Montessori Life back issues from October 2004:
Embracing Our International Members
Oct 01, 2004; ... In 1956, when Nancy McCormick Rambusch joined her friends Janet and John Bermingham to plan a Montessori class for their children, she could not have imagined what their humble efforts would have become by 2005! With the help of the Berminghams, Mary M. Begley, and Georgeanne Skakel Dowdle ...
Grant to Fund Montessori Education in Chicago
Oct 01, 2004; ... Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has received an $8.9 million grant to create five new magnet schools over the next 3 years, one of which will be a new Montessori program. Drummond, a year-round elementary school in north Chicago, will offer a Montessori program initially to serve students ...
Best Practices in Montessori Education
Oct 01, 2004; ... As Montessorians, we are most certainly a part of the greater educational picture in this country and in the world. We have a responsibility to continue to develop and to challenge our ideas of "best practices" through reflective participation in internal and external dialogues. This topic is ...
In Memory: Mark Ross
Oct 01, 2004; ... Mark Joseph Moore Ross died September 9, 2004, in Philadelphia. He was born in West Grove, PA. He is survived by his wife Kathryn, their son Will, their daughter Ariel, and his brothers Timothy and Matthew. Mark devoted his life to the support of young children and the adults who live ...
Happy Anniversary!
Oct 01, 2004; ... Congratulations to the following schools on achieving significant anniversary milestones! We wish them continued success in the future. Diablo Valley Montessori School Lafayette, CA 40th anniversary Laren Montessori School South Holland, IL 40th ...
Accreditation: Big Work, Big Benefits!
Oct 01, 2004; ... I hear it often: "I am too busy to even think about accreditation." Or "I'll work on it as soon as I add the elementary program, or finish the building, or complete the capital campaign." I can't help thinking that these are missed opportunities: opportunities to gather the strengths within the ...
Professional and Personal Life Balancing Act
Oct 01, 2004; ... My middle school students are studying Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, by Sean Covey, as the basis for their Personal World Curriculum. I am fortunate to be the facilitator of that curriculum and as I was preparing a presentation, I came across the following quote from the book in their ...
Identifying Best Practices: What You See is What You Get
Oct 01, 2004; ... Montessori classrooms are different. They look different from other classrooms. The curriculum is different from other curricula. The teachers are different from other teachers. With all the ways in which Montessori programs differ from traditional schools, how can they still reflect ...
Defining Best Practices: A Goal for 21st-Century Montessori Education
Oct 01, 2004; ... Last fall the AMS Board's Centennial Fund Committee created a case statement that outlines a vision of Montessori education in the 21st century. This document is intended as a major gifts umbrella and marketing tool to capture the imagination of corporate and foundation boards. In addition, ...
Deconstructing Montessori: A Growing Problem
Oct 01, 2004; ... When you hang out a shingle that reads "Dentist," you ought to practice dentistry. When you hang out a sign that says "Montessori School," you ought to provide a Montessori education. This is called truth in advertising. Too often today we find Montessori schools yielding to parental pressure ...
Correction
Oct 01, 2004; ... In the summer 2004 issue, the article by Aline D. Wolf, "Restoring Better Reading to Our 2 ½-6 Classrooms: Part 1" was ...
One Individual at a Time: Instruction in the Montessori Classroom
Oct 01, 2004; ... As Montessori teachers, how many times have we been asked, "What makes a Montessori school different?" or, even more generally, "What does Montessori mean?" These are simple and appropriate questions from curious parents, yet a meaningful answer could be far from simple-and far too lengthy for ...
In America
Oct 01, 2004; ... A Family's Journey In America A film by Jim Sheridan PG-13 107 minutes 2002 "And a little child shall lead them." Well, not exactly. Ariel (Emma Bolger), after her father sternly instructs his family to tell the border guards they are on vacation, ...
When Pigasso Met Mootisse
Oct 01, 2004; ... Fun with Art History When Pigasso Met Mootisse By Nina Laden Chronicle Books, 1998, $15.95 Here is a children's book for all ages with art, humor, and a little history thrown into the mix. And what a mix it is! Author and artist Nina Laden tells the story of the competitive ...
LETTERS
Oct 01, 2004; ... Dear Editors, Congratulations on being chosen by the AMS Editor Search Committee to fill some very fine shoes. I know that I speak for thousands of Montessorians in saying thank you to Joy Starry Turner for her devotion to and constant effort with Montessori LIFE during her long stint as ...
Editing Roxx!
Oct 01, 2004; ... Welcome to our first issue of Montessori LIFE. With humility and some trepidation, we set out our instruments (pencils, laptops, dictionaries, style guides, and cell phones) and begin this adventure with full knowledge of the eminent and accomplished individuals who have preceded us and in whose ...
In Memory: Sarah Jett Frost
Oct 01, 2004; ... Sarah Jett Frost died on March 18, 2004 at her home in Fluvanna County, VA. Sarah was born in Norfolk, VA. She was the founder and for 20 years was head of the highly respected Ghent Montessori School in Norfolk. She is survived by her husband, Laurence W. Frost, her brother, Rice Arthur ...
An Interview with Joy Starry Turner
Oct 01, 2004; ... Joy Starry Turner, a disciple of Maria Montessori for 40 years, is best described as a master classroom teacher and teacher educator (mentor to so many of us), and a thoughtful and considerate leader who has consistently challenged Montessorians of all ranks to seek clarity and quality of belief ...
Pennies for Peace
Oct 01, 2004; ... What happens when you cross an extraordinary vision with extraordinary Montessori mothers? You get Pennies for Peace, a remarkable program in which children across the country collected pennies to build a school for their peers in northern Pakistan. In November 2003, Montessori School of ...
Another Voyager-Another Vision
Oct 01, 2004; ... In the summer 2004 issue of Montessori LIFE, the Archives column focused on one of Montessori's first American admirers, Ellen Yale Stevens. Stevens' observation of Montessori's practices in Italy and her admiration for Montessori's thinking about children led her to believe in the application ...
Sharing Our Best Practices
Oct 01, 2004; ... When the topic "best practices in Montessori education" was presented to me for this issue I thought, what Montessori teacher, parent, or student doesn't know that Montessori is the best practice! It seems so simple to us as we embrace this amazing philosophy and method every day in our ...
Educating for Peace: A Montessori Best Practice
Oct 01, 2004; ... It is upon peace that the very life of the nation depends, perhaps even the progress or decay of our entire Civilization. (Montessori, 1986, p. 3) So said Maria Montessori 72 years ago. She had experienced the horrors and ravages of World War I and was speaking to the International ...
A Road Map: Montessori Curriculum and Learner Outcomes
Oct 01, 2004; ... The pervasive approach to educational evaluation today is to judge children, teachers, and schools by test scores. In Montessori schools, we find ourselves perpetually defending de-emphasizing standardized tests. We explain that Montessori methodology is different from curricula found in public ...
Best Practices: A Commentary
Oct 01, 2004; ... I've started a campaign to get rid of the term best practices. If I can't get rid of it, I might be willing to rename it. The new phrase might be practices that worked for me in my setting, but might not work for you. The adjective "best" is elitist and arrogant. It suggests an ideal ...
"Restorative" Yoga and Silence Games for Children and Adolescents: A Way of Knowing the World More Clearly
Oct 01, 2004; ... The usual approach to yoga in contemporary America is to take a class. In the class, the teacher demonstrates poses. Usually the poses have a name. Some of the names bring images of childhood to mind: cat, frog, sparrow. Some suggest a sound or movement which children might enjoy imitating-a ...
In a Classical Mode
Oct 01, 2004; ... In a Classical Mode Prokofiev, S. (1994). Peter and the Wolf. Erato Disques S. A. $16.99. Abbado, C. (2003). Children's Classics. Universal Classics Universal Music/Deutsche Grammophon. $7.99. In 1936, Sergei Prokofiev visited the Moscow Children's Theater and was encouraged by a ...
Honoring the Light of the Child
Oct 01, 2004; ... A Path to Peace Honoring the Light of the Child By Sonnie McFarland Shining Mountains Press, 2004, $25.00 Sonnie McFarland, a driving force behind various AMS peace initiatives, is a promoter and facilitator of peace retreats and touring peace symposia. In 1993 she published Shining ...