tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8932181947008003752024-03-08T07:00:58.747-08:00Montessori Teaching in New HampshireNH Montessori Associationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02937501973868584288noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893218194700800375.post-85282184220240931662012-08-26T08:14:00.000-07:002012-08-26T08:14:15.756-07:00<span id="internal-source-marker_0.5752471438409177" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Montessori math and philosophy with MissE Carolan</span></b><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Last
Monday, August 20th, more than 20 NHMA members met to refresh
themselves with a review of Montessori math materials and presentations.
MissE Carolan, who is a consultant with New England Early Childhood
Associated (NEECA) and has been an instructor with NMI since 1992, took
us through the presentations of the Golden Beads and its foundation, and
then materials that help those children who are moving into abstraction
and memorization. And in between, we discussed some basic philosophy
and the nitty gritty of math in our classrooms. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It
was a great way to get ourselves “jazzed up” about the beginning of the
school year and a lovely way to get back in touch with everyone after
such a wonderful summer. And I went home determined to split my huge
albums into more manageable smaller ones! </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Our
thanks to Wanda and her staff at Green Valley Montessori School in
Pembroke for hosting in their gorgeous facility. I wish my school was
looking that put together that early. And many thanks to Laura and Gail
for putting this workshop together. Now let’s bring on those children!!</span><br />
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<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span>NH Montessori Associationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02937501973868584288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893218194700800375.post-3723674393324081922012-08-18T05:56:00.002-07:002012-08-18T05:56:57.377-07:00No More Tears-Back to School no. 2At Blue Heron School, our goal is to start the school year without tears. One of the things we do to reduce separation anxiety is to ask all of the families to borrow or buy a copy of The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn. Parents read the story to their children at home, as often as needed, and we read it every day at school. The reassuring message of the story and the familiarity of the book help new children feel comfortable, and returning children enjoy the ritual when they are coming back to school.<br />
What do you do at your program to help children make the transition to coming to school?NH Montessori Associationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02937501973868584288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893218194700800375.post-91254787089845692062012-08-17T14:53:00.001-07:002012-08-18T05:57:23.042-07:00Back to School 2012<br />
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Asters</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At some time
every summer in August I begin to notice asters blooming when I am out
walking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Asters are the signal for me
that the start of the school year is coming around again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I begin to think about which children are
returning, what the new little ones will be like, and I am reminded that it is
time to send out that back to school letter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
August back to school activity is what has become our annual NHMA
workshop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year MissE Carolan, AMI
primary certified teacher, NMI site director and NEECA school consultant and
educator, is presenting a four hour workshop on the wonderful Montessori math
materials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is always rewarding for
teachers to assist children working with the beads and see their brains
assimilate the patterns and knowledge there as they begin to figure them
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are excited to share this
presentation by MissE to review important math presentations and see variations
and extensions and deeper meanings that may be new to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our batteries will be recharged and we will
go into the new school year with fresh enthusiasm for these brilliant
materials.</div>
NH Montessori Associationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02937501973868584288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893218194700800375.post-21167702820242181832012-07-20T10:08:00.001-07:002012-07-23T19:54:08.431-07:00<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">MIXED FEELINGS</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Group time at Blue
Heron School
is for singing, dancing, yoga, listening to stories, and sometimes for talking
it out, all together. During the last
week of school, the energy level was high, the volume of voices was turned up,
and it seemed harder than it had been to focus on absorbing activities. We sat together at group time, on the
penultimate day of school, and talked about mixed feelings. Even as adults knowing how to act and what to
say can be a challenge when we are experiencing conflicting feelings, and
spring is full of events that provoke these, with graduations, weddings, and
other transitional events. It is easy to
understand that it is even harder for young children, who are just learning to
manage their feelings in appropriate ways, and how to express them with
language. So we took a break from all
the busy, end of school activities and talked about how we were feeling. The children were excited about the beginning
of summer, and, for the older ones, the anticipation of going to "the big
school" in the fall. At the same
time, over the course of a school year a community has formed, with children,
teachers and parents and the greater SLNSC staff. We enjoy the experience of becoming
acquainted, and then developing friendships.
We can't imagine that we will not continue to see one another every
day. We celebrate the wonderful growth
and accomplishments of each child over the course of the year, and we
acknowledge our sadness that it is time for the child to move on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> However, it is a part of the process of school, and life,
that endings come, and lead to new beginnings.
We wish the children all the best in the next stage of life and
school. We look forward to hearing about
their new experiences. We happily look
forward to reuniting with returning students in September, when school resumes,
and the younger children come back another year older, the new leaders of the
class. We know, too, that new families
and children will come to Blue Heron in the fall. We look forward to knowing them, and to recreating
our community with continuity from last year and fresh energy that new and
returning friends bring to Blue Heron.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Reprinted with permission from Blue Heron School at Squam Lakes Natural Science Center.</span><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0