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...

“Show, Tell, and Read ” Lower Elementary students are practicing storytelling.  A student demonstrates comprehension by retelling a story and using his or her own words to recount the event.   As the activity builds, the students gain confidence in making presentations and their ability to speak the new language grows. It also helps the m to improve their fluency. As the weather gets cold, students are learning the names of the clothing they are wearing by using vocabulary cards. We made sentences using the verbs lleva (wear s ), canta (sings) and va (goes). We read a story about going to a store and s ang a song about clothing and going to the store to buy specific items. We put on a fashion show in which students described what the models were wearing, and we talked about what people wear in different parts of the  world. How  do we use the Spanish-English dictionary? Some  Lower Elementary students  a...