a great tool. Equally important is sharing any obstacles you faced along the way in reaching or falling short of your own goals. Knowing that there may be bumps in the road teaches your child that there will be challenges, but there are ways to work through those challenges with some planning ahead and support from others. Be sure that you share some simple, daily goals you might have. Note, it’s best if your examples show your child a specific goal that includes a timeframe you had for completing it. For example, you might share with your child that your goal for the day is to shovel the snow before the postal worker is due to arrive. A longer-term goal might be to read one chapter of a new book before bedtime every night until the book is finished. Or, maybe you aspire to learn how to make icing flowers for a birthday cake before Grandma’s 80th birthday in March. These examples of small, simple goals are just as important as sharing a larger goal you may have achieved, such as saving money over a period of time to take a special trip or learning a new skill. Both types of goals illustrate how goals are really part of our daily lives and motivate us to get things done!

3. Encourage your child to brainstorm possible goals. During the brainstorming, some of the ideas your child comes up with might be ‘out there’ and outrageous like “I want to fly to the moon!” Allow those to be shared (you never know—your child may aspire to be an astronaut and achieve that goal of flying to the moon in the future!). However, if there are absolutely no realistic goals on the list at the end of the brainstorming session, remind your child about some of your simpler, daily goals and some goals that your child may have already achieved unwittingly (like learning how to ride a two-wheeler or mastering cursive writing). Ask your child, “What is something you’d like to achieve or overcome?” See if they can verbalize some of their aspirations in terms of friendships, strengthening a certain skill, sports participation, or learning something new. And remember, the goal is the child’s goal for him or herself and not your goal for your child (you can have those, too, but for this exercise, we’re teaching children to set and work towards goals for themselves!).

Have your child consider the list and add to it with something reasonable and specific that might be a better option. You might provide some help in determining if the goal is something that your child does have control of, too. For example, a high school student whose goal is to ‘get into Harvard’ can certainly work very hard towards that goal, but ultimately, it’s the college admissions officer who determines whether the student gets in and the fate of the result lies not with the student but with the school. Instead, keep the goal within the framework of what the child can do and control, such as learning to play a song on the ukulele or trying to be less shy and more outgoing at birthday parties.

4. Write down the goal! This could be a fun art project. Write down the goal on poster board and have your child decorate it in any way she or he would like. Then keep the written goal up in a place your child will see it as a reminder of what she or he hopes to achieve. The poster could also be used as a tool for tracking progress (as you’ll see below in number 6)!

5. Make a plan. Some of your children, particularly Kindergartners and Elementary students, may have ‘work plans’ at school. These are used by students and teachers to organize the work children do in school and keep them on track with their progress through different materials and subjects. Similarly, a personal goal can be set up like these school work plans. Knowing what you want to achieve, setting a target date for achieving it, and then filling in the steps needed to work towards the goal are all part of the plan. This all doesn’t have to be written down, but these are important things to discuss with your child. Breaking a goal into smaller steps is helpful. Reaching each step in itself is an accomplishment that helps spur a child on to following through on whatever larger goal she or he has set. 

This is also a good place to have your child consider what the challenges might be in working toward the goal. It might not be easy all the time, but knowing that ahead of time allows your child to prepare for the ‘what ifs’ and the difficult days. Be sure to remind your child that you are there to support him or her along the way. If appropriate, have your child consider who else might serve as a support in working towards the goal—a teacher, grandparent, librarian, or even YouTube tutorial videos? Knowing the resources available can also be part of the plan and pave the way towards success. Some runners training for a marathon use apps on their smartphones that provide training schedules, and they often enlist a running partner to help from becoming sidetracked or discouraged during their months of training leading up to the big day. Help your child think about resources that might help.

6. Celebrate every success along the way! Now, you don’t need to pull out that credit card here (remember the goal of cutting back on purchases?!), but it is important that you and your child acknowledge the successes your child meets on his or her journey towards reaching the goal that has been set. Positive encouragement in simply acknowledging that you’ve seen your child make an effort to work towards his or her goal might be enough! Or, perhaps have your child go back to the poster board with the goal written on it and add new decorations every time he or she has made some progress. This is very different from someone handing out a ‘gold star’. Instead, your child can take a moment to step back and reflect on what she or he has been working at and recognize the positive movement. It becomes an internal reward system of feeling good about what you’ve been doing. Remember those classroom work plans? The celebration is often being able to cross something off of the ‘to do’ list. That in itself is satisfying and rewarding, and it shows that progress has been made. These small celebrations also provide momentum for continuing on towards that end goal.

And once the goal is achieved, your child might celebrate by thinking up the next bigger goal that lies ahead!

For more information on children and goal setting, see these resources which also were used in compiling some of the information for this article:

Borba, Dr. Michele. “How to Teach Kids Goal-Setting and Perseverance”. US News & World Report. December 2017. https://health.usnews.com/wellness/for-parents/articles/2017-12-26/how-to-teach-kids-goal-setting-and-perseverance.

Cullins, Ashley. “4 Steps for Helping Your Child Set Effective Goals (Plus a Bonus Tip)”. Big Life Journal. December 2019. https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/goal-setting-for-kids.

Evitt, Marie Faust. “7 Tips for Teaching Kids How to Set Goals (And Reach Them!)”. Parents Magazine. https://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/style/how-to-teach-kids-perseverance-goal-setting/.

Collaborating with The Country Home: Keeping the spirit of caring and giving alive all throughout the year!

It is always with great anticipation that MCA selects and announces the organization it will support each school year, and we take great pride in making our charitable efforts an ongoing series of events throughout the year rather than limiting them to just the holiday season. This year, we are especially excited about the opportunities that are unfolding for our students, staff, and families as we partner with The Country Home Memory Care. We believe that the connections we are making through the activities we have planned will be long-lasting and make a positive impact not only in the lives of the residents at The Country Home, but also for our MCA community.

About The Country Home
Located in Morris Plains, New Jersey, The Country Home is a 38-bed community which offers personal residential care for senior citizens with Dementia and Alzheimer’s. The Victorian house is surrounded by a white picket fence with a beautiful outside seating area where music can be heard playing. There is a large area for the residents to garden with family members, and on Sundays, they have “Family Day” where everyone gathers together. It is a place where people can feel comfortable and at home while receiving the attention and care that they need. The residents have the opportunity to engage in a variety of daily activities, such as playing games or caring for the cat and dog through pet therapy, and we are adding to their opportunities with our school community efforts this year.

Our Special Connection
Mrs. Jacqueline Pisciotto, one of our MCA Head Teachers, discovered The Country Home when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Mrs. Pisciotto, through her personal experience, has learned a great deal about the needs of Alzheimer’s patients and has come to discover that the Montessori approach not only benefits children, but also benefits those senior citizens with Dementia or Alzheimer’s. As researchers have found in their work with the elderly in recent years, Mrs. Pisciotto observed firsthand that by bringing Montessori ideas and activities into this senior community, the residents could engage in meaningful activities that stimulate and engage their minds and utilize their fine motor skills in the same way that our MCA students benefit from this type of work at their own developmental stages. In discussing this initiative with Dr. Timothy Purnell, current CEO of the American Montessori Society, we learned that AMS has recently highlighted information on the positive connection between Montessori and Alzheimer’s patients, so this is an exciting time to become involved in newly developing research and Montessori expansion across generations.

Together with Mr. Steven Richter, the Administrator of The Country Home, MCA began exploring ways to apply the Montessori philosophy and incorporate Montessori Materials into the daily activities of the senior citizens at The Country Home. Thus, MCA’s service commitment started, and we are well on our way to making a positive impact on the lives of our new friends at The Country Home.

Bringing Montessori to The Country Home
To support The Country Home’s Dementia/Alzheimer’s care services, MCA students are creating Montessori-inspired materials to share with the residents. Together with their teachers, the students are designing their own Practical Life exercises, art projects, and Sensorial lessons for their new Montessori counterparts. These are then shared with the residents at The Country Home by Mrs. Pisciotto, who demonstrates to the seniors how to use the materials. The materials remain at the center housed on a special “Montessori Cart” which was donated by MCA and assembled by our MCA Elementary students. This cart and the materials are left on the premises for the residents to use as they wish.

Currently, Mrs. Pisciotto and Mrs. Camilla Nichols-Uhler, Director of Montessori Development, have been visiting the residents each week, bringing in different activities for the seniors to explore. To date, they have presented lessons on patterning and stringing beads, matching socks, folding napkins, matching colors, flowers, and leaves, spooning cheerios, and tonging pom poms. The residents also are enjoying using tangram puzzles; one former construction foreman absolutely loves these puzzles! In addition, Mrs. Pisciotto and Mrs. Nichols-Uhler have shared various arts and crafts activities, including making holiday decorations. Mrs. Pisciotto also brought in the birds from her classroom, Tinker Bell and Peter Pan, and they were a huge hit, as many of the residents spent time watching and interacting with them.

During these MCA visits, everyone becomes engaged in various activities which support fine motor control, concentration, and memory. Not only that, but they have fun and make social connections as well! Several residents have started to sing songs and share stories and memories from their lives. Needless to say, the reception from everyone at The Country Home has been nothing but positive, and there have been many requests to please bring in more Montessori work for them to do!

     

More Student, Staff, and Family Participation Opportunities
Our MCA Kindergarten and Elementary students will have the added opportunity to ‘adopt a grandparent’ to write to and send artwork to throughout the school year. The Elementary students plan to travel to The Country Home to sing for the residents during the winter holidays, and we aim to arrange more visits at other times during the year. In the spring, we also hope to collaborate in some seed raising and planting with the residents in their beautiful garden, and perhaps plan a day when MCA families can visit the home to help in the planting at a “Sunday Planting in the Garden Get-Together”. In addition, MCA staff will have the chance to visit The Country Home as part of their in-service days. There they will work with residents using the materials from the children, read, engage in conversation, and help with any simple tasks that might need to be done at the facility. Our goal is hope to support The Country Home in making their senior residents feel loved, respected, and cherished.

Meaningful Montessori Outreach and Outcomes
Perhaps one of the most exciting things about our partnership with The Country Home is the opportunity for our students and staff to assess firsthand how Montessori impacts the lives of the residents. By collecting personal reflections, stories, photos, and feedback from the residents and staff at The Country Home about their experiences with working with Montessori materials and interacting with our MCA community, we can follow the progress and hopefully confirm our belief that Montessori is beneficial across ages. We believe that Montessori can build a bridge between generations and provide a place where young and old can come together in a spirit of caring, comfort, creativity, and community.

We are so excited to engage in this partnership with The Country Home! Stay tuned for more updates of our activities throughout the year!

If you’d like to read more about the benefits of bringing Montessori into the lives of people with dementia, you might like reading the following articles online:

Camp, Cameron, Antenucci, V., Roberts, A., Fickenscher, T., Erkes, J., and Neal, T. “The Montessori Method Applied to Dementia: An International Perspective.” Montessori Life, Spring 2017. American Montessori Society, https://amshq.org/About-Montessori/Montessori-Articles/All-Articles/The-Montessori-Method-Applied-to-Dementia.

Hunstman, Mark. “Using the Montessori Method for Dementia.” alzheimers.net, https://www.alzheimers.net/montessori-method-dementia/.

How to Feed Your Child in a Busy World: Advice from a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and MCA Parent

By Karla Gabre, RDN

Every day we are faced with decisions to help build a strong foundation for our children’s future. We make decisions on education, enrichment opportunities, and what technology they are exposed to. We agonize over the choices we have and lay awake wondering if we’ve made the right ones. And often the hardest decision of all? What and how to feed your child! It’s really the first decision we are met with when that little human comes into this world, and we continue to face it every day! Feeding kids is hard work…. even for a Dietitian! I can remember thinking it was going to be a breeze… I mean I had almost 10 years of clinical nutrition experience under my belt when my twins were born. I was used to calculating formulas to feed patients on respirators and making meal plans for newly diagnosed diabetics. How hard could it be to feed these healthy little people? Wow, was I wrong! For me, it wasn’t just the “what” but the “how” that was important. Getting my kids to eat well most of the time in this busy world, but most importantly instilling a good relationship with food that would carry them into adulthood, became a priority for me.

Here are a few tips that I believe are important to help build that strong foundation necessary for healthy relationships around food.

1. Have your children connect with the food that they eat. This might mean you plant a garden together or have a few planted pots of herbs or small vegetables on the back patio or kitchen windowsill. Or maybe you join a CSA or community garden. At the very least, check out some books about food and food sources from your local library and read through them together with your child. It is essential that kids know where their food comes from and that the foods that nourish them come from the earth.

2. Involve your kids in meal planning. After your children learn where food really comes from, get them involved in your family’s meal planning through grocery shopping, prepping, and cooking. Kids as young as three can chop vegetables, peel carrots, and grate cheese. The Montessori philosophy involves children in food prep and serving as part of the Practical Life area of the classroom. Studies show that involving your children in food prep leads to better eating habits long term.

3. Try your best to eat as a family as many nights as possible. Our busy schedules can rob us of precious time sharing a meal. Eating as a family improves eating habits in addition to creating a sacred time and space that your children will start to depend on. Meal time should be a time to share experiences of the day and a time to reconnect. Eating “family style” can also be a great way to empower children to make choices around food. For children that tend to eat selectively, it will give them more control over their meal, as many times this choice can ease the stress for children and increase variety and acceptance.

4. Plan ahead. To get a meal on the table each night takes a little work and some pre- planning. So, whether it’s pulling chicken from the freezer in the morning so that it’s ready to put on the grill or in the oven later or prepping the crock pot the night before, initiating a plan is essential. Busy families may also decide to allocate time to prep or even cook a few large meals ahead of time so that there are meals ready to go in the fridge throughout the week. This food can be packed up for lunches or reheated for a quick meal on a night that meal prep is not possible. A menu pre-planned for the week is also a great way to take the thinking out of the stressful dinnertime hours. Families should work together to create this menu so that everyone’s favorites are incorporated.

5. Be a role model. Having a child makes you take stock in your own behaviors and habits. If your goal is for your child to be a healthy eater (as in eating a variety of foods and trying new foods), make sure you are doing the same! If you have struggled with your relationship with food or body image, this might be a time to take a deeper look into this and work to resolve any issues.

6. Teach mindfulness around food. Breath work and meditation in the Montessori classroom are ways to teach mindfulness and stillness to our children in this fast-paced world. We are a culture of “eating on the run” and this is quickly catching up to us. In the Montessori classroom, children eat together as a community, words of gratitude are said, and children independently choose from their lunch boxes. Talking amongst friends at their lunch table is encouraged. At home, try to make these practices part of your daily routine. In addition, encourage children to “listen to their bodies” for cues of hunger and fullness. It’s important for children to know these feelings in order to develop healthy regulation of food. Many times, when mealtime is rushed or food is eaten “on the go”, it is hard for children to develop these skills and feelings of stress are associated with eating. Meals and snack times should be intentional and joyful experiences for children in order to build a healthy relationship with food.

7. Keep it simple! Strive to make meals and snacks that are balanced and from as many whole foods as possible. Try to “eat the rainbow” to ensure you are providing your children with a variety of essential vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Overall, keep it simple and attainable for YOUR family.

For additional reading on this topic, consider checking out the following resources:

Fearless Feeding – How to Raise Healthy Eaters from High Chair to High School by Jill Castle and Maryann Jacobsen

Ellyn Satter Institute – www.ellynsatterinstitute.org

Falling in Love with Interactive Books

By Shahrooz Aziminia with Alex Chiu

As we cozy ourselves into the autumn season, it’s an especially wonderful time of year to
cuddle up with your child and read a few good books! It’s never too early to begin reading
to your children, and if you haven’t established a family reading routine, it’s certainly not too late! Consider adding a before bedtime, early morning, or Sunday afternoon reading ritual to promote and instill a love of books and reading within your children. Today we’re sharing with you reviews of a few favorite interactive book collections from Mrs. Aziminia’s PM class, as well as a special extension project you might be inspired to do at home!

Happy fall, and happy falling into a love of reading!

The first time we read Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson was as a group. Together we observed the life cycle of an apple tree unfold through beautiful illustrations as we followed the directions on each page. The actions for interacting with the book are simple: tap the tree and a leaf will appear on the next page, or shake the tree and the blossoms fall off the tree on the next page. Children find interactive books both funny and magical. Taking turns completing each action gives the story a theatrical feel as each child acts out his or her part in the story.

In our class, Tap the Magic Tree has become a favorite book that brightens moods, brings children of different ages together, and acts as a springboard for an apple tree lesson! If you would like to view the book in action, there are YouTube videos available on line. Follow link to view the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otnip3-zDus.

At home, you might be interested in checking out Christie Matheson’s book Touch the Brightest Star, a sweet interactive story that’s perfect for bedtime. As for our class, we are looking forward to reading our next Christie Matheson book- Plant the Tiny Seed!



Another dynamic author whose books our class has enjoyed is Herve Tullet. His most famous books are Press Here and Mix it Up! His artsy, interactive books engage the children’s imagination in a humorous way. His books are fun to read aloud and can engage a wide age range of children. They can be read by children of all reading levels, including non-readers. There are no wrong ways to read these books and no limit as to how silly you can get when you do. If you need some ideas on different ways to deliver the interactions, just watch the author on YouTube. He is a master at igniting imaginations and creating a space where everyone can feel welcomed. Follow this link to see Herve Tullet’s presentation at the Library of Congress’ Young Readers Center: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNi-3pvLrGM.

    

So far our class has loved Say Zoop! and I am Blop! In the book Say Zoop!, the reader repeats silly sounds as each dot appears on the page. In I am Blop!, Tullet uses a quatrefoil shape named Blop to tell a story that seems so simple that the children were inspired to create their own. In class, the students set about illustrating their books using Do-A-Dot markers (that mimic Tullet’s signature dot paintings), our quatrefoil and circle Metal Inset shapes, as well as the quatrefoil stamp. This textless book was quick to put together, and the children “read” them to the class afterwards. The simplicity of this project made the creation fun, and the humorous delivery of these authors was nothing short of exhilarating!

 
 

The children are already looking forward to creating new stories soon!

My personal favorite Herve Tullet book is The Trail Game. This fantastic book has the child trace a winding path with his or her finger that leads either to the top of the page or to the bottom. The hand-eye tracking involved is a phenomenal pre-reading exercise and a mesmerizing endeavor. These books appeal to and are appropriate for many age levels, which is very Montessori-like! All of the 2 ½- through 5-year-olds in class were enthralled with these selections.

Tullet has been quoted as saying “A children’s book is a book that is going to be read by an adult and a child. My idea is that the book is in the middle where everyone can play, talk, touch, and so on….” We hope that your family enjoys discovering new favorite books of your own where you can ‘play, talk, and touch’ together to bring the books alive and make reading time together memorable. When you do, please share these special finds with your children’s teachers—we are always looking for treasured titles to add to our list!