Montessori Schools

  

 A few days before we discussed Montessori schools in class, I happened to speak with my sister, Caren, who teaches at a Montessori school in CT. Both her kids when to Montessori schools and for her son it worked out great, while it wasn't right for her daughter so she switched over in 3rd grade. My sister lived in Milan for a while, and they put her son, when he was 2 1/2 yrs old into a Montessori school. I can remember how smart he was at 3 years old and his vocabulary was much more advanced, however, I think this was due to his exposure to 3 languages. She told me about how they prefer a high student to teacher ratio, which seems weird to me. She also explained, as we discussed in class, that it is based on doing hands on activities and the senses. The "grade levels" are composed of three ages of children and therefore the older kids are expected to teach the younger kids and help them and a lot of the learning is done through interaction. Caren explained that there are no tests or grades, and that the child will learn at a rate that is right for them. She explained to me that the school is not about competing and judging, so grades do not work. Tests and grades can cause anxiety and feel of failure, when learning needs to be viewed in a positive way, and if students are worried about failing or grades then their focus is on those things rather than on learning. All of the activities are very interactive and visual. Kids learn from interaction with one another and from themselves, and they learn how to assess themselves in some way. I think this is a great way to work with students who are disciplined and self motivated, however, for those who may have a learning disability in something like reading, it might be very difficult. One question I still have is how do Montessori schools handle students with disabilities? It seems without formal testing it might be hard. I really hope I get the opportunity to observe a Montessori classroom either this semester or next. I am also very curious about Emilia Reggio schools, with seem to be similar in some ways. With my background in art and design I think it might be something I am very interested in.

Case Study 17; #5: Brent and Cory Need Extra Help (3-5 yrs)

A. Mean Talk          
 

I think that they decided to move Cory rather than Brent was because it was Brent who was causing more of the problems than was Cory. I believe that because the teacher had already observed the behavior and assessed the situation, in order to find the best solution, that by moving the child that was more of instigator would not be the best choice and on his behalf because the new teacher would struggle with him more. It takes time for a child to adjust to a new situation and new kids, as well as for a teacher to learn about each child. Because some children act out for attention, which may be the case since Mrs. Johnson, the boys’ mother seems to busy to give any time to the teacher and school to address this problem. She seems like her children are not a priority to her and therefore this could be the cause of the boys’ behavior. If this is for attention, by moving Brent, who is the twin who behaves the worst between the two, it will only be making him the focus and rewarding him with attention. Also having twins in the same classroom may be difficult in addressing their individual needs, whereas by separating them there can be more of a focus on them separately from one another.

B.  Separate Classrooms

I do not think that it was a good decision to move Brent out of Cassandra’s classroom because I feel that she was very in tune with what the twins needed and was giving them individual attention and assessments. She also had a plan to try and work with the boys and had a method planned out to do so. She was tolerant of them, and willing to stand up to them and more successful than the other teacher at dealing with him. She showed more patience. By moving him to a new school, the boys will have to readjust, meet new kids, new teachers, etc. and start from scratch. I do not feel that moving him to another school was a good decision.

Miles ECDC activities & Miles ECDC v. Head Start

Today, I worked again at Miles ECDC, however, I worked the morning from 8-2, rather than in the afternoon until close. I really liked working the in the morning because the activities are a little bit more focused toward the skills they need to be developing in order to move up next year. I helped in both the 3's and 4's/5's today. When I was in the three's I noticed the teacher using a lot of songs, which she used to work on rhyming words and syllables of words as well. The kids loved the songs and requested to sing them. One of them required them to be standing and to start jumping up and down, when their names were called. Today, they also did a lot of circle meetings, where in the 3's , as well as the 4's/5's met to discuss lessons and go over things they saw, whether it be a in a book or outside, describing what they saw.  When I was outside during play with the 3's and other age groups, the 3's teacher called students in groups of two's to make hand prints, using their favorite color(s), I loved the ones that were done with one color on each hand and then before putting their hands down on the paper they rubbed them together, and it made a marble effect. I was amazed when speaking with one of the three year ols that she understood that the moon is out during the day and proceeded to explain why this is to me. Another child (also three) started telling me about astronauts and out space and rockets. I am amazed in what these kids know and age three and what their potential actual is verses what people assume it is. Also while I was outside with the kids, I met a little boy who was in the 2's who speaks Chinese, but no English. I tried talking to him, before another one of the teachers told me this. Still, when we were in the sandbox, and he was digging with a blue shovel. I pointed to the shovel and said "blue", he looked at me and said "b-eu", and then back and forth, I would say "blue" and he would try and say it, until he said "blue' and pointed to the shovel. Then I pointed to his shirt (w/ blue stripes) and he said "blue". We did the same thing with a rock in the sandbox, getting him to say "rock". This was the first time I have ever gotten to experience anything like this. It was so neat seeing someone learn a word for the first time and to watch them develope the sounds needed to say it. I was defnitely more excited than he was. It was interesting too because although he didn't understand words, he understood fully when I waved at him, and when I put out my hand for a high five. I know we discussed that body language is one of the first methods of communication, which was evident here, plus high-fives" and waving are pretty much universally known.

After observing the classes at Head Start, and then working the following morning at ECDC on campus, I was able to comapre the two groups and where they were developmentally in a general way. It is amazing how important interaction is at home and with parents as well as being exposed to rich interesting settings and many different experiences. The 4's/5's of head start, were learning what a number looks like and trying to learn how to simply identify their name, while C of C's ECDC students of the same age, could all spell their names, some could do math, some are learning to read, and all were very campable of communicating with one another. In the head start many students were not speaking, but instead pointng and makes noises. I am somewhat upset that parents can take such little interst in their kids, and how unfair it is to a child, who has no control over their situation. Because of their family life and economic stability, a student can really suffer, not getting the bbasic skills they need. Even the attitudes were so different between the two centers. The kids @ the head start were quiet, not very interactive with one another, and not very enthused about being there, while the kids at Miles ECDC are more mteractive, and constantly busy. I see them get much more excited about things and really want to learn and interact with others. They also share much about their family life with me, and show that it is something that is very important to them. They have a strong family bond.

Head Start Programs in North Charleston

Today I had the opportunity to observe and sit in on two classrooms at the Head Start program in North Charleston, SC. The first classroom I visited was a 4's/5's room, as part of the regular head start program, and the 2nd class (which were actually two rooms) I observed was an infant/toddler room, which is part of a specialized head start program.


http://www.nhsa.org/
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/
http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc


The 4's/5's room, had all eleven (8 boys and 3 girls) of its children seated when I arrived. All of the students were african american, and live below or near the poverty level. The teacher, whom they called ,"Ms. Mary," asked each child what they did/played with while they were outside this morning in order to work on their speech and verbal skills. When the child answered her question correctly, they were told they could line up by the door and once eavery child had answered the question they were allowed to walk quietly as a class and take turns at getting water at the water fountain in the hallway. This would require the children to pracice: self restraint, cooperating with others, organizational skills, communication, and patience. I was very impressed with how quiet they remained and that they all kept in line as the walked down the hallway. After all students got water and used the bathroom, Ms. Mary asked student to find specific numbers throughout the room. Surprisingly this task was a struggle for some of the kids, and some could not find the numbers even well they were displayed in numerous places around the room that were made very clear to see. It is unusual for kids that age to struggle with a simple task like numbers, however, Ms. Mary explained to me that these kids, due to their home environment, and lack of opportunity, are very far behind where they need to be and a "slow group of learners" and she told me. Next, they transitioned on, into the next part of their day, which were play stations, in some ways similar to what we have in ECDC. In order for the kids to have the opportunioty to play at one of the seven "learning" sations they had to be able to identify, as well as, say their name. The teacher called them up one at a time to point out their name on a chart. Two of the girls did this very quickly and so were asked to find a classmate's name as well. I was impressed to see that those two girls could also do that successfully. The kids who could not find their name on the chart, were asked to look on the back of their chair as a reference to what their names look like when they are written out with letters (On the back of each chair their names were written out, almost like a name tag), Once they did this on a chart in the front of the room, they were allowed to choose just one station, limiting the number of students per station to about 2-3. The seven stations they had were:

1.art

2.blacks/toys

3.kitch food/play

4. interactive computer

5. writing

6. music

7. sound -instruments and singing

The teacher uised many games and songs to ask certain questions, like the "I spy" game and sang a song about cleaning up. Throughout observing I noticed that the students are very behind in speaking and communicating through words, Instead they are pointing, using other forms of body language, and making sounds, but no words. The teacher kept telling the kids they need to "use their words" and told them they were not allowed to point. At ECDC, when I was working in the 3's the teacher would use that exact same expression when kids became unmanageable but were not expressing themselves clearly to others, with their words. She explained to me that the reason for this is that the home environment, and relationship dynamics at home for these kids is not a good learning environment for them. According to the teacher, parents are not speaking with their kids but instead yelling or firmly telling them what to do, and don't let them go outside to play because of safety issues. This means that they may not only be behind in literacy development, but also in math, science, motor skills, and in their social skills. In this room there was a one lead teacher and an assistant teacher, and another teacher who helps out from time to time. Both the teacher and the teacher's assistant shared with me their likes and dislikes of teaching, and fortunately they agreed that there were far more positives than negatives. Ms. Mary said that Parents are the most difficult aspect in teaching, and knowing how to deal with them, especially ones who can tend to be overbearing. The way they deal, is by reminding themselves that everything they do is for the child and not the parent. She also said that she loved this job because it makes her feel young, and it is such a creative job. Ms. Mary explained that for her, she feels like time almost stands still and almost feels like a kid herself sometimes. She also explained to me how teaching becomes such a huge part of your life, and now whenever she goes shopping, she ends up buying things for her class, regardless of whether she needs to or not. Her class is always on her mind and she is always thinking of new ideas and fun things to do with them.


The second class/classes I visited was a toddler/infant class, also part of the Head Start program, but this head start program is a new kind of a program. I believe it is called Early childhood head start but I am not entirely sure. It is funded by the government to pay for many different things for these toddlers and babies, like food, diapers and wipes, doctors, dentists, counselors, specialists in learning disabilities if necessary, etc.  They also pay for field trips and any materials they need. It was nap time in  both of these areas when I arrived and the infants were in a deep sleep (almost the enitre time I was in that rotation). The toddlers, however, were up and about playing swords that they had created from empty paper towl rolls, and running around, requesting attention, to be played with, and to be read a story. So although it was nap time only 1 of the 3 kids in the toddler room were asleep. When I first walked in I was greeted with a hug from one of the little boys in the toddler room. Apparently more than just one of us, CofC girls got the "special treatment" (he has already got it down). As we sat with the kids and they played with their swords, and a soccer ball, one of the teachers started to explain to me all the things they do for a child and his/her parents. They provide snack, lunch, diapers, wipes, formula,books, make 2 home visits a month, etc. for the kids and also help motivate the young parents to go back to school to get their GED or associates degree. They actually have an adult GED course at this head start location, where they can take classes in order to get their degree. They have 8 openings per room, and therefore a long waiting list to get accepted into the program. The way they decide who does and does not get accepted s done in relation to who has the most points. One of the openings in the infant room is given to an expecting mother, who gets all of her medical expenses covered by head start. They also make sure she is eating enough, staying active, etc. up until the baby is born, soon where after the baby will start the program. When speaking with one of the teachers in the infant room, she told me that the problem with this program is there are certain rules that need to be changed. For example, a parent may keep her child in the program until she earns her GED, and then the children are not allowed to attend. I think this is horrible because it means she cannot use her education to go to work, because she has to take care of kids. Plus the cost of buying more food, diapers, and other things can certainly add upI In the infant classroom there were two teachers, and three babies. All of the cribs have mirrors in order to help the child development their sense of "self" which happens early on. In both rooms they follow a teaching method that is established based around the principles of catering the lesson plan individually to each child depending on his/her personal interests.


In the toddlers and infant rooms really have great respect fo the staff at that facility. They showed great patience and seemed to genuinely care about those kids. They even base all of the activies they do in class on the intersts of each individual child. They all conveyed to me that they love their job and although it can be a lot of work, they really find it rewarding. They try and involve parents as much as possible because it is important to encourage learning at the home. 

Anyways, after one of the teachers explained their entire program, during napping, I have become so impressed and excited about this program. I really think more states need to develope practices like this. I would love to be part of a program that really does make a huge impact on kids' lives and their families. In this case in is the families who are in dire need, which is even nicer to see things change for them. I spoke with the toddler teacher about volunteering there when I am not in class or working at ECDC, so like over holidays if I stay in the area. I think this exposure is great for me because the environment where I lived for most of my life was not very diverse, even though surrounding areas were. Also it is a different socio-econmic class and therefore the parents' child rearing methods may be very different to what I am accustomed. I also had read an article in regard to teaching Ebonics as a form of speech depending on where you live, and that in some urban settings it plays a major role in everyday speech. Does this mean a teacher in an urban setting should be studying Ebonics too since many of the kids may be communication that way? I think it is important for teacher who are planning to teach in an urban setting to understand the basics of Ebonics in order to help make the child's speech more formal and tie it into what the kids hear in their everyday lives. 

Caring for Infants: Case Study 1

Question 1:

      In Case Study 1 Ronnie and Shawna speak with the children even though they are not developmentally ready to speak themselves for various reasons which have been researched for several years. Through infant research and studies, we know that babies listen to language, understand number concepts, learn from their changing behavior as they rollover, sit, and stand, always counting on the help of others (esp. adults) to gain knowledge about themselves, others, and the world.  Infants (birth-9 months), mobile infants (8-18 months) eagerly engage in exploration, and toddlers (16-36 months) continue to form their identity(DAP, pp..53,54). It is the parents and teachers that who need to respond to toddlers'feelings, interests, and distress. They form activity patterns relatively early as well as distinct sensory preferences. Long before they can speak, babies are constantly making noises from what they have heard since their short whie stay at the ereoport. They like to watch other babies, make noises, and no new situaions. People are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of educational growth teaching.
      In this Case study there are so many great ways in which Ronnie and Shawna are working to maximize the infants' literacy development at this beginner level. I hear over and over again, both in readings supported by research, as well as from parents with personal experience, that babies need a rich environment full or color, visual things to look at and play with, and having things out and visable (like toys) rather than cleaned up and tucked away does more for the baby's learning. In this case for example, the classroom has many toys and is willed with color, like colored blocks, as well as diverse people and activities going on in its environment. They also incorporate sounds and images that are familiar and therefore comforting to the infants (i.e. family pictures on cribs and music that is played at home), as well as new things to expand the child's recognition. 
      As the DAP suggests, Shawna and Ronnie include parents in the development process as Natalya, feeds and sings to her baby in Russian. In this environment the infants are being exposed to many sounds, which is necessary for developing the brain as much as possible during this crucial period. When a baby hears Russian and English there are picking up more sounds and eventually will be able to sort out the English from the Russian. Infants often practice their verbal skills by making different sounds. Ronnie encourages this when she imitates the baby's sounds and asks him questions, and it becomes a game, and helps to eventually develope the meaning of conversation in the child at a later point. Practicing these sounds now will help the infant in the later part of the beginner stage to create the sound schemas needed for speech. They will be able to use this experience to put together familiar sounds to form words. W also see the teacher aide practicing this with the children, but also providing them with short periods of quiet time to practice their own vocalizations. Babies learn from imitation, and both teachers and other babies serve as models to imitate and hear new sounds in this environment. As the infant lays on the changing table and kicks his legs and moves his arms, we see he is developing his motor skill schemas. Allowing the infants to crawl around independently also helps to practice these skills. 
    The infants also practice social skills as they interact with adults and other babies, helping to identify their "self". We see the infants being picked up, propped up, sitting in the teachers' laps, being fed, spoken to, being "introduced" to other babies in the room, etc. They do so in a caring environment, where each child's needs are addressed, and take care of, which is building trust. Trust and comfort is needed in order to move forward, with restraint. This kind of an environment, where there is trust and children feel safe is important at all ages in the classroom.


http://www.preksmarties.com/babies/
http://www.pammshouse.com/lessonplans.html

3's observations tied to sociology

       Reflecting on another day working in ECDC, this time in te 3's classroom, I noticed several developmental differences between the 3's and the 4's/5's children in these classrooms. I never actually realized the amount of learning that goes on and the basic skills of communicating that are developed that happened between the ages of 3-5, until today. The kids in the 3's class showed less control over their emotions having tantrums, showing frustration, and whining, without communicating in words/speech. After nap time we had two kids express extreme frustration and throw tantrums, unwilling to express in words to any of the teachers what they wanted or what was wrong. One child had to be removed from the classroom, and as the teacher tried to speak to her, explaining that it is important to communicate to the teachers what she was feeling, however, as the student refused, the head teacher told her that we couldn't help her until she was able to do this. I have never dealt with a situation where a child cannot verbalize why he/she was upset, and instead us crying, volume, tone of voice, and physical body language to express herself. As she showed lack of verbal/speech development, unable to express her feelings to her behavior, when it was time to color, she was very skilled. She perhaps was one of the best 3 year old artists I have ever seen, drawing inside all of the lines with control, clearly symbolizing people, and showing signs of awareness to proportion and size in the way she drew her people. I was surprised to see two such different levels of development in one child. Most of the other children had more self-control, and identified to me that they were making connections between letters in their name and the alphabet as well as identifying what verbs correlated with pictures of people doing specific actions. 

        Another idea that i would like to comment on is the idea of the socio ecological influence on kids though literacy. Sociology was one of my majors @ the undergrad level and therefore the importance of socio ecological influence on children's development is very interesting to me. I observed boys in the 4'3/5's as well as in the 3's classroom, playing in the kitchen, wearing nail polish, playing with dolls, and also "styling" my hair, however, in society, such behaviors, we associate with litttle girls, rather than little boys. As I realized this, I also realized that we used many devises to imprint our culture on our kids and that we use many devises to do so. One of these devises is print or books. As soon as we start reading to kids, without realizing it due to that fact we are so focused on teaching skills like reading, spelling, and verbal language, we forget that we are also teaching cultural norms through the stories we read to them, which help to mold cultural expectations such as gender role. I am not saying that certain traits of gender are nurture over nature, but I am saying that we reinforce cultural standards and practice through what we read. Eventually kids start to mold into what we are pushing them toward. Many books child read over and over again, and it is likely that a child will soon start to understand the story more and eventually the story's lesson. I can remember having friends in preschool who were boys who played Barbies and dolls with me as well as dress-up, until around the middle of kindergarten, when a few of them started ripping off my Barbie's heads, as my mom tells me. I am not sure if this is really in correlation with literature and what it teaches us about culture, but I think it is a possibility. After talking to my brother who is a teacher outside of DC and his wife (also a teacher), they started talking about the influence of books on kids. They also told me about gender roles and how they have tried raising both of their kids, who are now at the elementary level, equally in every way. This meant that if Allie had a girl doll, they had to buy Harrison a boy doll. Early childhood impacts a person's entire lifeline and so many jobs that used to be designated primarily to one gender, are now not. For example, there are many more male nurses, and additionally many more women doctors. It is also common for the husband to be the stay-at-home "mom", while the woman may be the "bread-winner". Anyways, my point, is just that we need to realize that not only the words on a page, the way we write, and the way we speak, are important parts of literacy, but also the cultural concepts we endorse through the context of literature.

A Brief Reflection on a 4's/5's Class

After working in a 4's/5's classroom today, there were several interesting things I noticed. As I sat with the kids during nap time, I noticed that most of the books that they are allowed to "read" through (those who do not sleep) on their mats are actually not true picture books, but filled with a significant amount of text. I noticed that one of the children looking through the book, even spent time looking at the pages that were text only. However, when she told me about the story, she did so, solely by flipping through the pages to show me the pictures that illustrate the story, showing her understanding and meaning of the pictures in relation to the story. I also notice one child using her fingers to count while laying on her mat during nap time. This is typical of a child learning to count between the ages of 4-7. She showed that she is in the math stage of development where she needs to see things concretely in order to understand them. 

One thing I found difficult was trying to figure out a way to deal with a child who didn't listen. One child, when told not to do something, or to stop what he was doing, actually seemed even more likely to continue his actions, like pushing other kids, blocking the slide on the play ground, or taking other kids' toys. The more I said, "don't do this", or "don't do that", the more he wanted to do that behavior. It wasn't until the director stepped in and took this child to help her in another room to do something else, did he stop. From this I learned that some kids do not want to be told and will not respond to that, so sometimes finding a different activity or something else to distract them with is actually a better solution, and more a positive focus that telling them what they are doing wrong over and over again, when I am sure they already know what they are doing is wrong. At a later point, as the day wound down, I used coloring, as well as stamps, as a means to do this with one of the children, which seemed to work.