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1055 Montessori Drive Westminster, MD 21158410.848.6283 www.MontessoriSchoolofWestminster.org

BulletinMay 2012

At MSW, each and every family is a valuable asset to our school community. We’ve all felt the effects of our “new” economy, and as both a parent and head of school, I appreciate the sacrifices families make to provide a Montessori education to their children.

Tim Seldin, M.Ed. is the president of The Montessori Foundation and chair of the International Montessori Council. He has this to say about hanging in with Montessori during tough times:

I can encourage you to ask yourself three questions:

The first is: Why did you choose Montessori for your children in the first place, and has your thought process changed over time? My second question for you is: What have you been hoping to see your children take away from their years in Montessori, and how important are those outcomes?

And finally, I encourage you to ask yourself: How important do you feel the next few years in your children’s education will be? How might they benefit if you are willing and able to stay the course, and what may be lost if you can’t?

We can all understand why some parents will be tempted to take their children out of private school in tough economic times. Historically, most will give it some thought and then decide to stay. Why? One reason parents have expressed in the past, and are expressing again today, is the importance of keeping things as stable in their children’s lives

Mrs. Jodi LupcoHead of School

School ClosedMemorial Day

May 28

Field DayLower Elementary

May 30

ClosingCeremonyPleasant ValleyFire Hall

May 316:30 PM

PicnicTaneytownMemorial Park

June 111 AM - 2:00 PM

All School NightUtz Field House

August 277:00 PM

Labor Day September 3

First Day of MSW2012 - 2013

September 48:20 AM Drop Off

Fall Clean-Up September 15

Mark Your C

alendars

There is no description, no image in any book that is capable of replacing the sight of real trees, and all of the life to be found around them in a real forest.

~Maria Montessori (1870-1952)

GREATOUTDOORS

Hanging In continued on Page 2 Great Outddors continued on page 2

By Gretchen Malcolm Upper Elementary Directress

“If getting our kids out into

nature is a search for perfection, or is one more chore, then the belief in perfection and the chore defeats the

joy. It’s a good thing to learn more about nature in order to share this knowledge with children; it’s even better if the adult and child learn

about nature together. And it’s a lot more fun.”

― Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from

Nature-Deficit Disorder

Near the end of each school year the Upper Elementary students take an overnight camping trip. The anticipation and excitement build over the weeks, as we make ready for this trip. One would think we were going away for a week or two the way we prepare! The lists of items, the grocery shopping for our food, the decisions about who to share a tent with; all these things take on the utmost importance. But ultimately, what is really important is just the opportunity to unplug, go unscripted, bond with your buddies, and commune with nature.

And even though it is a tremendous amount of preparation for all of us, it is so worth the investment. Our children need time to rejuvenate and de-stress from the daily grind just as we all do. So, we play active outdoor games, hike, fish and swim. We also cook over an open fire and share stories and songs around the campfire.

Hanging InWith

Montessori in Tough

Times

Through the window in Mrs. Lupco’s office, we see Marlee Hill of our Primary class competently handling a shovel to plant a flower. See more on page 2.

Our Extended Day students enjoy Field Day events. This game was called “Clean Up Your Room,” and the balls represented the dirt to be tossed over the fence.

as possible in times of great stress. But in the case of Montessori schools, there is yet another factor to consider: how can we best prepare our children for the future? Today, the global economy has changed. The great opportunities are shifting to enterprises and fields based much more on innovation and information. The traditional American school was, for centuries the one-room school house, which had multi-age class groups and teachers who tended to remain with the same groups of children for several years.

Because children were immersed in the everyday life and work of their family and community, they tended to have much more direct, hands-on experience with practical mechanics, everyday tools, daily chores, and the cycles of the seasons from planting to harvest. The things children were expected to learn in those much smaller and more simple schools placed greater emphasis on cultural literacy, history, geography, the lives of famous people, great inventions, and great poetry and literature. Can you see the parallels between the one-room schoolhouse of American past to Montessori?

The large schools that we all know today were consciously designed to educate the masses according to plans and a course of study developed in the school district’s central offices. [T]he organizational model that inspired policy and procedure was the approach to mass production and depersonalization of the American factory and corporation.

In an information age economy, we need and reward people who see things in new and different ways. There is far less need for the workers who just put in their time and go along with the current corporate party line. It is obvious that corporations are far less committed to loyal employees. But what may not be obvious is that the best jobs are increasingly going to the people who are incredibly intelligent, creative, and forward thinking. It is a high-octane blend of people skills, the ability to organize and coordinate projects, and innovation that wins elections or builds successful businesses (think about Google founders Sergie Brin and Larry Pace, AOL founder

Hanging In continued from page 1

Page -2-

Steve Case, or Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, all of whom credit their success in large part to their Montessori education.) Montessori has historically been the choice of parents who do not value conformity but rather the cultivation of their children’s curiosity and creativity.

Mr. Seldin further states that he “wanted his children to be fascinated by books, interesting people, and new ideas. I wanted to ensure that they felt their education was a gift, not a burden. I did not want to encourage them to accept what their teachers taught without question. I did not value obedience over kindness, respect, and courtesy. What are your own goals?”

I respect each family’s decision-making process, and I know that even our very best intentions are sometimes hard to realize. Thank you for your continuing commitment to the Montessori School of Westminster. I wish you all the very best throughout the months of summer, and I look forward to your return for school year 2012 – 2013.

As a teacher I find myself, at times, so concerned with the academics, I forget the i m p o r t a n t role nature plays in the development of children. I don’t always take advantage of the great outdoor environment we

have right here at our school. Then I remember my own childhood, spending hours in the woods almost daily,

playing with abandon, observing the woodland creatures, learning of the wildflowers that grew there, playing in and around the river, running through ‘my’ woods; and all of this with very little adult supervision or intervention. So then in a fit of guilt I get everyone out to roam the woods and play in the stream. Or we just take a good book outside to relax and read. Or we poke around in the gardens. But I know I could do more!

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Great Outdoors, continued from page 1

environment guiding students to be inquisitive, independent, and self-motivated citizens.

We are a

Montessori

Author Richard Louv has stoked the fires of controversy with his books, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder and The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age. In an interview for the Guardian in 2010, he said, “It’s that sense of ownership that’s important – ownership of nature. How many children get that now? For this generation, nature is more of an abstraction

than a physical reality. Kids today can tell you about the Amazon rainforest, but not about the last time they went into a wood alone. Nature is something to watch from a distance, something to consume. Something very profound has happened in children’s relationship to nature.”

So, even if it has to be scheduled, I plan to make the outdoors a priority. I plan to consider that the outdoors is simply an extension of our classroom. And the big camping trip we take every year? Although I sense it is experiencing an evolution of sorts, I plan to keep it as part of the Upper Elementary curriculum. I want my students to be able to experience all that the outdoor environment has to offer because it has so much to teach us.

H

Great Outdoors, continued from previous column

LUNA*SEEAt the beginning of the current school year, the guinea pig named “Luna” who abides in Mrs. Malcolm’s Upper Elementary classroom went missing for a few days. Everyone was looking for Luna. Luna was safely recovered, but, in honor of her adventurous spirit, she’s been tucked among the pages of our school bulletin every month.

Have you seen Luna?

Mrs. Donaldson, Primary aide, didn’t have to help too much when Marlee Hill was planting flowers outside our school. Marlee managed the full-sized spade on the end of the short handle with ease. She pulled weeds to prepare her site, then gently squeezed the flower from its thin plastic container. The plant went into the prepared hole and was then tucked in with soil by Marlee. Last, she sank the flower’s tag into the earth adjacent to the plant. Marlee is an accomplished gardener at age four!

MONTESSORI INSIDERby: Suzi Radcliffe

SUMMERTIMEFUN*TRAVEL*PLAY*FRIENDS*WATER*PETS*CAMP*RELAX

SUMMERTIMEFUN*TRAVEL*PLAY*FRIENDS*WATER*PETS*CAMP*RELAX

Great Outdoors, continued in next column