Montessori Primary and Elementary Explained

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjbpTp0K_10

Well-Known Montessorians

"Montessori taught me the joy of discovery…It showed you can become interested in pretty complex theories, like Pythagorean theory, say, by playing with blocks. It’s all about learning on your terms, rather than a teacher explaining stuff to you. SimCity comes right out of Montessori—if you give people this model for building cities, they will abstract from it principles of urban design,"
~Will Wright, Computer Game Designer and Original Designer of The Sims

Famous People That Attended Montessori Schools as Children

• Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Cofounders of google.com
• Jeff Bezos, Financial analaysist, founder of amazon.com
• Sean "P Diddy" Combs, Record Producer, Actor, Fashion Designer, Entrepreneur, Dancer, Rapper
• Prince Harry and Prince William, Brittish Royal Family
• Jacqueline Onassis Kennedy, Former First Lady and Book Editor
• Anne Frank, Famous for writing a diary documenting her experiences during World War II
• Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia
• Will Wright, designer of The Sims
• Lea Salonga, multi-awarded Filipino-American singer and Broadway actress
• Melissa and Sarah Gilbert, actors
• Berry Brazelton, noted paediatrician and author
• Julia Child, famous chef, star of many TV cooking shows and author of numerous cookbooks Chef
• Joshua Bell, American violinist, owner of Stradivarius violin
• Peter Drucker, Management Guru
• Taylor Swift, Singer/Song writer
• George Clooney, Actor
• John Cusack, Actor
• Yo Yo Ma, cellist

Others with a Montessori Connection

• Bruno Bettelheim, noted psychologist/author, married to a Montessori teacher
• Thomas Edison, noted scientist and inventor, helped fund a Montessori school
• President Wilson’s daughter trained as a Montessori teacher. There was a Montessori classroom in the basement of the White House during Wilson’s presidency!!
• Erik Erikson, anthropologist/author, had a Montessori teaching certificate
• Jean Piaget, noted Swiss psychologist, made his first observations of children in a Montessori school.
• Mister Rogers, children’s TV personality, strong supporter of Montessori education
• Alexander Graham Bell (inventor) and his wife Mabel founded the Montessori Education Association in 1913. They also provided financial support directly to Dr. Maria Montessori and helped establish the first Montessori class in Canada and one of the first in the United States.
• Alice Waters, restaurateur and writer, is a former Montessori teacher 

Famous people who chose Montessori schools for their own children:

Willie Nelson, musician, has a Montessori school on his ranch

Elizabeth Berridge, actress

David Blaine, street magician

Jennifer Granholm and Daniel Mulhern, Governor of Michigan

Stephen J. Cannell, TV writer-producer-director (The Rockfor Files and many other)

Patty Duke Austin, actress

Bill and Hillary Clinton, Former President and New York Senator   

Thomas Edison

Today I gave a lesson on Thomas Edison and his invention of the light bulb. My students were so fasinated to learn what life would be like without light (sunlight, batteries, lightbulb and electricity) and we came up with a list of things that needed light bulbs to funtion. Here are a few things we came up with.

• ambulances
• firetrucks
• police cars
• traffic signals
• train stations
• airplanes
• radios
• flashlights
• cars
• remote controls
• refrigerators
• computers
• cell phones
• televison
• street lamps
• oven
• cameras

And the list goes on!!!! The reasons were even more adorable!!! They each drew a picture also and we are using them for the end of the year play. This was the most interesting topic of the whole year!

The End is Too Close.....

I can't believe there are only 17 days left in this school year!!! It's been a wonderful year and I have learned so much in my first year of teaching Montessori. I will share all those wonderful things in my next post. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures. Enjoy!!!

10 Happenings in My Class!!

Some interesting things have occurred in the past two weeks. Hope you enjoy!!

1. I taught a child how to tie his shoe laces
2. I taught a child how to write her name
3. My student bought me the cutest necklace just because he felt like it and surprised me with it :)
4. I have almost completed my lesson on the planets and I can't wait because next the children get to make their own solar system!!!
5. The children LOVE Yoga!! One child is chosen per week to be the yoga instructor and they do a wonderful job even when "I'm not looking" :)
6. I have taught my class 5 new songs!!!
7. I have one child that requests a hug from me about 20 times a day :) and I love every one of them!!
8. I helped a child learn how to cope with things that make her really upset by giving her the right words or the opportunity to have a voice and express her feelings to others using the peace flower or several other ways
9. I have a child that loves flower arranging and our classroom is so beautiful because of this!
10. My class now has banana slicing and they love it!!! After they eat their banana, they must wash their dishes and prepare the lesson so that it's complete for the next person.

Stay tuned for more new and exciting things happening as I continue my journey down the Montessori path!!!

Goodnight.