Temple Grandin at AMS Conference in Dallas

3,000 attendees at the recent American Montessori Society (AMS) Conference in Dallas enjoyed an informative keynote speech by Temple Grandin. Three members of staff from the school were fortunate to be in attendance and listen to the remarkable speaker. 

       Temple Grandin was diagnosed with autism as a child. She talked about how her mind works — sharing her ability to "think in pictures," which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She made the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids.


You can hear some of her talk at the conference by listening to this TED talk

Trevor Eissler "Montessori Madness!" -321 FastDraw

Trevor Eissler is not an educator. In fact by profession, he's a pilot. But for many parents and Montessori school educators, Eissler is a bit of a cult hero. Why? Because he is passionately spreading the word about Montessori education. He - and parents like him - believe it's the most innovative form of education that has existed for more than a century. In this video Eissler puts forward his argument for Montessori education.
Montessori Madness

The Big Disconnect

Catherine Steiner-Adair was one of the speakers at the recent American Montessori Society (AMS) Head's Retreat. In her book The Big Disconnect she has a crucial message for parents and teachers. She looks at various developmental stages of children, from toddlers through high school and how they interact with technology, but the most important message is for parents and how they are modeling the use of technology.

Here is a link to a You tube message from Catherine

The Brain and the Internet Compared

Maria Montessori had a remarkable understanding of the development of a child's brain given the absence of sophisticated methods of study. The Montessori method of education grew out of  detailed observations and interactions with children. Her discoveries have been verified by recent research. It would be very interesting to see how Montessori would have adapted her method in light of the rapid growing technology. Brain Power: from Neurons to Network uses great graphics, analogies, and kid pictures to help the viewer understand more about the child's brain. The conclusion; ( like Montessori!) interactions with humans are critical to the development of new ideas, incite and creative thinking.Attention is the brain's most valuable resource!

 

 When

 it comes to 

producing creative 

business leaders,a

Montessori education

has proven to be

a potent predictor

of future 

success

  
 The Center for Montessori Education, New York invites Montessori schools to share this article with faculty and parents.
 The article celebrates the Montessori concept of self-directed learning, mixed-age classrooms, collaboration, creativity, and social responsibility. It was recently published in Briefing Magazine, a quarterly magazine focused on talent and leadership published by Korn/Ferry.
Korn/Ferry, a prestigious executive search firm engaged by major corporations, visited Cambridge Montessori School to research this article about Montessori education and business leadership.
The photos of the school are captivating and the message is clear: children in Montessori schools today are engaged in an educational experience that promotes the very qualities needed in the leaders of tomorrow.

http://www.cmteny.com/images/briefings_magazine.pdf

Healthy Homework

Most parents I meet have been conditioned to believe that homework is a necessary part of a child's development and worry that a child in Montessori will somehow suffer because of the lack of it...even at the primary level.Education experts recently presented new Healthy Homework Guidelines to the National PTA, calling attention to the ineffectiveness of assigning homework to young children, and the toll that homework takes on healthy family life.  Alfie Kohn, author of Unconditional Parenting, Punished by Rewards, The Homework Myth, and other books and articles on human behavior, education, and parenting, calls homework "the greatest single extinguisher of children's curiosity that we have ever invented . . . no research has ever found any benefit to assigning homework before kids are in high school."  healthy homework

Sandy Hook Elementary School

We have a hard time understanding and dealing with violence and death, and it is even harder to talk to children about these subjects. Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW is a research professor at the University of Houston graduate college of Social Work. She has spent the past decade studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame. She was a speaker at a recent national Montessori Conference .She offers several resources to guide us in helping children with this difficult topic. http://www.ordinarycourage.com/