What should our children learn? Over the past posts I’ve tried to show that children need to learn, as a life-long foundation, the practical life skills that include care of the self, care of the environment, care of others, and care of community. The skills of practical life offer the child a way to build […]
Care of Community: Sowing the Seeds of Citizenship
Over the past few posts, we’ve been looking at the foundational lessons of practical life skills that are offered in a Montessori classroom for three-to-six-year-olds, but in reality these lessons should be offered in all classrooms and homes. The practical life skills of caring for oneself, caring for one’s environment, caring for others and caring […]
Care of Others: Another Step Towards Independence
As we consider the different areas of practical life exercises, we might see that care of others follows a natural expansion from the child’s activities in care for the self and care of the environment. Before we can truly take care of others, we need to know how to take care of ourselves, and at […]
Children’s Care of their Environment Creates Powerful Learning
One of the many universal learning and teaching principles used in Montessori education is the idea of the prepared environment. Created and maintained by the adults in that space, a prepared environment consists of four components: people, tools and objects, ideas and nature. What does a prepared environment look like? Let’s start with an example […]
Here’s My Letter Story
The importance of letter writing? In my life, letter writing may be the thing that made the difference. In 1971, for more than a year, and almost 200 letters, I corresponded with a young man I met briefly in Germany. What did we write about? Mainly, we wrote about the books we were reading and […]
Care of the Self is Where We Begin
One of the many things I have come to appreciate about my Montessori teaching experience is this idea; in their efforts to self-construct an adult human being, children’s initial work is care of the self. From this core work of care of the self, the child is drawn to other activities in caring for the […]
Don’t Be a Pop Quiz Parent
At the neighborhood barbecue, I squirmed in my lawn chair. I was embarrassed, not so much for myself, but for Erica, the six-year-old at our table who was being grilled by her father, Tom. ”How much is 6 times 9?” Searching for the answer, Erica looked up at the pavilion ceiling, then down at her […]
To Lead A Child To Learn
Helen Keller wrote, ”Anybody can lead a child to a classroom. It takes a teacher to lead a child to learn.” Keller is perhaps the most famous of students of the 20th century. Her teacher, Annie Sullivan, taught Helen, who became blind and deaf at the age of 19 months, how to communicate and connect […]
Ten Conversations
A small red book holds a lot of wise parenting advice. Shmuley Boteach in his book, 10 Conversations You Need To Have With Your Children, tells us about essential and ongoing chats we should have with our children. Boteach, a rabbi, and former host of The Learning Channel’s Shalom in the Home and father to […]
Learning To Lead And Follow
The adult is the most important part of a child’s environment. We may fill a child’s space with all kinds of learning activities. We may be able to give a child all types of advantages. What becomes significant, too often in hindsight, is the quality of the adults as being the indicator of a how […]