This is a sweet photo of a student who just baked banana bread. She is in an all-day program, and baking is the best thing that ever happened to all-day Montessori. It is such a wonderful...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/08/this-is-sweet-photo-of-student-who-just.html
I have been considering the subject of compromise and humility lately. At the Aspen Idea Festival, David Brooks spoke about how we as a nation have turned away from the idea of humility, and in...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/07/value-of-humility.html
What a great school year we had! I have only been off two days and I am already missing all the funny and thoughtful things the children say and, of course, all their hugs! Here ar...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/06/another-year.html
Today in the Minneapolis StarTribune there was an article on a study the University of MN did on preschool efficacy. Again, as in other studies, the importance of preschool to later a...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/06/preschool-pays-off.html
I wanted to share this with you to note my sister's work. Years ago, after she returned from a Peace Corps assignment she made this scaled copy of the world. While she was in Cameroon, sh...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/06/whole-wide-world.html
Being that it is "supposed" to be spring, we have been working on the flower in our Casa. One of the children took this work a step further. I have classified cards of the scientific nam...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/05/sunnier-days.html
A few pictures say it all. We had a great day out in the country. The children saw, fed, touched and interacted with chickens, cows, sheep, lambs, HUGE dogs, pigs, and also cooke...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/04/back-on-farm.html
Last week, I overheard this conversation: "I feel like nobody likes me, " states one girl. "Why do you feel that way?" asks another. "I don't know." A third girl says, "It seems like you...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/04/empathy-in-action.html
I wanted to remind all of you of the wonderful resource we have in Dr. Steven Hughes. As a pediatric neuropsychologist, he has special insight into what school environment is the best for child...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/04/still-good-at-doing-things.html
We have been using meditation as a tool in our Casa to relax and release stress. Our favorite chant is "Om Shanti," with the "om" indicative as the sound or symbol of the universe, and "shan...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/03/meditation-and-children.html
I had to post this beautiful poem by Sara Kay, as hands are the cornerstone of our Montessori work. Montessori says, "The hands are the instruments of man's intelligence," and "The human hand a...
I had to share this rather humorous take on the farm. This child has only been presented through the preposition, so there are a few mistakes, for all you Montessorians out there. She decide...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/03/interpreting-farm.html
Can you stand the cuteness! Marley, our rabbit, is going on five years. He is a Mini-Rex and their lifespan is 5-7 years. Get ready for the tears when the big day comes! I hope he tak...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/03/more-bunny-love.html
There has been a lot of tea work in our room lately. It is a lovely activity. We use herbal tea and have an airpot of warm water. The children prepare the tea, and while it is ste...
We are all a little winter weary in our Casa. We put the window washing work out in hopes of spring cleaning being just around the corner. I love the juxtaposition of the spring dress and ke...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/03/searching-for-spring.html
Today we celebrated Happy Grandmother March (a Bulgarian holiday) in our Casa, as one child's mother is originally from Bulgaria. Here is what skyscrapercity.com has to say about the ...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/03/happy-baba-marta.html
This continent work has been popular in our Casa lately. The children punch out the continents in colors that correspond with the puzzle map, cut out the hemispheres, glue the continents on...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/02/this-continent-work-has-been-popular-in.html
I thought you might enjoy seeing our little baking set-up. We've been making tortillas (gluten-free) for some time now. The children use them later to prepare quesadillas for a snack. ...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/02/truly-logical-consequence.html
We have a Parent Night every school year where the children show their parents the room and the work. We teachers and assistants sit back and let the children take the lead. It is someti...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/01/serendipitous-success.html
This is a project we created for a fundraiser our school is having. Each Casa donates a project for the live auction. We decided to do a canvas floor mat of the five animal vertebrates. We ...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/01/vertebrate-floor-mat.html
I forgot all about this sweet (and very short) video a parent made for me. The children remind me of giant penguins--just hanging out and having a good time!
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/01/baby-penguins-are-chicks.html
I went to a great workshop yesterday on Special Needs Children and Montessori. Dr. Ann Epstein from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse was the presenter. She is a former Children's Hous...
One of my students came in at four years old knowing all her letter sounds with the manuscript letters (we generally present cursive first but I always check to see what they know when they a...
This is an excerpt from Dan Pink's (wrote A Whole New Mind) blog at www.danpink.com . Brian Greene is an amazing physicist whose books include The Elegant Universe and Fabric of the Cosmos...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/01/this-is-excerpt-from-dan-pinks-wrote.html
In the November 2010 issue of Scientific American Mind a new study is covered that examines what makes a good parent. Notably, the number two attribute is managing stress for yourself and your...
http://montessoriandt.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-makes-you-good-parent.html