A Meeting of Montessori Minds

Mountain Laurel Montessori (Virginia) students and faculty were delighted to host 

Metro Montessori (Oregon) last week. 

We worked together on the farm building a new sheep shelter, weeding the hoophouse, mulching the flower beds, preparing lunches and dinners, and repairing the electric fence around the  bees. 

Many hands make quick work of weeds in the hoophouse

We also played some great soccer games, made music together, and exchanged ideas about current events. 

Preparing food together

It was a great meeting of the minds for both students and faculty.

Fearless Leaders

Thank you to Metro for your visit!

We officially apologize for the rainy weather and leaky tents. 

Next time you visit, we'll schedule a sunny day.

SAVE THE DATE: 

Mountain Laurel Montessori's annual conference 

The Work of The Hand

Through the Planes and Across the Stages of Development

A one day conference for parents and educators

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

Front Royal and Flint Hill, Virginia

Keynote Speaker: Pat Ludick

To register or read the brochure:

www.mountainlaurelmontessori.org

Come to our Conference 3/26/11: "Technology and the Child: A Montessori Perspective"

Technology & the Child:

A Montessori Perspective

Saturday, March 26, 2011

A One Day Conference

For  Parents, Teachers, Administrators & Friends

of The Adolescent & Elementary Age Child

We are very excited to announce our keynote speaker: 

Greg MacDonald, AMI Trainer

Click here for more information and to register:

http://www.mountainlaurelmontessori.org/welcome/2011mlmsconference.html

We All Pitch In To Make the Playground Safer

Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School students joined in with parents and teachers this fall to make the playground safer for our youngest students. Together we moved and spread 9,000 pounds of rubber mulch to our playground at the Front Royal campus. Our Toddler (ages 16 months to 3 years) and Primary (ages 3-6) students use the playground every day and will be much happier now.

 It was wonderful to see the faces of our youngest students watching with fascination as the "big kids" worked, and to have an opportunity for our adolescent students to give back to the campus that nurtured them from the time they were toddlers and on through elementary.

One of the unique aspects of Mountain Laurel Montessori is the strong community that nurtures children through the whole continuum of childhood, from birth through 9th grade.

Toddlers and Adolescents - a magnetic attraction

Dr. Maria Montessori noted an affinity between children in the 1st plane of development (toddlers) and the 3rd plane of development (adolescents).  Toddlers and adolescents seem magnetically attracted to one another.  It is magical to observe.

One Day Conference: "What's Next? The Adolescent in Montessori." 3/6/10, Flint Hill, VA

You are invited:

What's Next? The Adolescent in Montessori

A One Day Conference

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Location: Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School

Flint Hill, Virginia

$35 ($40 after February 27th)

Register on-line or by mail

Brochure and registration: http://www.mountainlaurelmontessori.org/

Featuring:
Student-Led Tours
Yummy food by the Thornton River Grille

Q&A with Farm School Alumni

 Keynote Speakers: Laurie & Jim Ewert-Krocker. Together they have more years of experience than almost anyone in Montessori adolescent work.  They founded and have continued to be the driving force behind the world renowned Hershey Montessori Adolescent Program on the Farm. 

Breakout Sessions: led by Mountain Laurel Montessori faculty

• 
  
  Sustainability: Integrating sustainable agriculture into education
• 
  
  Compassion and Community: Fostering civic responsibility through shared responsibility and decision-making
• 
  
  "The Erdkinder": Dr. Montessori's design for the adolescent.  What is it? How does it meet the adolescent's needs? Why do studenets love the Farm School environment? How does it support the academic and developmental needs of today's youth?
• 
  
  Montessori: An Education for Now and the Future.  What is the curriculum for the adolescent? Why does it work? How does it meet and exceed state standards?

For more information: (540) 675-1011, mlmfarmschool@earthlink.net, http://www.mountainlaurelmontessori.org/

Montessori on self-confidence and adaptation

"For success in life depends in every case on self-confidence and the knowledge of one's own capacity and many-sided powers of adaptation"

- Maria Montessori

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

"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.

"a limitless field for scientific and historic studies"

“Work on the land is an introduction both to nature and to civilization and gives a limitless field for scientific and historic studies.” -Dr. Maria Montessori , Italian Physician and Educator (first published in 1948)

Dr. Montessori believed that we could achieve a better and more peaceful society by improving the education of young people.

The farm provides the basis for the curriculum at the Farm School, lending itself to project-based, experiential, learning.