Let the 3rd graders brighten your day as they sing a “Simple Little Song.” Teacher Andrea Rosenthal Warnken accompanies on the piano and notice the tricky cinematography as I circle the room catching the light, the smiles and all those other Oscar-winning moments. See if you can tell where I tripped and knocked a drink over. Click here to see the video or click play below.
Fractions and Polygons and Magnets Oh My!
Lots of fractions were happening today and some polygon study too. Once Jack brought the magnets out, the Montessori work drew in a cluster of other boys… like a magnet! [fbphotos id=510187132400496]
I don’t know
Heard a great piece this morning on NPR as I was driving my oldest to the School for the Creative Arts. It was with author Leah Hager Cohen who was talking about her book I don’t know: In Praise for Admitting Ignorance (Except When You Shouldn’t). While I appreciated the conversation that she had with Scott Simon about honoring self-doubt and admitting when you don’t know something, what struck me as particularly insightful was her take on children who are now graduating from high school. She noted that these children are the first to have spent their entire childhood in …
Montessori- Creating the New Education
As educators, the need to always further our own education is unquestionably important. In doing so, I have recently had the pleasure of reading Brazilian educator Paulo Freire’s Pedogogy of the Oppressed. In it, Freire outlines his ideas and plans for mending disconnections that exist between traditional models of education and those students/people who are oppressed and marginalized by such models. In simple terms, he discounts the “Banking System” of education where generally speaking, educators are tasked with pouring the information they know into the minds of the students sitting in front of them. To his point, I am pleased …
Up a Tree Community Party
What fun we all had at this auction community party with EarthJoy Tree Adventures! It was tough to lure the children out of the trees, but eventually their hunger drew them to the wonderful picnic lunch spread out under the canopy. [fbphotos id=508798162539393]
OTR Community Party
Jen and Chad Garrett hosted a fabulous Over-the-Rhine party this past weekend. TNSM alumni parent Casey Coston led us on a tour of OTR and joined us with his son Nigel as we all devoured exotic pizza’s from A Tovola’s and cooled off with another OTR favorite of street pops. [fbphotos id=506369739448902]
Row, Row, Row Your Canoe
Every year our TNSM families donate community parties as a way for us to get to know one another better while at the same time raising important funds for the school. This year a family canoeing party was offered. It looks like they had a wonderful day and I don’t see any tipped canoes, so I hope they all managed to stay dry. [fbphotos id=505598746192668]
The Steam Cannon Experiment
The 6th graders learned about the power of steam when they created a steam cannon this week. Join in the excitement as you watch them waiting for the steam in the test tube to build to the point where it launched the rubber stopper into the lawn.
In the Preprimary Environment (by Beth Tracy-Kaliski)
When people observe in the classroom, one of the first thing they notice is the way teachers and children interact with each other. Teachers keep themselves low to the ground; they get down to talk to children, and respect the same ground rules they expect the children to follow, including keeping their voices low. With everyone in the classroom talking softly, it allows children to keep their attention on their work instead of on the adults. It minimizes a hierarchical structure and helps the children know that this is their environment where they can continue working without being interrupted. It …
in the news old
Soapbox – The New School Montessori opens new Enrichment Center, expands programming (Tuesday, August 27, 2013) Fox 19 – The New School Montessori celebrating dedication of Enrichment Center (Friday, August 16, 2013) Fox 19 – Montessori students collect relief supplies for hurricane victims (November 8, 2012)