mw-claudiamann – Page 2

Inspired by Montessori? Turns Out, It’s Science!

mw-claudiamann on July 17, 2023

“It should be realized that genuine interest cannot be forced. Therefore, all methods of education, based on centres of interest, which have been chosen by adults, are wrong. Moreover, these centres of interest are superfluous, for the child is interested in everything… A global vision of cosmic events fascinates the child and his interest will soon remain fixed on one particular part, as a starting point for more intensive studies.”

Maria Montessori, Unpublished lecture, Amsterdam, 1950

I don’t know any Montessori teachers lacking THAT moment: the one when their heart was captured by some aspect of the method, the children, Cosmic stories, or the possibility of building a peaceful world. Some aspect resonated so deeply that you jumped into your Montessori journey. Listening to Martha McDermott, with her gentle Scottish brogue, envisioning the “possibility” of our work was awe-inspiring for me.

As it turns out, there’s a good reason for that: Awe experiences are motivating! Dacher Keltner, UC-Berkely professor of psychology and director of the Greater Good Science Center, has studied the effects of awe on our mental health and he says that awe and wonder have many benefits for us. When we experience awe and wonder, we are filled with a sense of amazement and fascination. Through these emotions, we can develop a more profound sense of connection to the world and to other people.

When we experience awe and wonder, we are filled with a sense of amazement and fascination.

“Awe reveals that we are not separate from others, but interdependent. One early study found that by simply standing near an awe-inspiring replica of a T-rex skeleton, students’ sense of self shifted from independent view, defined by differentiating traits and preferences, to an interdependent sense of self focused on features of identity shared with others.” [1]

Did you catch it? He’s speaking our language: interdependent!

Montessori impressionistic lessons take on greater meaning with all this neuropsychology in mind. Think about how we introduce a fragrant strawberry in an infant class. We silently offer it to sniff and grasp, standing back to let the child take it all in. Their face tells its own story of awe, and their instinct to shove that strawberry into their mouth to get the full experience is really something to behold. In primary Montessori classes, we grow butterflies, releasing them to do their pollination work in the world. Once elementary rolls around, children are offered the Great Lessons, timelines, and charts, each designed to inspire a moment of awe: dark rooms, bursting balloons, exploding volcanoes, long-long-long black lines, giant charts, all intended to impress and fill the child with wonder.

Mental Health Benefits of Awe

According to Dr. Keltner, awe and wonder are also associated with a range of psychological benefits.

“…subsequent studies have turned to examine how experiences of distinct positive emotions, such as amusement or gratitude, benefit health and well-being”[2]

Focusing on the science of awe since the mid 1990’s, Dr. Keltner and others have shown that people who experience these emotions are more likely to have a sense of purpose in life, exhibit more generosity and compassion, and feel more satisfied overall. People who feel these emotions may be more resilient in the face of adversity, better able to cope with stress, and more likely to experience positive emotions such as joy and gratitude.

How lucky we are to be teaching using a method designed to instill awe into our lessons? I know teaching can be tough, but let’s lighten the load a little each day with an infusion of awe, not just now and then…but as a daily dose of joy!

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/02/awe-psychology-life-death-dacher-keltner

[2] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/17456916221094856

Mindfulness, Meditation and Montessori: Why Observation is Key to Science and Sanctity

mw-claudiamann on August 24, 2022

“The vision of the teacher should be at once precise like that of the scientist, and spiritual like that of the saint. The preparation for science and the preparation for sanctity should form a new soul, for the attitude of the teacher should be at once positive, scientific and spiritual.”

Dr. Maria Montessori,’ The Advanced Montessori Method – I, Clio Press Ltd, 107

Mindfulness and Montessori seem to go hand in hand. Dr. Montessori’s prolific writing on education and peace reminds us to infuse awareness, attention, thoughtfulness and respect into every corner of our daily activity. So it should come as no surprise that mindfulness practices have found their way into the lives of Montessori teachers, classrooms, and children.

Everyday routines inspire and instill peaceful practices. Take respect, for example. In my classroom the rules were minimal: Respect Yourself, Respect the Environment, Respect Each Other. These three seemed to pretty much cover all possible applications of the concept, while providing the fodder for discussions about the meaning, the purpose, and the “doing” of respect.

Yet to be truly “respectful” requires mindfulness: a thoughtful awareness that can only come through one of our key practices: observation. Dr. Montessori continues her explanation of the Montessori teacher’s vision with these words:

“Positive and scientific, because she has an exact task to perform, and it is necessary that she should put herself into immediate relation with the truth by means of rigorous observation…”

Dr. Maria Montessori, The Advanced Montessori Method – I, Clio Press Ltd, 107

As mindful observers seeking truth, we strive to watch like a scientist. We give presentations (our experiments), we watch, make notes, alter the controls, watch again, and again…always seeking truth. To be mindful is to be open to all possibilities of interpretation. While seeking truth we must also watch our prejudices. In scientific observation there is both a requirement for judgment and a mandate to beware of it. A conclusion reached too soon may lead us down an erroneous path, further complicating or damaging a relationship or a child’s potential.

Dr. Montessori wrote and spoke often of the secret the child held within her, the spirit of the little human that might be revealed. How do we work against the possibility of an error in assessment? How can we remain mindful so that our judgments do not negatively influence the unfolding of the child before us? The answer is the practice of meditative observation.

“Spiritual, because it is to man that his powers of observation are to be applied, and because the characteristics of the creature who is to be his particular subject of observation are spiritual.”

Dr. Maria Montessori, The Advanced Montessori Method – I, Clio Press Ltd, 107

This is meditation as in quiet, contemplative reflection. Quiet mind. Quiet heart. Without the chatter of thoughts acquired through personal experience, another’s teaching, or an erroneous perception. This is the quiet that allows us to step out of our preconceived notions so we may focus on the child and her secret. As too-busy adults, we can rush to judgment in our observation, forgetting that precision requires wonder, patience, and a desire to discover what is not obvious; to see what lies hidden behind the easily seen. This is the spiritual side of our observational practice.

With her words, Montessori urges us to become the vision of the teacher she imagined possible. We practice the art of observation, striving for scientific precision and saintly inspiration. We practice not to achieve mastery, but to become more skillful in seeing the secret the child holds within.

Yet there’s more in it for the adult who practices observation. In mindful, meditative observation lies a precious gift for that observer. Dr. Montessori understood that observation, the fundamental practice of her method, allowed the adult to discover more than the secrets of the child. The dance between observer and observed reveals the adult’s true spirit as well. Observation is the key to discovery of the new soul waiting within each of us who are guided to this life-altering work.

Start of school got you stressed out? 3 Ways to Lighten Up!

mw-claudiamann on August 17, 2022

“Our aim is not only to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize,
but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his innermost core.”

Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, P. 11

Do you love the start of a new school year? The anticipation of a new group of students mixed with the old; the new class leaders; a few carefully chosen new materials to add to your carefully prepared environment; a chance to develop the unique culture of a group…all these and more usually had me stoked. At the same time, a little trepidation usually added to my excitement in the form of stress; especially in the first few years.

Stress, Distress and …Eustress?

Ever heard of eustress? I hadn’t until my first year of secondary training. It was part of our Social World class to help rising teens understand that stress isn’t all bad. Like many, if not most of us adults, I’d been conditioned to the typical view that stress is something to be avoided as much as possible. (Yet another lesson to be learned through my Montessori training …sigh!) It wasn’t that the concept was new, it was the naming of it that helped me embrace it more firmly in my teacher brain.

I’d used good stress significantly in my flute-playing career. At the conservatory, we talked about appropriate stresses that enhanced our performance versus the performance anxiety that could completely derail us. But it wasn’t until secondary training that the concept of eustress was introduced as an aid to everyday life.

The Biology of Stress

Stress is what happens in our body when something occurs that triggers our emotions. In response, our brain sends hormones to parts of our body so we are ready to take action: flight, fight or freeze. If the heightened energy helps us avoid an actual threat, it’s caused eustress. Eustress helps us out, we use the added energy, and everything goes back into balance. But when the perceived “threat” falls outside our ability to control it, we may experience the added energy as distress: tension, fear, anger, or sadness.

The fluttery feelings that come along with stress can be useful if they heighten our performance, but they can wreak real havoc if they are unwelcome or overwhelming. They can keep us from sleeping, incite headaches, undermine attention, and make us just plain grumpy.

Distress vs Eustress

So, if it’s all just “stress,” what makes the difference? When does the stress become distress or eustress. Better, or bigger, question: can we influence whether the stress causes distress or eustress? Wouldn’t that be awesome?

From my own life experiences including a boatload of reading and therapy, stress can be a wonderful teacher and guide to creating joy and peace in our lives…even when life’s throwing triggers from all directions. That’s how all this talk about stress relates to “Back to School” days.

Three Simple Ways to Turn Distress to Eustress

#1-If you’re feeling stressed about the early days of the year, figure out why.

Then change your perspective and your choices.

As noted above, stress is a trigger for some deeply held belief, expectation, or desire that feels out of your control. First step is to stop and consider what is stressing you. This is an opportunity to see if underlying the stress is a need for perfection, a fear of mistake or failure, or uneasiness around the tasks before you. Recognizing the emotions that lie underneath your stress can help you address the cause of those emotions and use that information to turn distress into eustress.

How? Let’s say that you have more new students in your class than returning. Last year being the first year after a pandemic you may have faced a rough year. You’re concerned that your returning “leaders” won’t be ready to lead. You’re worried about getting the new students settled if the returning students lack leadership skills. Perhaps what you are really worried about is being able to manage the first days back and afraid that your classroom will be chaos.

Dr. Montessori tells us that children “normalize” through work. For me, this means starting with activities that feel important…to the children. In my class, we made 3” X 3” or 4” X 4” heavy stock (like picture matboard) name cards. making a beautifully illustrated card with their name. Students made at least two or three of these to use for identifying their workspace, silently asking for help from a guide in a lesson, or for holding their place in line for snack. This activity can be introduced within a discussion of why the class needs name cards and the routines that will be supported with them.

By identifying your own need for chaos reduction, you now have a purposeful activity to look forward to in the first days of school. A quick search of Teachers Pay Teachers can provide dozens of first week activities. I recommend checking out https://teachingwithamountainview.com/. She works with older elementary students but you can easily alter her materials to fit your early year needs. Your worry and fear (distress), rooted in doubt about your ability to manage, has turned into excitement for the new project plan, and confidence you’ll be getting to know the new students with a lighter attitude.

#2: Plan activities for the first days whose primary goals are getting to know the students.

Dr. Montessori wrote often about seeing the future adult within the child. Games that encourage sharing, observation, and “everybody wins” will allow you to observe children’s responses, perhaps gaining insight to the “adult to be.” Having begun my teaching career in the 1980’s, I treasure the conversations with those children, now adults, who spent hours learning and playing with me. I can still see glimpses of the child who shared my days, walking alongside the grown man or woman talking with me.

Imagining the future person who is seated at your circle can shift your focus from getting the students to behave, or normalize, to simply seeing and enjoying them. Instead of managing behaviors, you’ll be watching and listening for clues of the future adult. Your insights to their passions and dreams will help you plan learning activities to ignite the interest while practicing concepts.

Depending on the age of the students, you could include them in the imaginations of their future selves. I made a little “game” (directions here) to encourage students to find the hero within and let their wildest dreams begin to form and take hold. Embedded within the week-long activity were short read-alouds, recording (drawing, writing or dictating), and tons of conversations, all observation opportunities to get to know your students’ personalities, thoughts, excitements, and skills, too!

#3: Say “That’s Enough!” and mean it.

One of the hardest things about the first weeks of school is the never-ending “to do” list. If having too much to do in the amount of time you have is causing you stress, then look at your list and remove those things that can be left for another day…in other words: prioritize!

But don’t just prioritize based on things that you can leave till tomorrow. Prioritize based on including the things you TRULY ENJOY doing. Do you like adding décor to your classroom? Then choose three or four things you can do to spiff it up before the first day and leave it at that. Choose things that lift your spirit and touch your heart. Place conspicuously so you can glance in that direction when you need a little encouragement.

Then, once school begins, include the children in placing special objects throughout the environment. You could create boxes of items for children to choose from and encourage changes throughout the months to come. Just like flower arranging, this teaches the students that this is their space and they have ownership in making it beautiful…not ONLY cleaning it to keep it beautiful.

After the first couple of years of thinking I had to have every cubby labeled, every notebook named, all the folders identified before the first day of school, I learned that including these items as activities in the early days of school not only saved me prep time but also taught valuable organizational skills that would be used throughout their future school life. By introducing the purpose of labeling and including the students in the process, they took greater ownership of their materials. Notebooks were placed in cubbies with care, and the labels were stunning!

Creating a Eutress-ful Beginning

While few of us entered the teaching profession so that we could carry around the burden of distress, too many of us end up doing exactly that.

These three simple ways of shifting from distress to eustress can be used at any time of the year, but especially entering your school year with excitement and eustress, a stress that is motivating you toward the organization and planning that will create a peaceful classroom, can make this time of year a period of relaxed enjoyment, setting the stage for a year of joy-filled learning!

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* Clearly, we have a social duty towards this future man, this man who exists as a silhouette around the child, a duty toward this man of tomorrow. Perhaps a great future leader or a great genius is with us and his power will come from the power of the child he is today. This is the vision which we must have. ~ Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lectures, p. 140.

A Peek Into the Future: Making a Long-range Difference for Your Students

mw-claudiamann on August 9, 2022

“…we must know how to call to the man which lies dormant within the soul of the child.”

Maria Montessori,
The Advanced Montessori Method,
previously Spontaneous Activity in Education

This one’s for you, new teachers…maybe just a year or two into your teaching career. It’s for anyone who wonders if they are making a difference or having an impact on the little students in your care.

As you plan for your class, getting excited for the coming year, I’m hoping this story will inspire you with a glimpse into your possible future. You’ll even find a couple of prints with that quote to frame up and place on a shelf or wall where you’ll see it. Maybe even where the students can see it and imagine their future selves…but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Imagine receiving this unexpected text:

Happy holidays Claudia, XXXXX and I were just sitting here talking and she said how she misses the Big Bang lesson that you and Doug used to give. She gave me a whole recap of it, I thought you would like to hear that. Also she got into XXXXXXX college. She wants to major in Chemistry with a geology focus. I would say you and Doug rubbed off on her! Love to all!

We had to know more.

This is what we heard back from our former student:

As I am sure you have heard, I was accepted into xxxxxxxxx. I am overjoyed and have already confirmed my enrollment. I plan to major in Chemistry and minor in Astronomy. At xxxxxxx, you can major in general chemistry as well as chemistry with specific focuses/applications. I am torn between chemistry with an environmental focus and chemistry with a geological focus. Chemistry with an environmental focus means that you take a mix of general chemistry classes and organic chem classes. In the major, you learn how to use chemistry to address environmental issues, and to understand interactions between natural and ecological systems at a molecular level. As a chem-geo major, you take general chem classes and geo classes. You can learn more about what I could do as a chem-geo major here: (our student
included a link since she knows us!)

I have always known that I would pursue a science degree, but it was not until junior year of high school, when I took a chemistry class, that I knew I would have to do something with chemistry. I love chemistry because it is the language of our universe. We can use chemistry to break (almost) every piece of matter down into its smallest unit. Junior year I also took an environmental science class with a local college and loved learning about environmental systems and issues. As for geology, I am an avid crystal and mineral collector and I attribute this to yours and Claudia’s fossil and mineral case in the Montessori school. I love collecting all types of minerals and crystals and learning about their chemical makeup. My personal favorite type of crystal to collect is quartz, specifically inclusion quartz. I love that because of the abundance of quartz, it often forms with other minerals or chemical impurities that change its appearance. I love to use chemistry to try to figure out the potential pressure, heat, or other conditions that would have to be present to allow for the formation of a certain stone.

The reason I plan on minoring in Astronomy is simply that I find it interesting and not because I plan on finding a job where it would be applicable. Let me know if you and Claudia have further questions. I have one question for you both, do you still collect fossils and minerals?

Merry Christmas!

Now that was a thrill!

That’s the kind of note that would make any teacher swoon! But a few months later, I saw this photo on Instagram. Our student’s been making jewelry with those beloved crystals. When we spoke recently, I learned that they had apprenticed with a lapidarist learning to make cabochons.

Sharing the joy!

This week I’ll be sharing a presentation entitled, “Balancing Interests with Standards and Expectations.” I love sharing stories like this one to illustrate my commitment to Montessori classroom design that includes freedom to explore and develop individual passions. When students get to pursue their dreams, they naturally develop the skills to keep going. Our job as guides is to keep providing the tools, keep striving for development, and always continue encouraging our students to follow their hearts.

Download 5×7 Print

Download 8×10 Print

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!

Learning to Trust While Making Steady Progress

mw-claudiamann on May 31, 2022

“ ‘Courage, my dear, courage! … Go on triumphantly. I am here to help you.’ This kind of encouragement is instinctive in those who love children. ”

Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lectures, p. 131

A lot of Dr. Montessori’s writings, in fact most of them, focus on the potential of the child…a potential that many adults have trouble seeing and believing. How many of us are driven by a need to “make sure” that the child accomplishes, learns, or demonstrates some bit of wisdom: tying shoes, reading, or fixing a snack independently?

When we adults are driven by our own agendas, what do we do; what actions do we take with the children on a day-to-day basis? Many times what we do is try to take control of the situation; to make sure that all the bases are being covered. For example, If I’m concerned a child isn’t learning to read fast enough, I might make practicing flashcards a daily requirement. I might prod or coax a child through a book they “should” be able to read, asking them to sound out a word, to recognize a sight word, or try to read a complete sentence. I might constantly remind the child to pick up a book and give it a try. Sound familiar?

Letting go of our fear response

While desire can impact our actions in a variety of ways, one thing is certain: if we are taking action that pushes or coerces the child into an activity they resist, then we are not trusting the child. That lack of trust could come from some fear of failure, a negative assessment of the child’s abilities, or a worry that the student won’t meet some benchmark or answer a question correctly on a high-stakes test. It might simply come from a lack of faith that the child really wants to be successful or competent.

In The Absorbent Mind, Dr. Montessori tells us, “The teacher, when she begins work in our schools, must have a kind of faith that the child will reveal himself through work.” (P. 252)

But how do we develop the discipline, the courage and the security in our method to find that faith, to get the children to “success” as reflected in this well-known quote: “The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, “The children are now working as if I did not exist.” The Absorbent Mind by Maria Montessori, Ch. 27, (p. 283), 1949.

The teacher, when she begins work in our schools, must have a kind of faith that the child will reveal himself through work. She must free herself from all preconceived ideas concerning the levels at which the children may be.

Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, p. 252

The answer lies right in that “faith” quote…”through work.” In fact, Dr. M gives us even more instruction if we continue the quote through the next sentence: “She must free herself from all preconceived ideas concerning the levels at which the children may be.”

Guiding Principles for Building Trust

In thinking about the practical application of trust-building in my classrooms over the years, I maintained a few guiding principles. Here they are, in brief.

Know yourself and your students…deeply. Then use that awareness to inspire curiosity, by cultivating your own sense of wonder and awe and sharing it with the children.
Observe…while keeping in mind that the activity chosen by the student may seem aimless on the outside, but may be providing a great service in preparing the student for a future endeavor. Observe with curiosity, instead of assessment or judgment.
Engage the lively elementary imagination. Use movement, art, music, poetry, and construction to excite their creative juices. Play!
Create regular opportunities for children to share their discoveries with their peers and their parents through visual, verbal and written expressions. Daily or weekly in-class opportunities build a “learning” community in which students get excited to be leaders and teachers.

5. Embed skill-developing activities into the cultural studies where they will be perceived as purposeful in mastering the subject of interest. There are so many ways this can be accomplished. For example, when you offer subject-related vocabulary, make note of the word construction (ex: “in-conceiv-able” would allow a discussion of roots and affixes.) There’s no place this works better than in your timeline work: Paleontology, Precambrian, Neozoic…so many! Another timeline example: all sorts of math operations around the study of geologic periods, even having the students make their own to see if they can stump their classmates.

6. Provide lots of “practical life learning” to connect to the natural world while developing confidence and competence. For example, attach a micro business to botany that would allow application of long-term planning, prediction, budgeting, sales, promotion, and all the reading, writing, and calculating associated with it.

Introduce, Stand Back, and Take it ALL in!

Whenever I shared some new theme or subject with a story, a possibility, or an opportunity to discover, design, and share, my students rarely responded in any way that was less than amazing.

Of course, there were those students whose hesitations required some extra support or effort on my part, but the rewards were totally worth it! Watching my elementary students take leadership and teaching roles with their peers and their parents never failed to raise them up, bring them confidence, and spur them on to the next project that would move the needle just a little closer to mastery.

Even when the struggles were big and scary, like dyslexia or dysgraphia, or the fragile self-confidence that caused procrastination or flat-out refusal, the desire to participate with the group, to find their own unique way of joining in, usually won out over time, until even the most challenged found their way to building the skills that would take them into adolescence and adulthood with a growing “can do” attitude.

It was sometimes after years of work, when I sent them on to the next level or got to witness their success through the years, that I knew I was seeing Dr. Montessori’s teachings in action. Yes, I had to exercise a great deal of faith during my early years. I had to rely on what often seemed like tiny, tiny glimmers of the potential held within the child, but now that I can look back with the gift of 30 years and dozens of students, I know that the faith I was able to muster was not in vain.

“These things may seem useless to us, but the child is preparing himself and preparing the coordination of his movements. One consequence of this is that he wants to climb.”

Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lectures, p. 124

Auto-Education: Too risky for older students? Will students learn only what they want
and not what they need to know?

mw-claudiamann on May 24, 2022

“It is therefore necessary that the environment should contain the means of auto-education”

Dr. Maria Montessori, The Advanced Montessori Method – I (1918/1991) p. 57

It invariably comes up in workshops with non-Montessorians or parents: “Don’t they have to be able to take tests for when they go to middle and high school? Will so much choice assure they will be able to get into a good college? (ie: when they go to real school that matters for their future?)

I suppose it’s taken for granted that families want what’s “best” for their children. They want to make sure that the education their children receive will give them plenty of opportunities and choices for their future. But when it comes down to the “how-to’s” the many different opinions about what works get into the weeds…if not into open conflict!

So how do teachers and parents confidently support their children to receive the kind of education that will help them be successful in adulthood?

Step 1: Define “success”

As a product of the 1960’s and 70’s, my college years were filled with education classes that encouraged new systems of education. The examples were perfect for our carefree spirits: Summerhill and free-schooling appealed to those of us who were frustrated by the establishment, whether in school, government, or politics. Like many “revolutions” however, the vision of an education that also offered personal freedoms appeared to lack both outer and inner discipline. It felt like “throwing out the baby with the bathwater” and the outcome wasn’t a better education.

In those days, and even in those since, education continues to struggle with what successful education really is, or what “successful education” even means.

Success is personal. For some families, success means following a prescribed path to an adulthood that offers “riches and fame,” not necessarily in the literal sense, but certainly in the security that specific professions provide. As a result, well-meaning parents may push their child along a path of accelerated goals. When their child struggles to meet the goals, they may even be labeled in negative terms that the child might internalize for a lifetime of feeling inadequate to the task or, if not explicitly, somehow simply deficient.

In the eyes of “no child left behind,” schools have even said that a child who doesn’t read at a certain level by a certain time will never be able to succeed. This kind of thinking limits not only the individual, but also all those around the child who may fail to see their genuine potential, even failing to continue to fully support the child’s growth and development.

Step 2: See the Child Before You

Maria Montessori encouraged adults not only to meet all the physical and emotional needs of children, but to learn to see the humanity in them; to see the “man who exists as a silhouette around the child, a duty towards this man of tomorrow.”*

Montessori school, once I delved into it, offered both the freedom to pursue one’s passions and interests while providing the structure and systems for learning that appealed to the human spirit. Children in Montessori appeared to be truly engaged in pursuing their own learning path, and, once established, had the discipline and understanding of how to go about acquiring the knowledge they needed so
they could move forward in life.

It didn’t happen without careful preparation of a learning environment that went well-beyond the practical set-up of the classroom. The preparation included preparation of the spirit. Dr. Montessori called it the psychic growth of the individual. It didn’t’ happen without a guide who understood how to connect students to their inner purpose. It required teaching ideas and concepts that were often left out of traditional curricula.

Clearly, we have a social duty towards this future man, this man who exists as a silhouette around the child, a duty towards this man of tomorrow. Perhaps a great future leader or a great genius is with us and his power will come from the power of the child he is today. This is the vision which we must have.

Step 3: Teach Goal-setting and Support Students in Making Their Own Goals

Prioritizing is a skill that requires learning about prioritization, discerning how to make prioritizing decisions, and then practicing making those decisions and seeing if they work. Determining what one wants and needs to do, making sure progress in taking place, and enjoying the journey takes time, reflection, and discernment. Mostly it takes time, along with a lot of patience on the part of the adult!

Give mini lessons and have short discussions about what it means to want to learn
something, gain a skill, or meet a requirement.
Ask students about the difference between wanting to know something (like everything
you could know about cats) or needing to know something (like being able to read).
Help them to identify the difference between practicing a skill for mastery and being
engaged in learning something new…while learning the value of both.
Revisit goals that are set, taking stock, revising, and staying the course!

Step 4: Help Students See Their Learning: Make it Visible

Making Thinking Visible** changed my thinking about teaching. The ideas and exercises designed to create student awareness of how they think, as well as what they think about their thinking sparked an idea for me: How can I help my students better perceive their learning…make their learning more visible?”

I knew that my elementary students were well-beyond the absorbent mind period when they learned through osmosis, and they talked incessantly throughout the day because of their growing sociability and innate desire to be part of the group. I knew I wanted to allow them to be who they were, but I also wanted to have them talking about their learning projects and their growing knowledge base.

I knew that I needed to teach students ways to work together that would bring obvious learning results.

For example: I taught students how to do math work together. First, I taught how to record their process and check the answer; then, how to correct their mistakes. This could be a multi-step set of mini lessons that could be given to the entire class. My older students, who’d already successfully learned this also gave the lessons and worked with the newer, younger students in our class. In time, teaching this method paid off not only in math accuracy and acquisition of growing skills, but it also saved me time because the students were independently in charge of making sure they were learning. Their conversations began to be more focused on those subjects that were occupying their thinking throughout the working/learning period, and they were excited about that!

I say “YES!”

After seeing all the success in learning that came about through these processes, I whole-heartedly believe that all children can become successful in their learning for now and in the future if given the opportunity, support, and trust to do so.

And that’s where the hard part for adults comes in: Letting go and Letting Come. This concept, put forth as Theory U by Otto Scharmer*** , requires the adult to have faith in the children, allowing them to reveal their authentic selves by letting go of prescriptive definitions of success that look a certain way by a specific time. Teasing out the difference between progress and deficits can be a real challenge. We must keep in mind that our adult job is to continually support the child with an eye to the silhouette of the man that surrounds him.

*Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lectures, p. 140

**(Ritchhart, 2011) Making Things Visible, by Ron Ritchhart, et al.

***(Scharmer, 2009; 2016) Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges

Next Week: Learning to Trust While Making Steady Progress