News Archives - Page 3 of 27 - Greenspring Montessori School

What’s All the Buzz About Elementary Research?

If you have ever spent time in a Montessori Elementary classroom, you have seen it abuzz with a variety of research projects. Why is this?

Elementary-age students are naturally curious and have a strong internal drive to discover how our world works. Montessori’s Great Lessons, presented every year, are impressionistic stories that introduce enormous topics, such as the Big Bang, the evolution of life on earth, and the origin of writing and mathematics. They are designed to spark the child’s imagination and to provide a context for all further study. The Elementary Guide is a storyteller, sharing just enough information to spark students’ interest in learning more on their own.

Each child’s response to a lesson is unique, and their follow-up work reflects those individual differences. For example, when the Elementary Guide gives a lesson on the Timeline of Life, some children will be especially inspired by this and choose to study invertebrates, while others will want to learn more about dinosaurs, how mass extinctions occur, how plants reproduce, or how a volcano erupts. The research process integrates a multitude of skills, such as reading, note taking, summarizing, writing for a specific audience, speaking, and listening in a meaningful context.

Students are invited to share their findings in creative ways, such as building models, creating dioramas, writing plays, creating digital slideshows, and assembling portfolios. Some may wish to present their research to the class or a small group of children, and they are encouraged to invite their families.

When students pursue topics that pique their interest, they are not only building their research skills, they are taking ownership of their learning, building self-motivation, exploring their passions, and furthering their independence.

How do we teach research skills?

Students are first given lessons in each of these skills and opportunities to practice in isolation. They can then apply these skills and processes to any subject that interests them!

Choose a Topic:

Brainstorm: Students think about topics they are interested in learning more about. [Lesson: brainstorming]
Narrow the Focus: Students refine their topic to something manageable and specific.
Identify Clear Questions: Students identify what they are trying to find out.

Gather Information:

Explore Sources: Students explore various sources like books, magazines, websites, and even interviews with experts (if appropriate). Going Outs and the process of planning and engaging with a Going Out can also be part of this process.
[Lessons: evaluating sources, using a table of contents, using an index]
Take Notes: Students learn to put key ideas into their own words.
[Lessons: paraphrasing, identifying the main idea, summarizing information]

Organize Information:

Sort and Categorize: Students organize their notes by topic or question.
[Lessons: structure of a paragraph, structure of a report]
Use Graphic Organizers: Students can use simple graphic organizers to help them structure their notes and identify main points. [Lesson: how to use a graphic organizer]

Share Findings:

Students share their research through a variety of models, including presentations, posters, or reports.

Written report [Lessons: how to cite sources, use evidence to support findings,using domain-specific vocabulary, how to write a clear conclusion]
Oral presentation [Lessons: Sequence ideas logically, use appropriate facts and details, public speaking skills-pacing, poise, how to field questions, voice projection]
Artistic presentation (model, diorama, skit, song, etc.)
Digital presentation (Google Slides, word processing, integrating images and audio)

What are the benefits?

Critical Thinking:

Students develop critical thinking skills, evaluating information, and identifying biases.

Information Literacy:

Students learn to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.

Time Management:

Students practice managing their time, setting deadlines, and prioritizing tasks.

Collaboration:

Students often work in pairs or small groups, developing teamwork and communication skills.

Problem-Solving:

Students encounter and overcome obstacles, developing resilience and resourcefulness.

Autonomy/independence:

Students take ownership of their own learning, develop intrinsic motivation, explore their academic passions.

The Elementary student is a natural-born scientist. “How does a fish breathe under water?” “What number comes after a trillion?” “What causes a volcano to erupt?” Montessori Guides encourage children to find out!

Montessori students are empowered to find the answers to their own questions with the materials and resources in a prepared environment. Children enjoy learning that is driven by their passions.

Learn more about Greenspring Montessori’s Elementary program.

Spring Earth Day Celebration at Greenspring

As part of our Allegiance to Nature at Greenspring Montessori School, our faculty and staff organized a special Earth Day event for our children and families. Our Toddler, Children’s House, Elementary, and Adolescent classes took on various projects around our campus including planting stations, nature-based story walks, and nature scavenger hunts. Many classes also worked to restore natural spaces on campus and make improvements to their outdoor environments. In addition, there are many beautiful books on display in the library on Earth Day, Spring, Gardening, and more!

After school, many families joined in to help spruce up the campus grounds. We would like to extend a special thanks to all of our families who volunteered to help make this event a success! If you would like to support any of our current outdoor projects by volunteering or donating supplies, please reach out to us here. It was beautiful to see everyone coming together for this purposeful community event! Take a look below to see photos and more details about the projects at each level.

Toddlers

Our Toddlers visited the planting station in the morning to prepare small seedlings to bring home. They also worked together to spruce up their outdoor environments and plant flowers.

Children’s House

In preparation for Earth Day, Ms. Laura, one of our Children’s House Naturalists, worked with the children to plant milkweed, phlox, black eyed-susans, and coneflower seeds to welcome all pollinators to the Outdoor Environments and give them a place to rest, eat, and lay eggs! Their goal is to become a Monarch Waystation just like Ms. Emily has accomplished along the Chesapeake Village! All of our Children’s House classrooms enjoyed getting down in the dirt to weed, plant, and prepare our campus for spring!

Our Children’s House team was inspired to take on this initiative after learning more about the Roots & Shoots Program by Jane Goodall. To learn more about our Children’s House Roots & Shoots lessons, please click here.

In addition, our Winterberry Children’s House classroom participated in a waste-free lunch to show to our students the impact of small decisions every day.

Elementary & Adolescents

Our Elementary children sowed vegetable and flower seeds in their outdoor gardens. They are also preparing to extend their garden area in order to grow wine plants including gourds, pumpkins, squash, and watermelon. Our Adolescents created a graph of the atmospheric carbon along with eco-awareness art in sidewalk chalk around campus. They also sold seedlings as part of their small business.

Families

We also celebrated Earth Day with our families at our Spring Grounds Day. Volunteers came out to give back to our school by helping to beautify and maintain the Greenspring campus. Parents, grandparents, and children helped with everything from weeding and planting to window washing and fence staining. Thank you to everyone who came out to join us! Thank you for your support as we celebrate Earth Day and help inspire the future generation of stewards for our planet.

“Hope is contagious Your actions inspire others.” – Jane Goodall

What do you love about Greenspring?

A recent article in Education Week brought to light some intriguing findings from a Brookings Institution study that reveals a gap in how parents perceive their children’s enjoyment and engagement with school compared to the students’ own perspectives. According to the study, while 78% of parents believe their children are thriving academically and enjoying school, only 60% of students share this sentiment. This gap grows even wider when it comes to how much students “love” school, with only 41% of students expressing such feelings compared to 71% of parents.

At Greenspring, we deeply value fostering an environment where students feel excited to learn, grow, and engage with their school community. Our Guides are dedicated to creating an atmosphere where each student can explore their interests and discover the joy of learning. We know that when we support the whole child – academically, mentally, and spiritually – their joy, success, and confidence follow naturally.

While the gap highlighted in the study is concerning, it does not come as a shock when we think about the mighty challenges facing modern education. At Greenspring, this offers us an opportunity to reflect on our efforts to connect with our children and adolescents to ensure they feel both challenged and supported. After learning more about the study, we decided to poll our own Elementary and Adolescent students in 3rd – 8th grade to find out more about what they are feeling at school. Here are the questions we asked.

We are happy to share the results here.

We also interviewed Elementary students to find out more about what they love about Greenspring. We hope that you will take a moment to hear what they have to say.

With this in mind, I encourage you to open up the dialogue with your children at home. What are they learning about in school? What inspires them? And are the adults in their life offering them worthy challenges that support their growth, not just academically, but also emotionally, physically, and spiritually? We seek to move forward into a new age of education where this is the norm, not the exception, for every child.

The Child’s Absorbent Mind

Written by Shannon Brown, Children’s House Guide

“Our work is not to teach, but to help the absorbent mind in its work of development. How marvelous it would be if by our help, if by an intelligent treatment of the child, if by understanding the needs of [their] physical life and by feeding [their] intellect, we could prolong the period of functioning of the absorbent mind!” – Dr. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

From birth to age six, the child is endowed with a highly impressionable and absorbent mind. The very young child does not decide what to focus his attention on or when to tune things out, as the adult’s conscious, reasoning mind can do. Instead, their mind acts as a camera, taking in everything in their surroundings.

A trip to the symphony for a father and his young son, for example, yields very different experiences for each of them. Adults have the capacity to focus selectively on an object of their attention and tune out distractions. The child has not yet developed this ability and will have a difficult time keeping their interest on the symphony itself. They are likely to remember lots of details about the experience – what the building was like, who was there, what they were wearing, etc. The child absorbs these impressions without any effort on their part. Although they takes in a great number of impressions, they are not always able to access these memories, because they haven’t learned to classify what they are receiving. Dr. Montessori likened this to a closet with no order. Memories are contained within the child’s storehouse of impressions, but they are all jumbled together and cannot yet be useful to the child.

The Sensorial curriculum was developed to support the child in revisiting these early impressions that are collected, and begin to crystallize and refine their thinking about them. The materials themselves appeal to the universal tendencies for work and precision and help the child in achieving these goals. Through their work with the Sensorial materials, they will learn to classify their impressions, and as their consciousness develops, they will begin to build their intelligence. “Our sensorial material provides a kind of guide to observation for it classifies the impressions that each sense can receive: the colors, notes, noises, forms and sizes, touch-sensations, odors and tastes. This undoubtedly is also a form of culture, for it leads us to pay attention both to ourselves and to our surroundings. No less than speech and writing, it is one of the forms of culture which brings perfection to the personality and enrich its natural powers.” (Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work by E.M. Standing, p.183)

A child of three to six is also a sensory-motor learner. Their mind continues to collect impressions, but they are now greatly influenced by their active experience in the environment. Their hands become the tool of his mind, and his need to manipulate and learn is very powerful.

Dr. Montessori talked a lot about the universal tendencies of men and how exploration and orientation are two of the most powerful drives for a young child. She designed the prepared environment of the classroom to invite exploration and discovery. Through the child’s exploration, they become better oriented to their surroundings and begin to be able to navigate it more independently.

One of the most important lessons that a Guide introduces on a child’s first day in the classroom are listening games that will help the child orient himself to the environment and develop their auditory memory. “The little child’s first movements were instinctive. Now, [they act] consciously and voluntarily, and with this comes an awakening of [their] spirit…. Conscious will is a power which develops with use and activity. We must aim at cultivating the will…. Its development is a slow process that evolves through a continuous activity in relationship with the environment.” (Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, p. 231)

We must take advantage of the child’s tremendous ability to absorb aspects of his environment and their desire to have hands-on experiences in the world around them. For example, we have all seen for ourselves how children from ages three to six have an almost effortless ability to learn new vocabulary. In the Children’s House program, we utilize this sensitivity for language by offering materials to help our children begin to learn more about the world around them. We start by teaching the child how to distinguish between Living and Non-living. From there we teach them how to classify living things into plants or animals. Next, they will learn about the five classes of vertebrates: Bird, Reptile, Amphibian, Mammal and Fish. If a child shows a particular interest in learning about sharks, turtles, or ocean animals, we make sure to include these on our Language shelf. All of these activities are introduced orally through conversations initiated by the Guide. By adding a label to the same Language picture cards, we can also appeal to the older children in the class, who are becoming strong readers.

The role of the Montessori guide is to spark the child’s interest and make sure to provide relevant and factual information to help feed their growing and very impressionable mind.

Learn more about Greenspring Montessori’s Children’s House program.

Changemakers in Children’s House: Learning How to Lead

“Hope is often misunderstood. People tend to think that it is simply passive wishful thinking: I hope something will happen but I’m not going to do anything about it. This is indeed the opposite of real hope, which requires action and engagement.”

Jane Goodall

The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times

It is one thing to want to make a change, but to actually take the passionate steps to making it happen is what makes someone a true changemaker. The one thing that all great changemakers have in common is heart. A changemaker is someone who cares enough to make a difference.

Childrens House Writers Workshop - Greenspring Montessori School-3

In Children’s House Writers’ Workshop, elder students (our Kindergarteners), continue to study Jane Goodall through the Roots and Shoots Program. Jane was pivotal in the study and protection of chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania. When she saw firsthand that the rainforest was disappearing and her beloved chimpanzees were suffering, she left Gombe and traveled the world speaking to humanity about what she has seen, sharing all of her true stories, some of tragedy but mostly true stories of hope.

I was very excited to share this autobiography, The Chimpanzees I Love : Saving Their World and Ours, with our Children’s House writers. The children have read many biographies written by various authors and throughout the year they have worked on their own biography of Jane.

Throughout the year, the children have been learning about other changemakers throughout the world, and how they acted to make a difference in their communities.

Another changemaker idol we are excited to write about is Tim Wong, an aquatic biologist from San Francisco who saved a threatened butterfly species, the California Pipevine Swallowtail, by replanting rare flora in his own backyard while also transporting caterpillars to his butterfly garden sanctuary. His efforts, although seemingly small, allowed the butterflies to make a comeback! What a heartwarming hero!

“Improving habitat for native fauna is something anyone can do, conservation and stewardship can start in your very own backyard.”

Tim Wong

While learning about the incredible contributions of some amazing heart-minded adults, we definitely cannot forget the children, full of wonder and curiosity, they once were (and really still are at heart!). Tim Wong became fascinated with the life cycle of a butterfly in elementary school and Jane Goodall had a stuffed chimpanzee, Jubilee, that was gifted to her as a child. Now at 90 years old, she still carries Jubilee with her!

Old Enough to Save the Planet is a magical and hopeful collection of real children making real changes all around the world. I’m planning on sharing a child changemakers story at the beginning of our writing sessions until the end of the school year. Below are the first four changemakers we will learn about, true hopeful stories are powerful! I’m hoping my writers will soon feel inspired to make a change of their own, perhaps in their own school community or backyard!

Felix Finkbeiner, Germany Changemaker: Global Reforestation. His Plant-For-the-Planet program was so successful that more than one million trees have been planted in nearly 100 countries.
Himangi Halder, India Changemaker: She reduced the effects of traffic pollution around her school by encouraging people to ride a bicycle instead of driving to school.
Amy and Ella Meek, United Kingdom Changemaker: Sisters Amy and Ella started a charity educating people about the harmful effects of plastic on the environment. They encourage people to use reusable alternatives.
Adeline Tiffanie Suwana, Indonesia Changemaker: She formed a community group called Friends of Nature, organizing people to replant native mangrove trees that have been cut down.

Working Toward Toileting Independence

Toilet training is adult-led and on the adults’ time. Toilet learning involves the child in the learning process. This is their big work.

“Learning to use the toilet is a natural process that begins when your child’s desire to be grown up and his neurological development have reached the point where he can control his bladder and bowels. We don’t train children to use the toilet, we support them when they are ready.” (Tim Seldin, Author of How to Raise an Amazing Child: The Montessori Way to Bring Up Caring Confident Children)

Exposure: The Earlier the Better

During Infancy

Talking about toileting and using bathroom
Use correct anatomical language
Learn to recognize when infants need to “go”
Have infants sit on potty chair (or at least have one out) so that they get familiar with it

At 12 months

Get your child familiar with the tools used in toileting (like a potty chair)
Work on dressing skills – being able to get pants on and off, pulled down and up independently
Start watching for signs of readiness. Toilet learning is easiest before 24 months (when the full self-will develops).

Choice of Diapers

Disposable diapers is the most commonly used
The use of cloth diapers (if a you go that route) allows a child to experience the wetness, allowing for earlier toilet-learning
Pull-ups are not recommended – they are just like diapers and will only prolong the toilet learning process

Signs of Readiness

Interested in the toilet
Seeking privacy to go to the bathroom in his/her diaper
Will sit willing on the toilet – this should not be a battle
Will void into the toilet – becoming aware that they are emptying their bladder

Preparing the Environment

Select an area of the house that includes a bathroom. Either select a tiled area or roll up the rugs. Invite your child to help you set up the area.

Supplies needed:

Potty chair and/or potty seat adapter (attaches to the adult toilet seat)
Step stool to toilet
Step stool to sink
Liquid hand soap they can easily use
Basket of clean underwear
Basket of clean rags
Spray bottle that your child can operate independently
Timer
Basket of books, games, things to do (could be special items that can only be used when sitting on the toilet)

Preparing Your Child

When the child is able to stand, change her diaper with her standing up; she can help
Whenever you can, empty the contents of the diaper into the toilet and let the child watch you do it
Take him/her to pick out underwear
Underwear should be thin – not training pants
Tell your child ahead of time that you will be switching to underwear on __ day. Count down to this day (mark on a calendar, talk about it at dinner, etc.)
Maintain a calm, yet excited demeanor (no pressure)

Practicing

Let your child know when the big day has arrived! Enjoy lots of extra beverages to encourage practice.

Use the mantra, “We want to keep our underwear dry.”
Have your child sit on the toilet for a minute or two
Talk with him/her about the feeling of going to the bathroom. “Do you feel any urine in your bladder?

Always offer a choice!

“Would you like to sit on the potty or the toilet?”
“Would you like to select your underwear or would you like me to pick it?”

Try Using a Timer

Set the timer to remind you and your child to go and sit on the toilet
Start with setting the timer for every 20/30 minutes
As they stay drier longer, you can start stretching the time
Do not ask if they have to go – they will tell you no – they will not want to stop what they are doing in that moment
They WILL NOT tell you when they have to go!
Keep it very matter-of-fact. “It’s time to use the toilet.”

The Following Days

Keeping the schedule consistent is key
Take a potty in the trunk of the car or limit outings to 1 hour
Go to the bathroom before each trip out
Go to the bathroom immediately upon arrival
Go again before leaving
Go again immediately when arriving at home

Accidents

Continue to talk/ask about how his/her body feels -but do not hover- remember that mistakes happen and that is how they learn. They need to feel that they are in control of their bodies and this big work
Ask, “Are your underwear dry or wet?” (brings attention to this)
When your child wets or has a bowel movement in their underwear – don’t overreact! It’s best to stay calm and try not to reference it as an “accident.” Just simply state the obvious – “you wet/soiled your underwear” “now it’s time to get cleaned up.”

Celebrating Successes

When successful, describe the success. “You went to the bathroom in the toilet!” “You sat on the toilet and peed!”
Avoid using bribery like stickers or candy. Toileting is something we all do. Children do not need praise for toileting.
Celebrate victories with your child – but do not make your love conditional on success.

Suggested Schedule (Post Training)

Daytime:

Right when they get up
Right before meals
Right after meals
Right before bath
Right before bed
Before going out in car
Upon arrival at new destination

Nighttime:

Parent choice: toilet-learning happens faster when nighttime is done at the same time, but it’s also ok to focus on daytime success first before tackling overnights

Please coordinate with your child’s Guide. This process will go more smoothly when you work in partnership!