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.

Babies in the Classroom

It is always lovely to have an infant join the adolescent community.  This lucky young boy is well-loved and entertained by the students at Mountain Laurel Montessori Jr. High.

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Declaration of Unity

Mountain Laurel Montessori Jr. High students are studying US Government this term.  In this Spring's Humanities Project they are forming a new nation.  They are in the process of developing their system of government.  Today they delivered their opening speeches and formally declared their intention to form a union.  Here are some photos of the official signing.

The Declaration



a little pomp and circumstance for the signing

A delegate signs

Fiber Fun!

Mountain Laurel Montessori Students 

visit Central Virginia Fiber Mill

Our 9th year Sheep Manager organized a visit to the Central Virginia Fiber Mill to deliver the fleeces from our sheep.  The fleece will become lovely roving and yarn.  We will have new yarn for sale soon!

THANK YOU to Mary Kearny for teaching us about the process from raw fleece to yarn, roving, and batting.

As a bonus, we got to meet some very curious alpaca.

Escaping the Endless Adolescence - discussion group spring 2013

Thank you to the parents who came to the library for a lively discussion today!
 

All are invited to join us next week
for a discussion based on the book "Escaping the Endless Adolescence: how we can help our teenagers grow up before they grow old" by Joseph Allen and Claudia Worrell Allen.
 

 

 



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!

Alumni off to Colleges Near and Far!

How time flies...

Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School graduates from 2009

are off to colleges and universities near and far.

Congratulations to you all!

Schools include:

University of Virginia

Virginia Tech

Mary Washington University

New Mexico State University

Students Backpack the Appalachian Trail

Mount Marshall and Shenandoah National park are right outside our back door. They are what we see each day as we go about our school lives.  They helps define who we are and where we are in the world.

Students and faculty of Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School got up close and personal with the park and Mount Marshall on a 3 day backpacking trip in April.

Before...

After...

From Farm to Folger Theater!

The Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School students put on an excellent performance at the Folger Shakespeare Secondary Festival yesterday. We are all very proud of them all!

Their play was entitled "Shakespeare Mashup" and included scenes woven together from Hamlet, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The whole cast received a recognition award called "The Well-Oiled Machine Award" for working together as an ensemble, listening and responding to one another, and clearly presenting the meaning of Shakespeare's texts. 

Three individual Mountain Laurel Montessori students received awards as well.

Many thanks to our guest drama teacher and director, Katie Long.

Congratulations!!

Rosalind and Sylvius with trees in As You Like It

Romeo and Juliet

The cast with the narrator setting the scene

Hoophouse before the windstorm February 2012

We were just ready to harvest early spinach, lettuce, and radishes when we had a big windstorm that destroyed the plastic on the hoophouse.

Students water the plants daily

Chard

Lettuce

Plant's eye view

Radishes! We ate some for dinner on an overnight recently - yum!

The good news is that within 1 week we had ordered new plastic, repaired the damage, and added new anti-billowing straps to keep the wind from damaging the new plastic. 1 week after that, we had 60 mile per hour winds and the hoophouse came through it just fine! We're replanting now.

The bad news is that all of that fresh produce we grew for the Food Pantry was frozen when the plastic was damaged.

A Cosy Rainy Day

Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School students enjoy the fire on a rainy day in February.

Algebra dog

Chopping wood for the fire

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

OPEN HOUSE - Sunday January 29th, 1:00-3:30 pm

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.

An Explosion of Creativity

At Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School this Fall, students and faculty have been painting, dancing, building, making jewelry, learning about electronics and more. Dr. Montessori believed that having opportunities for creative self expression is an integral part of forming identity during adolescence. Here are photos of our recent Creative Expression projects.

Building a computer

Jewelry making for holiday sales

Learning to use the pottery wheel

Colorful oil painting

Mixing paints

Concentration

Notice the studio dog enjoying a nap!

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!