Happy New Year. I hope it’s going well for you and your resolutions. I made my list in class a few days ago. I start working towards accomplishing them on Monday. Should be interesting.
I’m going to moving blog sites soon. I’ve decided to use Apple’s MobileMe. It just seems easier and I feel I’ll be more in control of the look and feel of everything. I don’t have the exact web address yet but will let you know soon.
I wish you a wonderful year!
I know it’s been ages since I last posted. All I can say is that this has been one crushing semester. But all is good and it’s finally over. I look forward to updated you very soon on a whole host of things about training now that I’m on winter break. But until then I wanted to share theses two videos with you.
1. Outdoor kindergarten in Norway. When I start my own school, I hope to be able to have the kids learn outdoors for the greater part of the day no matter what the weather. Thank God the Montessori curriculum supports that.
2. Importance of working with the hands. This is from a Waldorf education philosophy, but the similarities to Montessori are striking. Doesn’t it just make you want to learn to spin your own yarn and knit or build a school from the ground up by hand?!
I thought I should talk about my own observations a little. As I indicated in my previous post, observations are not easy. For each observation journal entry we are to note a few basic things at the beginning: date, location, time. We are also required to not some other things: weather, mood, and state of health. At the end of our journal entry, we have the option of writing a conclusion, interpretation, and/or our feelings. The journal is supposed to be handwritten, but you can choose any (neat) medium to keep it in. I bought some pretty notebooks from Target; others used spiral bound notebooks, others used loose leaf paper. Two or three of those with prior Montessori training had typed up a template on their computers and then printed them out and wrote their entries by hand.
There is no perfect format for writing an observation journal. My background is anthropology and telecom with a twist of military conciseness. On any given page, I would write the time of an event in military format in the left hand margin. (I tend to confuse AM and PM!) Between the left and right margins, I wrote my observations. My entries look like paragraphs but they read like bullet points. Here’s an example from my observation of a goose at the San Diego Zoo:
1452 Starts looking for food. Moving in direction that he came from. Drinks water. Stands directly in front of large bird like itself. Stares my direction for about a minute. Drinks more water. Still does not interact with other bird. Other bird did not move on his/her account. Another goose floats into area close to [my] bird. [My bird] does not look at it.
Goose I Observed at the Zoo
Every few minutes or so I would write a new passage by skipping one or two lines and then repeating the same format of time then observation. I glanced at a few journals of classmates and a few were similar to mine. Then there were those who wrote paragraph upon paragraph with no line spaces and seemingly, no time indications. Given that they were handwritten and some were in foreign languages, I’m not sure what they were writing. I felt bad at times as if I must have been missing something to have written less than others. Most of the time, though, I felt I probably just have a habit of distilling what I see into short sentences without losing the meaning. I hope that’s true.
A Baby Fascinated by the Takane Ball
This week I really refrained from writing conclusions, interpretations, and even my feelings. I just don’t feel that I have the skills and knowledge to do that well. At the end of the first day of observations we were discussing with the trainers in training. I was really surprised at some of the details that my classmates caught. For example, there was an 18 month old who had never been in a Montessori or even daycare environment. I noted in my journal that his movements were erratic and that he lacked concentration moving very quickly from one activity to the next. (I didn’t share my observations with the class). Well, one of the other students remarked how it was obvious that he was in the sensitive period for order based on the way that he would take toys and line them up neatly. Another noticed that he had an affinity for circles and triangles possibly demonstrating the roots of the mathematical mind.
I sat there a bit embarrassed at myself that I had missed these finer points and had only focused on the supposed chaos this boy was creating. I was even gladder that I didn’t share my observations about him because in light of the other observations, my just seemed trite and judgemental lacking any real insight. I had to be brutally honest with myself so that I would know what to work on the following days. I figured it would be best to step back from making conclusions because the ones I made on the first day were not very Montessori.
Baby in Supine about to Reach for Grasping Ring
I feel I made much better observations as the week progressed. Towards the end of the week, I was no longer writing simply that a baby was holding something with its hand. I was writing the child is holding a given object with its right or left hand as well as the type of grasp. Instead of saying the child was laying down, I would state whether the child was supine or prone and even noted the relative position of its shoulders and forearms when prone. Instead of noting that a baby was in front of the mirror, I noted also whether it perpendicular or parallel to the mirror. I learned to capture movement and also kept track of the types of syllables a baby was babbling (open or closed). I’m sure that with the upcoming independent observations, I will soon have the confidence to make informed non-judgemental conclusions and interpretations.
So this week was all about observations. From about 9am to about 3pm we observed babies in our classroom. Two of them were children whose mothers are in training with us. It was kind of weird watching them observe their children and taking notes. The two babies were under 6 months of age. Then there was C who was about 11 months old. He is not walking yet, but cruises easily. Linguistically, he is at a stage where his speech is only intelligible to his family. His mother is a friend of one of my classmates. Then there was S. He is 18 months old and a confident walker and speaker.
In order to make it possible for all the students to observe the children, we moved the tables to surround the entire prepared environment. A small gap was left for people to enter the environment with the children. The tables were covered with white sheets so that our feet and belongings were covered so as not to distract the children. It was pretty cramped as there were usually 4 or more people to table meant for 3. Some people had to stand. It worked for the most part, but anyone coming in late, and there were a lot of late comers, forfeited their usual seats. The picture below might give you a picture of how we set up the class for observations.
Observation Set-up
The basic rules for observations was that there would be only two adults in the prepared environment at any given time. If one or more of the mothers were in there with their babies then students could not be in there. It would be too disruptive for the children. If a student wanted to go in to work with the babies one-on-one they must first wash their hands, put on a blue smock, and pick one of the children to work with consistently. The remaining students must stay at the tables, silently taking notes. You could only observe one child at a time, preferably for the whole week. Nothing was to be on the tables aside from notebooks. We were not to interact with the children unless they interacted with us.
First, I have to tell you, by the end of the week, all these rules for observation were being broken. Part of it was because the professor was out for the week so not everyone was on their best behavior. The other issue is that observation is a difficult and taxing work. You start off exhilarated as you watch the babies working so hard to develop themselves. You furiously take notes of everything you see. Then at a certain point doubt may creep in and you wonder if you are observing correctly because your notes seem unimaginative and uninspired because you are writing the same thing over and over again:
The child is holding the ring with his left hand. He now puts it in his mouth. He takes it out of his mouth then lets go. He takes the ring again and puts it in his mouth.
So you begin to think that maybe you are not looking at the right things or that you are not using the right words to describe. You notice some people have written paragraphs and pages of notes. Others have just a few lines. Then the babies get fussy because its their usual nap times. You worry that you observing them is part of why they are so fussy. You feel bad for the mom’s who have to breast feed in front of the entire class. Then the child falls asleep. You could stay and just watch, but you also have tons of other work on your albums to do and you are also hungry because three hours have passed and you have not had a break. You go to lunch and when you get back the process starts all over again, only this time, it has lost some of its novelty. You quickly realize that observation is not for the weak – it takes practice and discipline just like everything else. It’s a job that you have to learn how to do well before you can truly enjoy it.
So by the end of the first day, our lack of discipline in the art of observation began to show and continued for the rest of the week. We took lots of notes and made some interesting observations. On the other hand, people came to class late, we took breaks when we got bored or tired, the desks were not always clear of our junk, sometimes we surfed the web, some forgot to put on their smocks when entering the kids’ area, and there was a noticeable lack of hand washing. It’s obvious that we are teachers in training.
Between 3pm and 4pm when the kids had left, the three trainers in training would lead a short discussion about what we observed. We talked about what we could determine about a child’s development based on how they used their hands, the movements they made, or even the sounds they made. We joyfully related things that we saw which lined up with what we had been learning: the use of the hand, freedom of movement, sociability, increased independence, etc.
The most experienced of the trainers in training gave us some important guidelines about writing our observations. One was that transcribing our journals invalidates the observation. Observations are a record of the present to include our handwriting, mistakes, and moods. Transcribing our journals takes away the “presentness” of our observations. I needed to know this since I had planned on turning in a typed transcription of my observations because my handwriting is poor. She said that as we write we should take time to focus on better penmanship. I did and by the end of the week my notes were actually legible!
Another important tidbit was to not make assumptions about what a child was seeing or noticing. In my case I shared with the class how one of the children was looking at one of the students. She gently corrected me saying that the child “appeared” or “seemed” to be looking at one of the students. The reason is that we cannot say for a certainty what the child is looking at or sees. It’s important to be as clinically objective as possible when observing. This was the secret to Dr. Montessori’s discoveries: she assumed nothing, she only observed.
Now I understand why Dr. Dubovoy said that observations would transform us. Despite our mental fatigue and lack of discipline, you could see each of us students struggling to fight past our complacency. We determined to not let ourselves get bored. We determined to take good and useful notes. We asked questions with the aim to help us be better observers. On Friday, I overheard several conversations between various classmates where they talked about the steps they would be taking to become better observers. I have no doubt that next year we will all come back as excellent observers.
Yay, I’m past the halfway part for the first summer of the Assistance to Infancy course in San Diego. The week went by well enough. I believe I’ve finally found my rhythm between classes, readings, and studying . It took me a while because there is just so much to do and read. Also, the lack of structure really affected me. But, I came to a decision last weekend to accept the fact that I would not be able to do all the readings, write all the essays, and make all the materials and albums by the close of this session. I decided to focus on the readings instead. My logic is that all the other exercises will be based on my understanding of Montessori theory as es expressed by Montessori and Montanaro.
Lectures were simple and interesting this week. We got to dive into the materials used in an infant community for learning. The materials are generally beautiful made of natural materials such as wood or silver. Dr. Dubovoy and her assistants gave us a prescribed layout for each material. They would start by naming the material, showing us what it looked like, what it’s made of, what age it’s appropriate for, and most interestingly, how the material when properly used directly aids the infant’s development. Towards the latter part of the week, they also showed us how to present some of the materials especially for the older ages (by older I mean 12-24 months).
Seeing how to do the presentations was my favorite part. Lessons are introduced to a child by inviting him to shelf and asking him if he’d like to learn to use it. The child is then asked to carry the materials by himself to a place he wants to work, whether that be a table or a place on the floor. A low voice is always used, eye contact consistently maintained, and speaking is kept to a minimum. I was expecting a very prescribed method for introducing new materials to each child. I thought we would have to write down a list of steps that detailed everything. We were disabused of this error quickly. At such tender ages, a great deal of flexibility is required to accommodate different temperments, levels of interest and ability, as well as moods. A child may interrupt you half way through your demonstration because they cannot wait to try it out themselves. So the lessons we wrote down were quite general. They remind you to follow some basic guidelines leaving room for the teacher and the student.
These lectures were given in the morning. In the afternoons we worked on our “crafts”. This week we made mobiles that are meant to stimulate the development of the eye. One was a set of dancers on foil paper. The other was a Gobbi mobile made from styrofoam balls covered in color sequenced embroidery. Mine came out pretty decent. Much better than last week’s sewn atrocities!
On the University of San Diego front, things are going very well. I asked for a group meeting with Dr Dubovoy and we had it on Wednesday afternoon. We were finally given a real syllabus along with guidance for our albums, papers, and observations. We got to ask all our questions and they were all answered. Almost all of us left completely satisfied. We now know what is expected of us, what assignments count for what portion of our grade, etc. Given that, I am ready to commit to doing my master’s in Montessori at USD! I’m so excited!! It’s a relief.
One interesting note about this master’s is that the type of AMI Montessori certificates we will get has changed. Although the program is 0-6 years (a combo of Assistant to Infancy and Casa) we will be tested on 0-6 as a whole and receive a 0-6 AMI diploma. Initially, it was supposed to be two sets of exams: one for 0-3 and the other for 3-6. We would also have received two diplomas. I, for one, welcome the change. I was not looking forward to sitting through two sets of 6 hour exams within a couple of months of each other next year. Also, according to Dr Dubovoy, we’ll be among a very few that have a 0-6 diploma. I love feeling special!
Next week is all observations. We will be observing babies all day all week. I’m so looking forward to it.
This summer is testing my patience. Less than 2 months to go before I start my Montessori primary program at MINW. I recall the slight feelings of dread and panic that used to accompany the waning of summer’s freedom. This time around, I feel more like a child wearing one of those monkey-on-my-back backpacks (you know, the ones with the leash). I’m ready to bolt forward (to September), but someone’s got me reined in, restricting my movement. That someone would be Time, and he’s not about to let me go an inch (or minute) faster than he pleases. So I wait.
A few years ago while cleaning out the attic, I discovered a huge pile of papers stuffed into an old art portfolio folder. Upon further investigation, they revealed themselves as my 3-6 year old self’s artwork. While I haven’t yet learned the elaborate theory behind art’s role in the primary Montessori classroom (and I’m sure there is one), I can explain what I glean from examining their ink blot mysteries. Directly below is a list I came up with for planning and promoting art with young children. Below that are the observations that lead to these conclusions.
Suggestions for the Art Encouraging Parent/Teacher/Nanny:
Observations of My Primary Art
First of all, I observe the sheer volume of work. I now consider myself an artist and suppose primary was where I made my grand debut. My mom evidently cherished each and every scribble and glue caked paper because she saved all of it. I must have done other things in Ginni’s classroom, but a big chunk of my time had to have been spent engaged in artistic wanderings.
Next I notice a level of consistency. The paper size, while varied, was clearly cut (by the teacher or assistant) and available for use at all times. There were large butcher paper pieces, which were taped to an easel for use with tempera paint. The next size down was still large…maybe 10 by 16″ and was used primarily with oil pastel crayons (cray-pas). Finally there were various types of paper (watercolor, construction, stationary) cut in half to about 8.5 by 5.5.” These are filled with three distinct media. Either (but not mixed) chalk, watercolor or collage.
That’s where the subject of mixed media comes in. I guess in this case, instead of mixing media together, my art from primary is made of many distinct materials. In most cases, each piece of art is made with only one medium. I think this points out the importance at the 3-6 age of focusing on one thing at a time; allowing the child to get to know the properties of chalk and chalk alone. Later, after putting away the chalk and cleaning up it’s dust, one could move to the easel to paint large dripping strokes; mixing colors into mud. The next day, chalk and paint are old news. How about using scissors to cut, paste and tear small scraps of paper into a masterpiece?
My art is evidence to these theories…just see for yourself.
So I’ve just finished my third week of training and things just get busier and busier. There are a ton of readings. The instructor sends out additional readings just about every day. Strangely enough, class itself is not that intense. There have been times I’ve felt that the A to I course is not very academic and intensive. But when I get to the library or my room, I realize just how academic the course is. Class is the easy part, homework is pretty time-consuming. The hardest part is not really having any due dates for assignments. I’m not the most organized person so it’s been a challenge for me to stay on task when there is no impending due date.
During week two, Dr. Dubovoy was in Miami opening the summer Casa course there. So we had the medical doctor continue his lessons on anatomy and obstetrics. We also had two “trainers-in-training” who were basically lecturing for the first time. Normally, they would just be sitting in on the full course and re-learning everything with us, but it seems that Dr. Dubovoy believes in baptism by fire, so they lectured us on things like the Home Environment, Breastfeeding and Weaning, as well as the Role of the Adult. It showed that they were trainers-in-training, but they did a good job and were able to answer all of our questions.
Week three, Dr. Dubovoy returned and was as energetic as ever. You would never know that she had stepped off the plane late the night before. She continued her deep lectures with the same vivacity and intensity that she had in week one. She went in-depth on the Absorbent Mind and the Symbiotic Period of a newborn’s life. It was all very interesting and because of how she lectures I was not aware of how much I was learning until I would leave class at the end of the day unable to process anything! I simply had ingested so much knowledge. Also, my notebook is full. I already have to go out and by a new one.
For all this time, we have only had two projects/papers that have needed to be turned in. Surprising, right? We had to turn in our Observation Journals. There are only two entries in it. Our first observation project was to observe a plant for thirty minutes and write down what we observed: color, smell, shape, location, etc. The second entry was from our trip to the San Diego Zoo. We each had to observe an animal of our choice for an hour and then write down our observations, thoughts, and also draw a picture of the animal and its “environment. Dr. Dubovoy promised that we will have lots more observation exercises because observation, especially at the A to I level, is paramount. I’ll let you know how I did when I get my journal back.
The other assignment we had to turn in was our notes. She wanted a typed copy of all the notes we took in class based on her theory lectures. Yeah, I think it’s kind of weird, too. The assignment was not for a grade. It’s simply to make sure that we have properly understood the theory. Typing up your notes in essay form is not an easy task. It’s very time-consuming. I can’t say that I really had a proper appreciation of this assignment because it was not graded. I did it rather perfunctorily. But, I have to say typing the notes up helped me to remember and more importantly analyze what I learned. In that sense, it’s a good personal exercise. I don’t think she will be asking us for our notes again.
One more thing, we had to make a topponcino in class last week as well. It’s basically a pillow for carrying a newborn around the house. I’m almost done with mine. I just have to sew the outer shell. Mine is really ugly – since I haven’t touched a sewing machine since I was in college. I was a bit frustrated in class because of the lack of task organization and not so clear instructions on how to make a topponcino. Actually, most of the class was frustrated and a bit attitudinal, but we eventually found a rhythm and ended up enjoying it. I was so inspired by the end of it all that I went and bought a sewing machine this weekend! I’m excited about learning to sew well and making all sorts of neat little projects.
Hilarious – this former rifle toting soldier is about to become a domestic diva! Well, sort of…I still don’t like to cook…
Earlier, I felt so inspired to write. But now the whirring of my computer seems to disrupt my forming thoughts, much like a strong gale throwing a formation of migrating birds off course. Where am I headed? I mention my journey and think of it often. My journey really means my life and the path I continue to wander. Montessori’s presence in my life has been a constant throughout, whether explicit or not and I recognize that now as I await the start of my primary training at MINW.
A drawing of mine from primary
Though I am young I’ve always known and appreciated my old soul. Not old as in decrepit, but old as in joined to the long chain of time and able to access its wisdom. I can say that my Montessori education reminded my old soul of this connection and its implications. The more a child learns, the greater weight each grain of knowledge hold somehow. It all relates and new insights illuminate old truths. I believe the interconnectedness of our own in and out breaths amazed and startled me. I realized that the air I breathe once was a star, oyster, ocean, bird. Now it gives me life as it has always done.
Maybe you see the connection, maybe not. I think I do.
What I find interesting in looking back on the long and winding road are the signs pointing the way. Most often, these are not bright arrows at forks in the road. Still these turning points in life are glaringly obvious when we wear our retro-spectacles.
Now it must be time for my story – my signs – the moment my feet began choosing their path without my input. I had just graduated from college. I think I’m supposed to feel empowered, vibrant and invincible. While I managed to muster some confidence, I knew there was something more I had to do; a piece of my formal education to complete. I worked and waited. And a “plan” sprouted: Nepal. I would go, meet some college friends and see where the winds took me next.
Off I went. It was so easy to leave all I had ever known behind. I embraced the newness, the difference. Watched, listened, smiled. I learned so much, lost some of my innocence, became a sister, auntie, daughter, friend to many. I embraced so much and let myself become lost and intertwined in a place so unlike my home. Yet it was just like I had been there before. I lived at Ama Ghar home for underprivileged children, taught at a private school in Kathmandu, visited an orphanage near Chennai, Southern India, flip-flopped over the hills near Darjeeling, sweated in a hostel in Dheli and spotted yaks in the high Himalayan plains of Ladakh. All the while I absorbed the plight of the earth, the people and the culture in each region I visited. The eyes of the small children still stare into mine as their grubby hands lift toward my elbow; begging.
stunents from KMC School
Eventually I had to leave, return home. It was harder than I fully realize, even now. I still suffer in small ways. I have been marked by that time away and it was hard to embrace the road that seemed so simply laid before me: find a job, stick with it, marriage, kids, retirement, death. I knew I could do more…but what?
I didn’t do much and an answer fell into my lap. The foundation that ran Ama Ghar Children’s Home in Nepal needed part time administrative support at their Bay Area “office.” I thought about it and agreed to join the effort. At first I felt swamped with the tasks and mysteries of accomplishing the day to day operations of the nonprofit out of my bedroom. But I learned and grew. Understood my reality differently and coped with what I could not change. I surrounded myself with the work but also with people connected to the organization, and in turn Nepal. I held onto the place and people as a lifeline to those in need who I hoped to help. Montessori was with me all the time, I know now. My ability to work independently, focus, set goals and communicate with others served me well. Patience didn’t hurt either.
The most glaring sign though was the day I learned that 24 children from Ama Ghar had received scholarships to Montessori House in Kathmandu. Wow, I thought. I went to Montessori too. How can I use my knowledge and connections to help this school? I turned to Facebook, where I could find Montessorians galore. I contacted Peter Davidson, the founding Head of Montessori School of Beaverton, my elementary, and he gave me some leads. I contacted one, Susan Stephenson, who shares my impulse to flee the comforts of Western life to breathe the thin air of the Himalayas. She continues to inspire me through her work in Bhutan and other Himalayan countries. Unfortunately distractions always abound. I lost momentum until I made another amazing connection.
The founder of Ama Foundation, Shrawan Nepali lives on the bottom flour of a typical Noe Valley San Francisco house. I’d always enjoyed the weekly gatherings held at his place after serving another Curry Without Worry meal to homeless friends at UN Plaza (a different story all together). Upstairs lived a young couple who sometimes frequented the parties and also expressed interest in Ama Foundation and Curry Without Worry. Not long after the children at Ama Ghar received scholarships to Montessori, I learned that a long time Montessorian was staying just above Shrawan. Victoria Barres, who has sat on the board of AMI and is a representative to UNESCO happens to be the mother of the woman who lived above Shrawan. Coincidence? Maybe…but I think not. Here I encountered another glaring signal to change my direction.
After meeting with Victoria, I continued on my way…working and working for Ama Foundation. I was inspired by her words, but still had many task to complete and I was yet to feel truly compelled to seek a new reality. I learned that my Montessori upper elementary and middle school teacher Elise Huneke-Stone was taking the primary training at MINW in Portland. I learned that my first teacher, Ginni Sackett was the head primary trainer at MINW. Slowly I made the connection.
“take the Montessori training” said a small voice said inside of me. but i wasn’t quite ready.
one day i heard “TAKE THE MONTESSORI TRAINING” a bit more loudly. I looked up the program online and BOOM, it hit me. and I made my decision.
Now it seems obvious, but just a year ago I had no such clarity. Open your eyes. The answer will reveal itself.
As much as I love my roommates, we talk way too much. I had honestly forgotten how talkative I could be in the right setting. The Montessori classes we’re in are very intensive and it is too easy to fall behind in class work. I needed to find a good place to study and decided to give the library a shot. When I first entered the USD Copley library I was immediately struck by how cold it is. The a/c must have been set to something like 40 degrees. I hate being cold! I mean, I wore long sleeves and even light sweaters in 140 degree weather in Iraq. I couldn’t imagine studying in this cold library. The other thing that struck me was the size of their collections. Having studied in DC, I was expecting a huge library with towering stacks and obscure collections. No such thing here. The main portion of the library is just two floors.
But I was on a mission to find a quiet place to study and searched both floors for a quiet spot. I went downstairs. It was warmer, but dark and smelled dank. There were fans blowing in some of the book rooms to dry off some of the moisture. The ceilings were really low, the rooms cramped, and noisy due to the fans. Not a study place I was keen on calling my own. So I trudged back upstairs to the main floor and went down a short hallway that ended with a set of ill closing double doors. I walked in and to my sheer delight was a lovely room holding most of their book collections on the arts and music.
It was exactly what I was looking for. Not only was it peaceful, airy, quiet, and bright, but it also had that old book, old wood smell that I forgot that I loved so much. It reminded me of the old libraries in England that I adored as I young girl. I was immediately transported to the days I would spend hours searching for books about ancient Roman and Greek mythology, the history of various countries, foreign languages, and chemistry. As I walked up the stairs to the second level, I felt like a scholar heading to her favorite alcove at the libraries of Cambridge or Oxford.
I found a quiet table with beautifully crafted chairs and laid my affairs down quietly. I was so enthralled with the place that I circled the upstairs portion just to absorb the peace and quiet and prepare myself for a few hours of studying. It’s simply beautiful. The main floor has old parquet floors that creek while the upstairs floor is carpeted in maroon. The guard rails upstairs are of wrought iron painted light grey. In between each of the dark brown wood stacks are round windows that let in wafts of the scented gardens outside. The crown moulding is wide and elegant. There was only one other soul poring over some books for his class. And did I mention, the room is warm? I still need a light sweater, but there is no a/c to ruin the ambiance.
I’m perfectly at peace with my new study cove. There is rarely more than one or two other people there. I’ve been there just about every day this week and have gotten so much more done. I even invited my roommates and they like studying there, too. At the library we don’t ruin the moment with idle talk. We just enjoy the silence and use it to study. I am in the warm company of books full of ideas. What can I say? I’m in love with the library!
