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.

Getting Dirty in the Pursuit of HIstory

Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School Students excavated clay from the farm pond for a recent humanities project on Mayan pottery.  Can't wait to see the finished project!

The Nation's Capital Was the Setting for Original Theater Based on the Cultures of Ancient China and Mesopotamia

The US Botanical Gardens became
the setting for this portrayal of the
leader of an  ancient Chinese dynasty

At the end of each Humanities Project, the students write original historical fiction based on their research.We call these pieces Dramatis Personae.  We spend the day in Washington D.C. performing all around the city

At dusk, part of an original epic poem
styled after Gilgamesh

The students on the capital lawn

Each student chooses the location for their dramatis personae based on the physical scene they want to portray.  For example, the US Botanical Garden has a desert room that has been used for cultures in arid climates, the US Capital was the backdrop for a portrayal of a Roman Senator because of the historical connections between the governments of Rome and the United States, and the grassy area of the National Mall was recently used to represent a wide open plain.   

More of the epic poem 

The location may be chosen for visual effect or historical significance.  In this way, the students are challenged to make connections between various cultures, times, and places and to think about how the past is connected to our own lives today.   

Genghis Khan

Tamworth Piglets Arrive!

Eagerly welcoming the new piglets

Cute but with a very loud squeal

Three Tamworth weanlings have joined us at the Farm School this winter.

Turnip Time!

Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School students grew turnips from seed and are reaping the fruits of their labor this November.

Farm School students have the option to become managers of an area of the farm in their 9th grade year. The 9th grade Garden Manager and one of her current garden crew members came in from the garden with a basket full of freshly dug turnips this week asking "can we please cook them up for people for lunch?!?" We were happy to oblige.

They used a cookbook recently donated by a parent, "From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce" to learn about preparing and cooking turnips.

They then peeled, chopped, sauteed and baked the white and pink roots and shared them with all of the students and faculty members.  We compared the taste of those sauteed vs. baked and salted vs. unsalted.

The initiative and follow-through demonstrated by these 12 and 14 year old girls is characteristic of the Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School. Such amazing young people!

Toddlers visit the Farm

Farm School student introduces a chicken

The Toddler Program students visited the Farm School for their end-of-year picnic. 

Animals, songs, and watermelon - a great combination!

Farm School students invite toddlers to fill pig water buckets

The pigs provided lots of entertainment

A Farm School student and a toddler look for eggs in the chicken tractor

Toddlers dance to rock and roll

Meet our rooster

Watershed Studies Trip: backpacking, swimming, beachcombing, and more!

Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School students spent a week-long adventure in and around Virginia Beach.  It was the culmination of the students' watershed study.  Having studied our individual water use and tested the water in the Farm School pond and local rivers, we traveled to the end of our watershed where the rivers meet the ocean.

Backpacking False Cape State Park - Day 1 (sun!)

Camping on the ocean

Reading original writing on Back Bay

Finding our watershed address: which way is North?

Backpacking False Cape State Park - Day 2 (pelting rain!)

Wet but doing ok

Watershed studies at the Virginia Aquarium

The marsh walk at the Virginia Aquarium

Watershed studies: identifying marsh grasses

the students found a live horseshoe crab

beach drawing

Ft. Monroe

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.

How's the Water?

Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School 9th year Biology students investigate the water quality of the school's pond.  

The students used a kick-net to collect samples of aquatic macroinvertebrates.  We found damselfly and dragonfly nymphs and even a mayfly nymph!  Mayfly nymphs will only live in very high quality water with lots of dissolved oxygen.

This aquatic study is part of a species inventory the students are undertaking of the entire property to determine the level of biological diversity of the farm.

Students Bicycle from DC to Harper's Ferry

Bicycle Odyssey

Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School students and guides cycled from Washington, DC to Harper's Ferry on a 3 day bicycle and camping trip.  

Here's part one of the travelogue:

Georgetown

We love simple machines

Experiencing the power of levers at the locks

The mighty Potomac River

Taking a break to admire the geology of Great Falls

The teepee tent

I love this tent!

A peaceful evening on the river

A Volunteer Park Ranger helps us with the maps

Eggs cooked on the Coleman stove for breakfast by the culinary crew

Carrying gear 0.5 mile to the second camp site

The only hill: from the trail to the camp

Ready to go on day two