St. Francis of Assisi Montessori Academy: School Days: Past Month Snapshots

Thursday, November 5, 2009

School Days: Past Month Snapshots

3-6 Classroom

Practical Life: Matching nuts and bolts

Language: Looking at a book on baby animals

Culture-Art: Working with wet chalk pastels

Practical Life: Learning to set the table

Language & Culture (Performing Arts) Field Trip:
Pope Joy Hall- Good Night Moon and The Runaway Bunny puppet show based on the books

Catholic Living: Feast of St. Anthony Mary Claret visit to the Blessed Sacrament in honor of this Saint's mission to spread this devotion

6-9 Lower elementary class Science-Astronomy & Geography: Learning the order of the planets

Snack Time: Suns in commemoration of October 13, miracle of the sun at Fatima. The children learned about Fatima and Our Lady's message to pray the Rosary.

Language: Phonics lesson on the short vowel i sound with 3 year old

Language, Math, & Sensorial: Lesson on difference in lengths, long, longest, etc..
(preparation for math number rods 1-10)

Language & Culture-Botany: Working with life cycle of a pumpkin cards

6-9 Lower elementary class Language & Science-Zoology: Researching and observing a real bee

Language & Practical Life: Practicing fine motor skills for writing by tracing geometrical insets

Practical Life: Practicing precision and control of movement by
transferring floating ping-pongs with a ladle

6- Lower Elementary Math: Working on memorizing math facts with addition charts

Catholic Living: Learning the Liturgical colors at the class altar

Practical Life-Care of the classroom: Watering a class plant

Language, Math, & Sensorial: Lesson on diameter and height, short, shortest, tallest, etc.

6-9 classroom Geography: Continent research on North America

Language: Phonics lesson with the sandpaper letters

All Saints Day 2009 at St. Peter & Paul parish hall

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Areas of Study

3-6 Class areas of Study:
(Subjects below are studied and carried out within a Catholic context at every opportunity and where appropriate)
Practical Life:
Care of Self, Care of Surroundings, Motor Skills, Grace & Courtesy.
Sensorial
Math
Language
Culture:
Botany, Zoology, General Science, Geography, Art, Music
Catholic Living

6-9 Class areas of Study:
(Subjects below are studied and carried out within a Catholic context at every opportunity and where appropriate)
Practical Life
Math
Language
History
Cultural Geography
Physical Geography
Zoology
Botany
General Science
Art
Music
Catholic Living

What we do:

A Peek inside:
Children find Montessori activities both interesting and fun. Our classrooms are lined with low shelves filled with materials. The teacher, shows the children how to use the materials by giving individual lessons. The child is shown a specific way to use the materials but is allowed to explore them by using them in a variety of ways within limits.
We refer to the child's activities in the classroom as work. The children also refer to what they do in the classroom as their work. When your three-year old comes home from school talking about the work he did today, he can sound way too serious for a kid who came from preschool. What adults often forget is that children have a deep desire to contribute meaningfully, which we deny when we give them “pretend” brooms, dishes, etc.. instead of teaching them the proper way to use the real items and actually contribute to the household.
When you see children acting purposefully, walking calmly, talking in low voices to each other, carrying glass objects, reading and working with numbers, you might think the only way this behavior can occur is by children being regimented into it. The children have shown us, when given a prepared environment, a knowledge-able adult, and work cycle, the state of the child is to be a happy, considerate, and contented person.

Practical Life work:
To the hurried adult, it is much easier to do everything for their child. “After all,” they think, “he/she is only 3 and not capable of doing things correctly.” This idea couldn't be further from the truth. If you give a child the necessary tools to take care of his or herself and surrounding environment, they find a great peace and satisfaction in being able to contribute to the family and taking care of themselves. How often has one seen a child imitating their mother or father working in the kitchen or garage? Adults blow this off as being cute child's play, when actuality the children are trying to fulfill a need to do meaningful and purposeful work and activities.
A Parent with a child who tries to dress themselves, but puts their shirt on inside out, may tend to get frustrated with the child. Instead of getting frustrated,we teach the child such things as the proper way of getting dressed and then allowing the child to practice until they get it correct, adding guidance as needed.
The categories in the Practical Life work are: Care of Self, Care of the Surroundings, Grace and Courtesy, and Motor Skills. Some activities under Care of Self are:
Learning to button a shirt, learning to tie a shoe, etc..
Activities under care of the surroundings are things such as: Washing a table, sweeping up crumbs, watering a plant, caring for a pet fish, folding clothes, etc..
Activities under Grace and Courtesy include:
Quietly moving a chair, carrying a glass of water without spilling, asking for something politely and properly, greeting people, etc..
Finally, the fine motor skills build strength and precision for tasks such as writing, sewing, serving and preparing food, etc..

Choices:
As God has given us all free will, life is full of choices and children are making them each and every day weather we realize it or not. In our classroom, when the children are offered choices, it can be compared to offering a child the choice between eating broccoli or spinach for their dinner. The adult is in control of preparing the environment, therefore the child's choices are in the realm of what the teacher has set out for them to choose. In our classroom, the child can choose from such things as, learning how to lace his shoes, learning to recognize the numbers 6-9, or learning the sounds for the letters, t, c and a. There are times when the children must do activities or lessons with the group, such as circle time, snack time, story time, etc.. and do not have a choice. Because we are Catholic, and because the children are taught to obey and honor God and their teacher, the children do as they are told and realize the limitations.

St. Francis of Assisi Montessori Academy's interpretation and use of Montessori:
“Montessori” is not trademarked. Anyone and everyone can use it as they please and choose to interpret her work. It is widely known and accepted that Maria Montessori was Catholic. However, one cannot be think that just because she was Catholic, everything she had to say or think should be followed. Montessori was human, just like the rest of us. We acknowledge this and take this into account. When Montessori speaks of peace, our interpretation as Catholics is to teach the children to pray the Rosary, teach them to follow the will of God, and to do corporal and spiritual works of mercy, etc.. When the children donate or help a charity, it is in the context of charity being a virtue. In our school, these things are elevated and done to give honor and glory to God.
Maria Montessori wrote some beautiful and insightful Catholic books, one of them being, “The Mass Explained to Children”, based on the Tridentine rite of the Mass. She speaks of spirituality and the education of children. As Catholics, we understand this because Jesus himself said, “Let the children come to me”. Our goal as Catholic educators is to educate the whole child so that they may fulfill the will of God in their life. We are looking at the bigger picture, and our Catholic interpretation of the Montessori method places the child's education in the context of raising capable adults leading God centered lives.
Not all students learn at the same pace, and while one student may excel in mathematics, another student may excel in language at a pace that is different from the rest. Many of us remember being pushed through the educational system, regardless of weather or not we had mastered the concepts and lessons. Our parents see the importance of the children actually understanding and mastering the lessons. We understand that one concept builds on another, and believe it is important to have a strong foundation. This is one of the reasons the Montessori (hands on) materials play an important role in the classroom. Children do not just memorize what 5+5 is, they will actually see 5+5 with their eyes, touch it with their hands, and process it in their brain. Because of this, children in the Montessori classroom will often be seen working with numbers in the hundreds and thousands and actually understand what 3,000 + 4,000 is at an abstract level. Our goal for the education of our children is not to have them do busy work, but have them do meaningful work that will prepare them for real life.
As Catholic parents, we realize that God has a purpose for each and every individual. It takes effort, charity, and patience to individualize the education of the child,. However, because God has made each little soul unique and individual, the work and effort it takes to educate the child in this manner is very rewarding.. Working with the will of God will not always seem like the easiest thing. Patience and understanding do not come easy to many, however it is worth all the effort!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

School Days: Past Month Snapshots

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About Me

Areas of Study

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Thursday, November 5, 2009

School Days: Past Month Snapshots

0 comments:

Post a Comment

About Me

Areas of Study

Explanation of Materials Purpose

What we do:

Help St. Francis of Assisi Montessori Academy Earn Free Materials!

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Search This Blog

Followers

Blog Archive