Students Portray Ancient Mayans in Washington, DC

As the culmination of our Humanities study of the Ancient Mayan Civilization, Farm School students wrote Dramatis Peronae (short monologues) of individuals from the Ancient Mayan Culture. On Monday, we went into Washington, DC, and each student found a place to perform that best suited their character. Here are some examples:

Left: Maya King building temple (steps of the sculpture garden)

Right: Maya girl prepares to be sacrificed to the gods to give her people a good harvest (benches along Constitution Avenue)

Left: Jaguar hunter (natural history museum under a jaguar in the mammal room)

Right: Maya Weaver (in front of Southwestern Native American weaving in Native American Museum)

Left: Maya Scribe (using the stone in front of the Natural History Museum)

Right: Heir to Maya Throne describes plan for peace (sculpture garden)

Left: Spanish Conquistador (riding a horse on the carousel)

Students become characters from history

Montessori education aims to inspire in young people the idea that every human being is worthy of great repect and is capable of doing great things.

At the Farm School, Humanities Projects are driven by the attempt to get inside the perspective of individuals from different cultures in history. What was it like to be a Roman architect? What did it feel like to be the heir of a Mayan king? What if you didn't want to be the next king? What did Elizabeth Cady Stanton struggle with as she helped women win the right to vote?

Students write traditional research papers on an aspect of the culture we are studying; then they write a Dramatis Persona, a fictitious (although grounded in facts from their research) first person account of a moment in that person's life.

By writing and speaking as these people from our past, young adolescents have the opportunity to explore what it feels like to be one of these people, and in turn, to think about what great things they will do in the world.

"Let us in education ever call the attention of children to the hosts of men and women who are hidden from the light of fame, so kindling a love of humanity...a reverent consciousness of its dignity and worth" - Dr. Maria Montessori

In a Word: Expansive

Each Wednesday afternoon, the Farm School students are given a word as they leave school. They go home and write a creative composition using that word. Thursday morning at tea / snack time, they read their composition to the group. The exercise has very few boundaries. It might be poetry, prose, a story, a fable, a diaglogue, etc. The given word may be a common word, such as "fire," or it may be a new vocabulary word requiring research before use. Often the words are an extension of something happening in the school community. Each week we will share one example of the "In a Word" series.

IMAGINATION

Seconds turn into minutes, minutes to hours, hours to days. The expansive plain devoured each step he took, so that it seemed the dry, hot desert would never come to an end. Exhaustion and dehydration began to sink in, hunger followed shortly after. Images skipped past his sight, tricking him each, miserable time. A vulture spiraled above him, trailing a dark shadow in its wake. A small, blue feather floated to the ground.

He fell to the got, dry earth, making a soft thud. His head swam as he dragged himself across the ground, heat beating the life out of him every second. He collapsed again and rolled onto his back. Water, water...water was all he could think as he tasted grains of sand on his tongue.

A gulp of hot air, a last beat of a heart, and then..."Bobby! Get in the house now!" A small boy lying in a sandbox jumped up and ran to the back door of his house. As he ran past his mother in the doorway, she swatted him gently and picked a blue feather off of his shirt.

-Rachel, 9th year student

Spontaneous Wind Exploration

Today the Farm School students explored the properties of wind using a parachute. The Wind Occupation group is developing a windmill prototype using the cloth from an old parachute. First, they had a great time testing their strength against the wind. The lessons that will grow from this fun include drag, lift, forces, and more.

Open House Nov. 8th 1:00-3:30

FARM SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE!

Please join us on Sunday, November 8th, from 1:00-3:30 at the Farm School. Students and faculty will be on hand to give tours and answer your questions.

The Farm School is a unique educational setting, and it really takes seeing to believe it.

As a parent of a 9th year Farm School student recently said, "it is such a great place for the heart, soul, and mind!"

We hope to see you on Sunday.

"So, it is good when a sheep burps?"

One of the Occupation groups (see below for explanation) this Fall is studying sheep. The students noticed that the sheep frequently burp. The question, "why do sheep burp?" led to a lesson on ruminant digestion and a fermentation experiment.

To simulate the fermentation that happens in one of the sheep's four stomachs, the students combined yeast, water, and sugar in flasks and attached balloons to the top of the jar. Learning about variables, some changed the amount of sugar or yeast, or varied the temperature. The amount of gas released was measured by placing the balloons in water and measuring the displacement.

Many Montessori Adolescent Programs use the terminology Occupation and Humanities Projects for the long term interdisciplinary studies in the curriculum. Occupation projects are science based, and revolve around the real needs of the farm (for instance, Sheep because this will be the first time we breed the sheep, or Wind Energy because we need to install a windmill to aerate the pond). The science standards of learning are covered through this project-based approach. They are called Occupations because they reflect the developmental needs of young adolescents as they look to the adult world and wonder "how will I contribute to society?" "What will I do?" They are trying on the occupation of farmer, naturalist, biologist, engineer, or veterinarian to see how it fits.