June 2022 – Claudia Mann

The 3-Period Lesson: Does It Exist in Elementary?

mw-claudiamann on June 28, 2022

“I give very few lessons on how to give lessons…”

Did you know that the 3-Period lesson, a hallmark of Montessori methodology, was not “invented” by Montessori at all? That credit goes to the 19th century psychiatrist, Edouard Séguin, whose work was deeply studied by Maria during the years that she practiced medicine throughout the asylums of Rome.^{1 Nonetheless, the 3-period lesson, with its limited language and concentrated intentions (“naming”, “recognizing”, “pronouncing”) has become one of the pillars of Montessori lesson presentation. Especially in the primary or class for 3-to-6-year-olds in which language development is so great a focus, these uncluttered lessons are the key to growing a rich vocabulary that introduces and connects the child to a wide array of items and concepts.}

Is the 3-period lesson relevant in Elementary?

Certainly, there is continued vocabulary development with elementary students, but this child has a different demeanor than the one found in the primary classroom. The elementary child’s thoughts are filled with questions, imagination is at its height, and constant chatter is their way of processing while being social.

For this little human who’s entered a new level of development, the simple 3-period lesson as was given in the primary class may be uninspiring, tedious, or even a complete turn-off. This child now requires lessons to provide a sense of wonder, piqued curiosity, and the thrill of opportunity to discover beyond the lesson. As Dr. Montessori said in the rest of that quote, the guide who wants to avoid creating obstacles to learning, needs to orient to the student before them.

The Elementary First Period

For the elementary student, the first period lesson needs to strike the imagination and touch the deepest inquisitiveness that lies within each child. My trainer, Biff Maier, called this initial, first period presentation for elementary “The Gift.”

Think about how one prepares a gift for giving. First, we choose something intended to delight the receiver. We anticipate the reaction and begin to plan for the moment of giving. We wrap the gift in an enticing way that will encourage eagerness for the discovery of the hidden treasure inside. And finally, we present the gift at just the right moment for it to be received with great enthusiasm.

Imagine preparing each lesson with this sort of attention: a lesson that will promote wonder and eagerness to know more.

Second Period: Practice

If our First Period “Gift” has been received as hoped, our elementary students are off and running with the aid of the Human Tendencies. Exploration, Manipulation, and Activity spur the elementary students’ choices as they move forward throughout the rehearsal period. Their desire to become masterful is supported through Repetition and Exactness. All these tendencies guide the student’s efforts to master the intention of that inspiring first period gift.

As guides, we must be mindful to match the rehearsal phase, second period, to the student’s abilities so they can experience just the right amount of challenge to hold their interest, to give them consistent success and to keep their desire for more knowledge intact. This is flow² at its best!

Third Period: Demonstration of Learning

Not that we could limit it, but all that talking and socializing that takes place in elementary is part of period #3. In their conversations, students say what they think, tell what they know, and continue the learning into new stages of mastery. Ever listened in on two 7-year-olds discussing their pets? They tell each other all sorts of “factual” data, as they instruct the other in the ways of their favorite furry beast. This could extend their knowledge of body parts and functions, behavioral inclinations, and environmental preferences.

Elementary children demonstrate their learning most comfortably through talking. Learning to share their learning through verbal presentations is the prelude to written and so on. There are countless ways to demonstrate learning…take a look at Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory for ideas…but talking may be the one that is most natural for our elementary learners. So I encourage you to teach your students how to talk in ways that enhance their growing sense of mastery.

Cosmic Education: The Perfect Framework for Three-Period Lessons

The big ideas found in our Universe provide the best opportunities for creating the first period “Gifts” that lead to all the skill-building and engagement we could hope to provide our students. From science to history to humanity, the package that is Cosmic Education can offer the Montessori guide limitless lessons to inspire and engross the interests of our elementary students. When we follow the elementary version of the 3-period lesson, we don’t need a formula for giving a lesson. We simply need the sheer energy of providing the surprise and awesomeness of a gift.

1. You may read about this in Maria Montessori: A Biography by Rita Kramer, part 1: The Early Struggles, chapter 3

Want to Connect with Your Cosmic Task?

mw-claudiamann on June 21, 2022

I’ve just finished up a short course on Cosmic Education with a group of adults unfamiliar with the Montessori elementary program. Before the course, these adults had little experience with the concept that is so significant in the development of elementary-aged children: Cosmic Education. Their newfound appreciation for the impact Cosmic Education could have on their role as guides was re-inspiring! It’s totally true that I learn so much more from my students, regardless of their age, than I impart to them. For that I’m eternally grateful!

An Herb Garden and Cosmic Task

The “cosmic” inspiration triggered reflection on something I saw happening outside my window: a Swallowtail butterfly had found the herbs I keep between the kitchen and the avocado pool. That garden has grown the last few months as I planted from the mental list I made when discussing herb use with my son, the chef. Being more of a “just get something on the table” sort of cook, I’ve planted herbs more for the experience of them in the garden than the gastronomic opportunities they provide, but I’m learning. The culinary gene skipped a generation, so he is the one carrying on my mother’s talents in the kitchen while doing his best to enlighten me. (SIDEBAR: You can watch his developing work on Instagram.)

What’s Your Motivation for the Tasks You Choose?

Most years I add something new to the herbal space: Marjoram, Yarrow, even odd things like Gotu Kola and Self Heal, which I have no idea how to use. No matter what, though, EVERY year I make sure there is fresh dill, not so much for the herb itself, but for the butterflies.

I learned several years ago that Swallowtails are especially attracted to dill, fennel, and cilantro. Cilantros are planted throughout all our garden beds for the mass amounts of Pico de Gallo and guacamole we love, but dill…that’s mostly for the swallowtails. Rewarded with a caterpillar and chrysalis the first year of my dill planting, I’ve not missed a year since.

https://youtu.be/V51HvbqqHYc

Watching that butterfly flit through the herbs, dipping onto the surface of the pool, then back to the herbs again and again, I thought about motivation and Cosmic Task. How does this herb garden, and my gardening in general, fit into my Cosmic Task? How do we know when we’ve found our Cosmic Task…or are we like the butterfly who performs its Cosmic Task with no awareness other than to do what it does as part of its effort to live? Does it matter?

Montessori Thoughts on the Human side of Cosmic Task

Montessori didn’t leave us without at least some guidance to sort out the human perspective on cosmic task, although our free will, choice and independence impact individual awareness of personal tendencies, desires and an urge toward certain tasks.

Man’s arrival has created a psychosphere on Earth. What is his task in it? For we must understand that mankind, too, has a task with regard to the Earth on which it lives. The coming of mankind meant a new force, whose function it is to further the progress of evolution. We notice that man possesses certain capacities which may stimulate progress on Earth. His scientific work gradually discloses the secrets of Nature and, moreover, makes use of them, thus creating new possibilities. His technical skill has harnessed the forces of nature in order to build the most complicated machinery. Man’s toil has developed agricultural products which were unknown in primitive nature. Obviously, man too has an active task on Earth.²

Can One Settle on Their Personal Cosmic Task?

When it gets right down to it, I believe that flow can help us be in touch with our Cosmic Task. I flow toward appreciation of natural things: rocks, shells, flowers, birds, and butterflies, of course! Seeing any one of those can stop me in my tracks for a moment of pleasure. Encouraging those moments to be close to home, at least some of my time is spent creating beautiful opportunities for daily discoveries: a rock formation, a bird bath, a Rose Garden, flowering cactus. I plant the flowers, herbs, veggies and fruits to draw the birds, bees, and butterflies, creating a harmony among the elements, food for our bodies…and joy for my heart and soul. That’s Cosmic!

1. As quoted in “Maria Montessori’s Cosmic Vision, Cosmic Plan, and Cosmic Education” by Camillo Grazzini. The NAMTA Journal, Vol.38, No. 1, Winter, 2013

2. Montessori quoted in Grazzini, pg 111

Summer Learning…Naturally!

mw-claudiamann on June 14, 2022

In the northern hemisphere, it’s nearly summertime. The “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” feel like sweet respite after this year of coming back to “life” after the long winter of changing school schedules, sudden closures, social distancing, and the challenges of learning to get along with each other after a year of keeping to ourselves.

That year of keeping to ourselves meant many things, among them a concern for the loss of learning that can occur when children don’t have their usual sources of motivation and encouragement. Instead of the “summer slide,” many teachers talk about the “covid slide” with students falling behind the expectations for a specific age or grade. Yet the testing goes on. (“BIG SIGH!” A different subject for another day.)

Humans are Learners

Dr. Montessori recognized something in humans that many of us adults seem to forget: that it’s a natural human instinct to learn. I was one of those lucky kids who got to grow up playing unsupervised for hours: climbing trees, making forts under old grape vines, damming up the creek to create a swimming hole on the hottest days, while laughing, arguing, solving the problems of 5-, 6-, and 7-year-olds for hours on end.

“Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.”

The Montessori Method

Frolicking in the overgrown remnants of the farm at the end of our short streets, we collected all kinds of objects. Fresh summer leaves were pressed between wax paper and put into a notebook or box to share when returning to school in the fall. Seed pods weren’t my favorite natural collectible, (I think I liked the order of the wax-paper-pressing and saving), but there were plenty to be found. And there were rocks…so many rocks!

As we got older, we collected books: Nancy Drew was read and passed around so much that I started a little library in our storage room. Yep…more order!

The point being, that my friends and I were always collecting something. We’d talk about our treasures, share them with each other, covet the cool ones owned by our friends, and yearn for the next time our moms let us buy a new Nancy Drew, coordinating the picks so we’d have access to more of them.

Collecting, Keeping, and Honing Skills

Collecting is one of the most natural and instinctive behaviors for inspired learning; an equal-opportunity habit that is available to all. With a little encouragement, you can turn this into learning that may even last a lifetime.

As a Montessorian with a passion for Cosmic Education, collecting found objects leads to all sorts of easily accessible learning about the Earth and the Universe. The curiosity raised inspires listening, reading, and even simple writing for record-keeping.

As a parent, I learned so much about my children when observing their excitement for objects that caught their attention. I’d wonder out loud about them, encouraging conversation or curiosity.

We’d make time for a library visit to see if there was info to be found…these were the early days of computers and google had not found its way into my vocabulary or my resources for inquiry. And that also meant a stop at the neighborhood Dairy Queen where we’d pour over the books, trying to keep them free of drips, of course, making summer memories of curiosity, wonder, relationships and learning.

A Gift for You

Are you ready to start on a collecting journey with your child? I have a free start-up guide available here. It’s a gift to be found on my private Facebook group, Demystifying Cosmic Education.

The Demystifying Cosmic Education Facebook group is focused on creating a classroom or homeschool that vibrates with the joy of Cosmic Education. This summer, I’ll be offering videos, tips, live broadcasts and online chats to help you prepare your Cosmic-focused learning environment for the coming year and throughout the months that follow. If you’re not already a member, you’ll be asked to answer a few questions and then you’re in!

For now, this little guide to Collecting will get you started. Enjoy!

Stepping out of the busy-ness

mw-claudiamann on June 7, 2022

[The Teacher] must first love and understand the universe.

She must therefore prepare herself and work at it.”

Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence pg. 20

Are you plagued by the articles about the danger of being too busy? Just try Google-ing “the danger of being too busy” and you’ll be inundated with warnings of the health and relationship wellness that can suffer under the weight of “too busy.”

My children give me no end of grief about how much I “work,” yet so much of what I work “at” feels like an insatiable passion that fuels my heart and soul. I have “truly worked at loving and understanding the Universe” and my passion for it has turned into a life filled with opportunities for more and more “work.”

BUT….

I’ve just returned from a week with my children. In terms of physicality, it was more work than I’ve done in years…and my muscles are protesting loudly! But I stepped away from my computer and into empty time with nothing to fill it but walks along the seashore, gentle evenings listening to live music, and hours of conversation and quiet as I put my focus on being present to them.

When we rolled up the lane that ended my son’s move with a 3-day car trip from Seattle to Valley Center, I couldn’t wait to do nothing…as in sitting alongside my husband in the cool shade of our newly designed garden… and just BE.

As you say goodbye to the 2021-2022 school year, I offer you some encouragement for stepping out of the busy-ness through this Lifehack article: 21 Reasons Why You Should Not Be Proud of Being Busy.

After the week I’ve just had, #1 tops my list, too, but there are many of the 21 reasons that land as tough reminders of what is given up when I choose busy-ness. After the joys of being present last week, I’m recommitting myself to more paying attention, being aware, and taking life just a little slower. I hope you will too!

Month: June 2022