“Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of education.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
During many of our parent education events, we talk quite a bit about fostering the development of soft skills in our children. Soft skills – also referred to as “people skills” – include a person’s social graces, habits, personality traits, and interpersonal skills.
When thinking about education for our children, parents often have high academic aspirations. But of course, we also want our children to be good. This goes without saying. We want them to be caring, compassionate individuals. We want them to be problem-solvers and leaders. It may seem obvious to parents, but how many schools are actually focusing on developing these skills?
At Greenspring Montessori School, we are constantly emphasizing these values in our children. We’ve also provided more resources below showing how essential these skills are in our adult lives, and how to focus on their development with your child.
In our modern world, it is so easy to get sucked in to conflict – online, on the news, with our family and friends. It is important that at a very young age, we begin to learn how to settle our differences and appropriately handle strong emotions.
Peace education is a major component of the Montessori classroom. Adults model peaceful and respectful behavior, and because Montessori classrooms are composed of mixed age groups, older students serve as role models for younger children.
Most classrooms have a peace corner or peace table, at which two students can go to resolve a conflict or a single child can go to calm down and feel peaceful. One strategy is the use of a peace rose. Children learn to take turns holding the peace rose while speaking about how they feel. They stay at the peace table until they have heard each other and resolved their conflict. With very young children, adults model and coach the children with words they can use. Older students can do this independently. At the Elementary level, when the imagination takes off, students enjoy role playing and solving problems in small groups. Elementary and Middle School age students may participate in student-led community meetings, in which conflicts are discussed, brainstormed, and resolved as a group.
Going hand-in-hand with peace education is the Montessori Grace & Courtesy curriculum. Students practice simple lessons such as how to greet others, say please and thank you, tuck in chairs. At the core of these lessons is respect for others, self, and the environment. Montessori students engage in community service at every level – within the classroom for youngest students and outside the classroom and the school for older students.
Below are some additional resources related to Peace Education in the Montessori classroom. For more information on our programs at Greenspring Montessori School, please contact us at inform@www.greenspringmontessori-b.dev or give us a call at 410-321-8555.
Video: Educating for Peace: The Essence of Montessori
These are just a few of the many wonderful picture books about Peace for children! Current parents are always welcome to visit our library to check out books on peace education.
