Voices in Montessori Podcast

Lydia Farmer and Kalai Ramanathan join the podcast to talk about preparing inclusive holiday celebrations in the classroom.

While some educators choose to avoid all holidays for fear of leaving anyone out, Lydia and Kalai feel that this misses a valuable opportunity to create a sense of belonging for the children. Instead, Lydia and Kalai celebrate a multitude of holidays and celebrations from around the world throughout the year. This allows every child to see themselves reflected in the classroom community and exposes the children to new perspectives. 

Lydia and Kalai talk about how they weave this exposure into the life of the classroom throughout the year. They describe their largest classroom celebration, a solstice celebration, which becomes a culmination of all of the Practical Life and Grace and Courtesy lessons the children have received and practiced.

Patricia Ludick joins the podcast to revisit Dr. Montessori's wisdom and insights regarding our work as practitioners who are serving Adolescents. Patrica reminds us that we must be constantly growing in our understanding of the mysterious third plane of human becoming. She considers what time and practice has taught us, as well as revisiting Dr. Montessori's vision statement in From Childhood to Adolescence.

Patricia touches on: Preparation for Adult Life, The Essence of a Working Community, The Big Picture of Program Design, The Important Role of the Adult, and then the importance of Grace and Courtesy as it evolves at the Third Plane.

She poses the questions, "What have we learned? What remains mystery? How do we move forward no matter where we are called to serve adolescents?"

Alexandra Sands joins the podcast to discuss cultivating concentration in young children. She begins with how we set the stage for children's concentration by carefully preparing the environment and with the way we bring new children into the classroom for the first time. She discusses ways we can use art, music, movement, and the outdoors to enhance students' concentration.

Alexandria explains how observation can be used to identify deep concentration (and what that actually looks like), as well as when a child is not concentrating. Then she guides us to look even more closely - what can we observe that sheds light on why the child is struggling to concentrate and how can we best support this child? Alexandra shares how to help our classroom assistants know when concentration is not happening, and when and how to intervene.

Michael Duffy joins the podcast to talk about Cosmic Education, the central element of Montessori Elementary education. He discusses the nature and purpose of Cosmic Education, as well as how it is implemented in the classroom. Michael implores Montessori teachers not get lost in the emphasis on math and language testing. He explains that as important as math and language are for Elementary students, they are just necessary tools for students to access the full scope of Cosmic Education. Join us for this fascinating discussion!

Dr. Joyce Pickering and Amy Cushner join the podcast to discuss the early signs of learning differences that Guides can be looking for during the Primary years. They use the acronym CLAPS for the main areas of development:

Coordination

Joyce and Amy describe typical development in each of these areas, and also signs of atypical development to watch for during the Primary years. They explain how the Montessori materials and lessons can be adapted to meet the needs of a wide variety of learners.

They warn that it is dangerous to take a "wait and see" approach to learning differences. Because while we are waiting, the child with learning differences is struggling and suffering. We are also losing valuable time in which to begin early intervention. So instead, Joyce and Amy advise Guides to start using adaptive strategies as soon as they identify a child at risk. If it ends up having been developmental, there is no harm done. But if it was a learning difference, you have already been supporting the student with strategies and skills they need to be successful.

Joyce and Amy share methods for recording these observations and adaptations, and how to discuss this information with parents. This episode is filled with information that all Montessorians should have - don't miss it!

Kathy Leitch joins the podcast to reframe the Montessori practice of daily observation - not as a chore, but as an act of love. After all, how do we know what to teach? If we're just choosing the next material on the shelf or turning to the next page in our albums, how is that different from conventional education? Our pedagogy is reliant on knowing our children, our relationship with children, and understanding that they will each follow their own path. 

Kathy advocates for elevating scientific observation and using it for planning, implementation of our teaching, guiding students, and assessment. What does this mean from a practical perspective? Kathy makes suggestions about when to observe, what to observe for, how to record it, and most importantly, how to use the information to shape your guidance of children.

Kathy gives advice to Guides who say they just "don't have time." We've all felt that way, but after hearing Kathy's perspective, you will rededicate yourself anew to this vital practice.

Jana Morgan Herman joins the podcast to discuss some common Montessori myths. As a Montessori historian and researcher, Jana has searched every one of Dr. Montessori's original writings, including those in the archives in Amsterdam, transcribing them from the original Italian, looking for evidence of some commonly held Montessori practices.

Here are some examples of Montessori practices that are not found in Dr. Montessori's writings:

• Rugs being used only to frame the work

Another common Montessori practice that Jana has researched deeply is the three-hour work cycle. Jana found Dr. Montessori's original schedule of the day from her book, The Montessori Method, and discovered that this schedule is very different from the one that most Montessori school's practice today. (You can read Dr. Montessori's Schedule of the Day here.) The original schedule has very different implications for how much time children should spend outside and the role of play. Dr. Montessori's original vision is actually supported by current brain research. So how did we veer away from this? And how can we get back to the original Montessori practices that are best for children's development?

Join us for this fascinating discussion that will make you rethink some of your Montessori assumptions.

Cheri Gardner joins the podcast to talk about how Elementary and Adolescent Guides can create a classroom culture that embraces worthy challenges, problem solving, and self-reflection.

Cheri talks about the importance of Guides designing follow up work and projects that are "rich tasks." Rather than being procedural or routine, rich tasks are both engaging and challenging. They provide opportunities for problem solving and critical thinking, apply to other areas of the curriculum, and are culturally relevant and meaningful to students.

Cheri advocates for teaching problem skills directly and creating opportunities for students to practice them in isolation before expecting students to be successful with problem solving during rich tasks. Cheri also discusses with her students the learning and work habits necessary for learning, such as thinking flexibly and perseverance. She defines these traits with her students, gives examples, and then names them in action. This provides a framework for students to know what it looks like to be a problem solver. She encourages her students to embrace the discomfort of challenging work because this is when real learning happens!

Cheri provides her students opportunities for self-reflection and self-monitoring by asking questions like, "What did you learn? How do you know you learned it? What would you do differently?" She works with her students on setting goals and discussing their own growth.

Cheri advocates for creating a classroom culture that celebrates risk taking, rather than being right. She explains that confidence doesn't come from getting the right answer. It comes from being successful in a challenge!

Heather Barger joins the podcast to talk about bringing Montessori outside. She shares Dr. Montessori's vision for outdoor learning, which was for children to learn primarily through first-hand experiences in the natural world.

Heather is the founder of The Montessori Field School in Floyds Knobs, Indiana. She describes how its nature and Montessori-based curriculum supports a hands-on, experiential approach that nurtures the development of the whole child.

Heather shares what a typical day looks like at The Montessori Field School, including the practical logistics. She also shares her discoveries about how learning outside impacts children's academic development, as well as their social/emotional growth.

Tammy Oesting joins the podcast to talk about raising ecological awareness in young children, which includes cultivating awe in Montessori classrooms, integrating nature seamlessly, and empowering educators to nurture eco-consciousness. Tammy discusses why is it important to support children with ecological consciousness, and which specific Montessori principles and practices align with nature education. Tammy talks about how Montessori guides can nurture their own sense of ecological wisdom, and then offers some practical strategies for integrating nature education across the planes of development. Finally, Tammy talks about how Montessori communities can collaborate with environmental education initiatives. She also shares some resources that educators can use to learn more about how to bring ecological consciousness into their classrooms.