African American / Black History Month: Activities and Current Events in the Montessori Classroom

February is African American History Month (also known as Black History Month) in the US, Canada and Jamaica. In Britain, Black (or Afrikan) History Month is marked in October. The current earthquake turmoil in Haiti provides the opportunity to apply a more specific perspective to your Montessori classroom study of African American History month. Employing a cross-curriculum approach covering the geography, history and culture of Haiti, your annual study of African American History Month can tie into current events and help reinforce a global and historical consciousness, empathy and even peace activities.

The majority of Haitians are of African descent. Your Montessori students may enjoy comparing and tracing the timelines and paths of Africans as they came to Haiti and the United States. Encourage your students to consider how, when and why Africans came to Haiti and the United States. What happened once they arrived?

2010 Olympic Games Montessori Classroom Activity Guide

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well. ~ Bishop Ethelbert Talbot, 1908 Olympic Games

These words, first spoken by Bishop Ethelbert Talbot during a speech given to Olympic athletes at the 1908 Olympic Games, became the creed for the modern Olympics. Meant to spur athletes to live up to the Olympic motto of “Citius, Altius, Fortius” (Faster, Higher, Stronger), men and women around the world train their bodies, minds and spirits to compete in hopes of becoming an Olympic athlete.

Montessori classrooms and material support and encourage learning. Montessori believed that education must be authentic and appeal to children. By bringing the Olympics into your classroom, you are providing appealing, real-life examples which will stimulate the imagination and learning of your students.

Here are just some ideas on how to incorporate the Olympic theme into your Montessori environment.

Haiti Activities and Resources: A Cultural Study in the Montessori Classroom

Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence. ~ Maria Montessori, Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook

Natural disasters can be terrifying to people of all ages. Last week’s devastating earthquake in Haiti and the subsequent aftershocks are no exception. It seems as if the whole world is focused right now on the natural disaster and human tragedy that has befallen Haiti in recent years. It is impossible to turn on the TV, radio, or internet or pick up any form of print media without seeing pictures or hearing about the current Haitian conditions. With the latest study showing that the average American child uses electronic media almost 8 hours per day (HealthDay News, January 20, 2010), it is imperative that the adults around them are aware of and limit the amount and type of information being presented to them.

Currently there is an international outpouring of solidarity, compassion, and aid in response to the devastation in Haiti. People from around the world are reaching out to a country many may not even be able to place on a map, to people who are complete strangers. Let us take this time to explore and learn more about the country and people of Haiti through activities and resources that span the full Montessori curriculum.

History of the Olympics - From Greece to the 2010 Olympic Games in the Montessori Classroom

Learning about the Olympics is a fun way to bring cultural and physical geography, history, literature, math, health, physical education, and even physics into your Montessori environment.

The 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games begin February 12 and March 12, respectively. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is the 18th city to host the Winter Olympics and the third Canadian city to host the Olympic Games. The first Canadian Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec during the summer of 1976, and the 1988 Winter Olympics were held in Calgary, Alberta. The 2010 Olympic Games will last for 16 days, with opening ceremonies commencing on February 12 and ending with the closing ceremony on February 28. The Paralympic Games begin March 12 and close on March 21, 2010.

At the Olympic Games, approximately 2,500 athletes from over 80 countries will compete in 15 different sports and over 86 separate medal events.

Over 1,300 athletes and officials from more than 40 countries will take part in five sports (alpine and cross-country skiing, ice sledge hockey, wheelchair curling and biathlon) during the 10-day 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

To truly understand about the modern Olympics, it is important to study the beginnings of the Olympics which started in Greece in the year 776 BCE.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Activities and Resources for the Montessori Classroom

… on the satisfaction of (the child’s) more spiritual needs the progress of humanity depends – the creation indeed of a stronger and better humanity. ~ Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential

Montessori education centers on this one very important belief. In developing her philosophy and method, Dr. Montessori drew on her experience and education in science, medicine, philosophy, pedagogy, anthropology, and by no small measure, in life. She lived in the time and on the continent of the two great wars of the 20th century. Perhaps this is, in part, why she so strongly advocated that education is the key to peace.

As Montessori educators and parents, we embrace Montessori peace education, and look for ways to include it in the daily life of the Montessori students and children in our care. Peace education crosses all disciplines, integrating lessons in history, language, geography, and practical life.

NAMC Mastery Checklists for the Montessori Elementary Classroom

In an effort to assist our graduates and schools with their observation and record-keeping efforts, NAMC has just recently completed Mastery Checklists for our Montessori elementary programs. These checklists complement the scope of activities contained in the current edition NAMC curriculum manuals for each program:

• Lower Elementary (6–9 years)
• Upper Elementary (9–12 years)

In the Montessori environment, organized record-keeping helps teachers run a program efficiently, meet government reporting requirements, and provide parents with feedback about their children. But most importantly, record-keeping helps teachers facilitate the student’s learning.

Montessori Planes of Development: Upper Elementary Characteristics in the Second Plane

…We are confronted with a considerable development of consciousness that has already taken place, but now that consciousness is thrown outwards with a special direction, intelligence being extroverted, and there is an unusual demand on the part of the child to know the reasons of things. Knowledge can be best given where there is eagerness to learn, so this is the period when the seed of everything can be sown, the child’s mind being like a fertile field, ready to receive what will germinate into culture. ~ Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential

Between the ages of 9-12, children use imagination and move from concrete representation to abstract thinking as they seek to bring order to the various disconnected facts and ideas they encounter in the world. They are able to think hypothetically. Montessori believed it is also a time of great moral development. No longer merely concerned with right and wrong, good and bad, the Montessori upper elementary student now seeks to understand the motivation behind behavior. When confronted with moral issues, the upper elementary student seeks to imagine and develop possible solutions.