tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18698862047024679622024-02-08T01:51:49.128-08:00Enquiring Minds - My Montessori JourneyJanellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386305586703942231noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869886204702467962.post-12641176744780333862012-04-24T20:20:00.000-07:002012-05-13T03:20:06.633-07:00Instagram - a creative success story<br />
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Instagram. Within two years of its inception, this hugely
popular app acquired over <a href="http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/04/facebook-buys-instagram/">30 million iOS users</a> and a further 1 million new
users within 12 hours of its release on the Andriod market. Despite its obvious
popularity, the news on 9 April 2012 that Facebook was acquiring the
photo-sharing service for $1 billion still came as a shock to most and got me
thinking about the creative process that goes into taking an idea and transforming
it into a multi-million dollar reality.</div>
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As Kim-Mai Cutler points out in her article “<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/09/instagram-story-facebook-acquisition/">From 0 to $1Billion In Two Years: Instagram’s Rose-Tinted Ride To Glory</a>” the concept of
Instagram was not about making money. Founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger
were first and foremost focussed on the user experience. They worked on a
number of different versions of a photo-sharing app before finally hitting the
jackpot with Instagram. They weren’t afraid to think outside the square, to
start over in order to get it right and to think big. They actively engaged in
the creative process and managed to create an app that, purely through organic
growth, has managed to climb the heights of the mobile app world.</div>
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It is clear that while the mobile era is only just bringing,
innovation and creativity are key components with any internet success story. It
may come as no surprise then that the co-founders of one of the biggest
internet success stories, Google, were schooled in Montessori. Larry Page has
credited Montessori with giving him the ability to do “<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/growth/maria-montessori-guru-for-a-new-generation-of-business-innovators/article2398113/singlepage/#articlecontent">things a little bit different</a>”. One of the cornerstones of the Montessori education system is
providing a child with freedom – freedom of choice, freedom to think for
themselves and freedom to be creative. As we recognise the need to foster
innovative thinking, we need to create an environment which can cultivate the
necessary conditions for people to innovate and be successful. Montessori is
that unique teaching method which blends a spontaneous learning environment
with active encouragement. Even though it is now over 100 years old, the Montessori
way seems almost tailor-made for the creative technological era we are entering
by encouraging creative and independent thought. Who knows what future Instagram-like
innovators we may be encouraging today?</div>Janellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386305586703942231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869886204702467962.post-66136107590731164682012-04-04T17:45:00.003-07:002012-04-04T17:51:57.034-07:00Montessori - is it right for you?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-AU</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> 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mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">For most parents, the type of education they are able to provide for their children is a very important decision.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Decisions such as whether to send them to public or private schools, whether there are religious factors to be considered, whether they will need to go to boarding school....the decisions are endless.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>However what is not generally thought of is the type of education they will receive. In Australia, mainstream education is broken down into primary and secondary school, with these years generally being from prep to year 7 and then from year 8 to year 12. While each state and territory governs the administration of their education system, there is a <a href="http://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au/en/Courses/Schools">national curriculum</a> that is adhered to across the country, focusing on certain areas of learning.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Having grown up and been through this system themselves, most parents would not think to question this or even look for other alternatives.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>However there are alternatives out there which are deserving of greater recognition in order to give parents more choice.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Montessori education is not a new method of learning, having been founded by <a href="http://montessori.org.au/montessori/biography.htm">Maria Montessori</a> who established her first classroom – Casa di Bambini - in 1907.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Over many years, she observed and worked with children and discovered their natural ability to absorb knowledge from their surroundings. The idea that children teach themselves became the cornerstone of her educational philosophy which became known as the Montessori educational programme. She believed each child passes through what she termed sensitive periods, where a child is at their optimal best for learning experiences, where they can learn almost unconsciously. By allowing children to develop skills naturally, they cultivate a love of learning through their natural curiosity. Creating an atmosphere where children actually want to learn is a great gift and one I would argue most parents would want to set up for their own children. An excellent resource for Montessori information, <a href="http://www.qldmontessori.com.au/index-2.html">Montessori Education</a> provides a comprehensive overview of the key developmental phases of learning and the ‘sensitive periods’ each child passes through during these phases. For an overview on the differences between Montessori and traditional education, you can also see my blog entry <a href="http://mymontejourney.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/montessori-versus-traditional-schooling.html">Montessori vs. Traditional Schooling</a>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In Australia, there are a number of Montessori schools in the private sector, however programs are also starting to flourish in the public arena as well. This can only be considered a good thing as parents have greater control and influence on the type of education they wish to provide for their children.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>Janellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386305586703942231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869886204702467962.post-40211995577457904542012-03-28T22:04:00.002-07:002012-03-28T22:46:24.264-07:00My interest in Montessori<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-AU</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> 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Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">The first time I heard of Montessori was in May 2009. We had just moved house and I was frantically trying to find a new daycare centre for my son. There was a new centre that had recently opened not far from our new home, however the only places they still had availability in was in the Montessori stream. I took the spot and asked them to keep my name on the waiting list for 'normal' daycare just in case I decided that Montessori was not for us.<br /><br />I've never looked back.<br /><br />Before discovering Montessori, I'd always thought of child care as somewhere to send my child while I was at work, where he would be well looked after and kept entertained. I never really thought about the education aspect and what I expected him to be learning in this environment. However, once he started at the Montessori centre, I decided I had better find out exactly what it was so I could be sure it was something I was comfortable sending him to. In a very basic description, Montessori can be explained as a method of education that is based on the principles drawn from the natural development of a child. These include practical life, sensorial, mathematics, language and culture. It aims to teach children skills at particular points of their development (referred to as sensitive periods...more about that next week!).<br /><br />The more I learned about the system and how a child's naturally curious nature is actively cultivated to explore different situations to encourage learning, the more I was certain I had chosen the right path for my children's education. Montessori claims to teach children to love learning and that is a philosophy I want to give to my children. When attending school myself, I was not a bad student, but I certainly did not particularly enjoy learning, only doing the bare necessity to get by. It is only now that I'm older I can see the value in really wanting to learn. Being able to provide a great foundation for learning is something I feel very passionate about providing for my children. Having now been exposed to Montessori, I am no longer comfortable with the thought of the mainstream education system. While the children still need to learn the same things, pass the same tests, it is the way in which they learn how to achieve these things that differs. <br /><br />I definitely feel that Montessori has opened my eyes to the possibilities that are before my children and has given me the opportunity to really make a positive and valuable contribution to their education.</p>Janellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386305586703942231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869886204702467962.post-21161631466249080872010-05-20T04:19:00.002-07:002010-05-21T20:59:00.027-07:00Grace and CourtesyGrace and courtesy are part of the life lessons learned under the practical life principle. Montessori teaches children acceptable behaviour through exercises which display respect and kindness to others. They are taught how to speak politely to others and resolve conflicts peacefully. This is done by explaining different situations in simple terms and demonstrating the behaviour the child needs to display. Role playing is an effective method of teaching young children good manners.<br /><br />My son loves to read books and as a way of introducing a fun new way of explaining grace and courtesy to him, I have enlisted the help of Storybird. Storybird is a website that allows users to create personalised stories that are fun, social and easy. It is a highly interactive website that encourages users to create stories (either individually or as a collaborative effort) using the artwork of various artists who post their creations to the site. Below is a story I created titled 'Feeling Cranky'. You can view my other <a href="http://storybird.com/members/Janelle/">Storybirds</a>, or you can sign up and create your own.<br /><br /><object width="586" height="368"><param name="align" value="lt"><param name="scale" value="noScale"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="book_slug=feeling-cranky&size=xl&configXML=http://storybird.com/storymaker/paths/"><param name="src" value="http://media.storybird.com/embedplayer/bin/StoryplayerEmbed.swf"><embed src="http://media.storybird.com/embedplayer/bin/StoryplayerEmbed.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" scale="noScale" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="book_slug=feeling-cranky&size=xl&configXML=http://storybird.com/storymaker/paths/" width="586" align="lt" height="368"></embed></object><span style="display: block; margin: 5px 0pt 10px;font-family:Georgia,Times New Roman,serif;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://storybird.com/books/feeling-cranky/">Feeling Cranky</a> <span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">by</span> <a href="http://storybird.com/members/Janelle/">Janelle</a> <span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">on</span> <a href="http://storybird.com/">Storybird</a></span>Janellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386305586703942231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869886204702467962.post-27242350482130541922010-05-20T04:19:00.001-07:002010-05-20T15:12:07.378-07:00Practical LifePractical life is one of the cornerstones of the Montessori teaching method. The exercises practiced by children during these sessions resemble life at home: sweeping, dusting, washing dishes, dressing etc. By practicing these types of activities, children are learning self control and how to be a contributing member of the group. As their ability to master these tasks grows, so to does their confidence and independence. By teaching children self-awareness and reliance, we are increasing their overall sense of self and reinforcing their competency in these areas. Practical life encompasses a number of life lessons, including care of self, grace and courtesy, work and play, getting dressed and helping around the house.<br /><br />At daycare, my son is practicing these self-help skills by washing his dishes after meals. With the use of Montessori dressing frames, he is being taught how to do up buttons and zippers, all of which are not only developing his fine motor skills, but teaching him how to do these things for himself. At home he is expected to take his dishes into the kitchen when he has finished eating, help make his bed in the mornings and clean up after playing with his toys. Using positive reinforcement, these tasks have been easily adopted into our home and help make my job a lot easier!<br />Janellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386305586703942231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869886204702467962.post-28027245041533556042010-05-20T04:04:00.001-07:002010-05-20T04:18:55.217-07:00Sensitive PeriodsThe Montessori teaching method believes children pass through 'sensitive periods' during which they are at their optimal best for learning experiences. As Tim Seldin notes in his book 'How to Raise an Amazing Child', "During a sensitive period children become intrigued by aspects of their environment. Given the right stimulation at the right time, children are able to learn almost unconsciously".<br /><br />There are several sensitive periods that occur during the early years, from birth through to age six. These are:<br /><ul><li>movement (from birth to one year)</li><li>language (from birth to six years)</li><li>small objects (from one to four years)</li><li>grace and courtesy (from two to six years)</li><li>senses (from two to six years)</li><li>writing (from three to four years)</li><li>order (from two to four years)</li><li>music (from two to six years)</li><li>toilet training (from 18 months to three years)</li><li>reading (from three to five years)</li><li>spatial relationships (from four to six years)</li><li>mathematics (from four to six years)</li></ul>It is important to remember that while children can be completely absorbed and focused on a particular aspect of their environment while in a sensitive period, these are transitory states. Once the skill is mastered, the period will disappear. Therefore the importance of exposing children to the right experiences and activities is paramount in order for them to make the most of this learning opportunity. Obviously the skill can still be learnt, but it may take more hard work in the future.Janellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386305586703942231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869886204702467962.post-46364992242407422322010-05-13T16:43:00.000-07:002010-05-15T23:52:20.218-07:00Montessori versus Traditional SchoolingAs you may have already guessed, there is a vast difference between the Montessori teaching method and those of traditional schooling. There are some excellent articles available on the Web, however I have included a table taken from the <a href="http://www.qldmontessori.com.au/">Queensland Montessori College</a> website to highlight some of the differences:<br /><style type="text/css">.nobrtable br { display: none }</style><br /><div class="nobrtable"><br /><table border='1'><tbody><tr><br /><th>Montessori Education</th><br /><th>Traditional Education</th><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td>Teacher has unobtrusive role in class, the facilitator</td><br /><td>Teacher is the centre of classroom, the controller</td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td>Environment and method encourage self discipline</td><br /><td>Teacher acts as primary enforcer of discipline</td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td>Mainly individual instruction </td><br /><td>Mainly group instruction</td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td>Mixed age grouping </td><br /><td>Same age group</td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td>Child chooses own work while teacher monitors progress</td><br /><td>Teacher assigns work to child</td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td>Child discovers own concepts from self-teaching, self-correcting materials</td><br /><td>Child is shown concepts by teacher and corrected by teacher</td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td>Child works as long as he wishes on chosen projects</td><br /><td>Child generally allocated specific time for givenwork</td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td>Child sets own learning pace and reinforces own learning by repetition of work and internal feeling of success </td><br /><td>Instruction pace usually set by group norm.If work is corrected, errors are pointed out or praise comes from the teacher</td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td>Multi-sensory materials for physical exploration </td><br /><td>Few, but increasingly more</td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td>Child can work where he chooses, move around and talk at will yet not disturb others at work, also participate in group projects</td><br /><td>Child often assigned own place. Required to participate, sit still and listen during groups</td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td>Teacher facilitates organised programme for learning, care of self and environment</td><br /><td>Care of self and environment left primarily to parents</td><br /></tr><br /></tbody></table></div><br />It is always important to remember that as parents, we need to decide what's right for each individual child. Some children thrive in a Montessori environment, however others are better suited to the more traditional classroom. Each child is different. While I think alternative education is becoming more widely known and accepted, there are still a lot of parents who don't know there are other options available to them.Janellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386305586703942231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869886204702467962.post-74268332849202993952010-04-21T05:17:00.000-07:002010-05-12T20:38:39.345-07:00And in the beginning...A few weeks ago I attended a 'meet and greet' parents night at my son's daycare centre, <a href="http://www.habitatkids.com.au/">Habitat Early Learning</a>. He has been attending the Montessori centre for nearly a year now and during this time I have become a passionate advocate for the Montessori system having seen first hand the benefits of this method. One of the mums spoke about a book called '<a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Raise-Amazing-Child-Montessori/dp/075662505X">How to raise an amazing child the Montessori way</a>' by Tim Seldin. The book contains practical advice and is the perfect book to help me start incorporating the Montessori principles in our home. <br /><br />For those of you unfamiliar with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Montessori">Maria Montessori's</a> work and her system of teaching children, there are a number of excellent websites and reading material available. In short, she believed in giving children a 'whole of life' experience when teaching them. There are a number of principles involved, and children learn in an open environment which is conducive to learning. The following short video explains this concept further (3:48 mins).<br /><br /><embed id=VideoPlayback src=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=748019594080989064&hl=en&fs=true style=width:400px;height:326px allowFullScreen=true allowScriptAccess=always type=application/x-shockwave-flash> </embed><br /><br />My main goal for this blog is to bring further attention to Montessori teaching and I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Please feel free to contact me or leave comments. Alternatively, you can visit my website (address to the right) for more information about Montessori.Janellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386305586703942231noreply@blogger.com0