Our production of "Alice in Wonderland" was a delightful success.  The children were amazing in their ability to memorize their lines, entrances and exits, and blocking. They were unanimously supportive of each other, providing lines when someone forgot, reminding each other of where to be and when to be there, making sure that they had their props, and creating their costumes and props. Several who had asked for "little" parts expressed the desire for a larger part next time. This intense work helped them to bond with each other in a more empathic way. Numerous studies have demonstrated that students engaged in drama often experience improved reading comprehension, maintain better attendance records, and are generally more engaged in school. Drama contributes to a student's understanding of the work being performed and can help develop a better understanding of other works and of language and expression in general, including story recall, re...

How to stretch a single lesson into hundreds of interesting activities. Caroline Cercone, a Nashville potter and Abintra mother, collaborated with Lower Elementary students on a recent tile project that depicted a story in Spanish.  Each student prepared a sentence in Spanish with an illustration, which they transferred on a clay tile using sgraffito: a technique scratching directly into clay or through a layer of slip with a pointy tool. They learned about the American studio potter Jan Edwards who loves to travel  and draw.  She uses her travel sketches as the beginning of her work  when drawing on pots and tiles using sgraffito. What a wonderful journey for all of us! Middle Elementary and some Lower Elementary students are knitting beautiful items. They all look forward to the last minutes of Spanish class to listen to music or our Spanish novels while they knit or weave.  One of the projects is to knit squares to make blankets that will be donat...

As Early Childhood artists learn about the  Caribbean  in their class, they created Molas:  Folk-art from Panama.  They learned about layering, adding details, focusing, and what molas are used for. Early Childhood artists learned about the different layers of the rain forests in South America and created these rainforest collages.   Early Childhood artists brighten a gloomy day by painting rainbows in the sky. Early Childhood A  artists created self-portraits to contribute to the school-wide collaboration of this years yearbook cover. Early Childhood B artists learned about the portraits of Frida Kahlo and created their self-portraits inspired by her work. I'm so proud that all of my Early Childhood musicians returned from their Winter Break remembering their rhythm patterns and our ensemble piece. Their focus has strengthened when each of them are on the melody instrument. It's difficult not to wander to your neig...

February Conferences: Celebrating our Children's Growth Child development is a process, and every child demonstrates readiness for new work at their own pace. They demonstrate this at home and at school in very different ways. That is why February conferences are so important. Your child has grown and changed a great deal since October. Sitting with your child's guides and sharing information is vital to maintaining the parent, student, school triangle. What I love about Montessori is that each child's developmental trajectory is respected and supported. The students inspire each other within the community, respect the boundaries of the classroom and the progress of each individual child, and support each other as the guides have modeled such support. When difficulties arise we have a team of excellent faculty and staff to help students and families build needed skills. I am grateful every day for the environment in which we work, for the ...

Mathematicians are blooming in the Lower Elementary classroom! As the progression of our Montessori Math program continues, students are discovering how to multiply by four digit numbers with carrying and exchanging utilizing the Stamp Game, Checkerboard, and pen and paper. Other students have moved on to subtraction with the Strip Board, Bead Bars, and pen and paper. All of our students are practicing how to tell time, read place value, read and formulate graphs about the weather and tally counts of votes in our Community Meetings. They are also playing fun movement games to practice geometry vocabulary such as acute, obtuse, and equilateral. Our students are fired up about Math and learning that math can be found throughout all of their daily routine. Math is in their alarm clock, how many bananas are needed for snack, how to trade bamboo sticks with friends on the playground, and how many bracelets you have once you give one away to a friend. The Montessori philos...

One of the most valuable tools we work to teach the children is independence. One way that independence is gained is by allowing the students to resolve their own problems. Although guides are always nearby and willing to help, we allow students to solve their problems themselves whenever possible.   One tool we are using to teach conflict resolution is the "peace path." This is a process that emphasizes active listening and reflective language to help students practice the skills of empathy.   A student who wants to resolve a conflict invites the other student to the peace table. Each child holds one end of the first card. The card has visual and written prompts for the children. The child with the conflict starts by saying, "I feel (sad, angry, happy, or afraid) when you (explains what happened)." The children put the card down and pick up the next. The second child says, "You feel ...when I...", repeating the conce...

During the first week back, the students organized their comments for inclusion in their progress reports.  Students were very clear about what they wanted to include in their self-assessments in all their subject areas. We also enjoyed having a student from St. Cecilia Academy working with our students that week as part of her junior year internship. She integrated beautifully with the students. They were excited to show her their work and just how smoothly they could run a classroom. Students examine representations of Roman architecture they viewed in paintings at the Frist.   Our first field trip of 2015 was "Sanctity Pictured" at The Frist. We prepared by discussing the impact of the spread of Christianity on the history of Europe following the fall of Rome, the use of paintings and illuminated manuscripts in dispersing information during a time when few people could read, the time and dedication necessary to write a book before the printing...