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Montessori: The Elementary Years

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    - I try to find different
    ways to light the fire.
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    For some children, it may be
    taking something that they say
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    and reflecting it back to them
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    and then saying, how can we find out more?
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    What do we need to do? For
    other children, it may be
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    striking their imagination
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    by putting something in their hands
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    and saying, you know, we've
    gotta find out more about this.
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    It's me guiding what
    happens in the classroom
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    and knowing when to step out of the way.
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    - A multi-age classroom is
    actually a beautiful thing.
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    Elementary one is six to nine,
    elementary two is nine to 12,
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    and it is a community
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    - Because there's multi-age grouping.
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    You come into a program,
    you spend three years there
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    with children within
    a three year age span,
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    and you can go at the
    pacing you're ready for.
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    - There's an individual
    plan for every child.
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    When you master something
    in a Montessori curriculum,
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    you can just move to the next level.
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    The child doesn't move on
    until the child is ready
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    to move on and has a deep understanding.
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    - Teacher's gonna individualize
    where each child is,
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    but you're also gonna
    learn from each other.
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    It's not always the older
    children teaching the younger.
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    It's the student who has gained a skill is
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    going to help another student.
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    - Even though we do follow a
    curriculum, I have the luxury
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    of watching a child, figuring
    out what they connect with
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    and where they might be struggling,
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    and giving it to them as many
    different ways as I need to,
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    and giving them the time
    that they need to practice
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    until it comes together for them.
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    - One of the cornerstones of
    Montessori is that we want
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    to allow children
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    and young adults to be as
    independent as they can.
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    In a traditional environment,
    children are waiting
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    to hear from the teacher
    where to go to get something.
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    May they go to get
    something. Is this allowed?
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    Is this not allowed?
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    The teacher can move throughout
    and children can get up,
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    and there's freedom of movement.
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    There's the ability to
    repeat tasks if needed,
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    and the teacher's there to support.
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    - Ultimately, we want the
    children to be responsible
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    for their own learning.
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    - One of the outcomes that I
    have observed in Montessori
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    children is this idea
    of critical thinking.
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    They've got a problem, they
    throw out lots of guesses of
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    what the answer might be.
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    They will think through
    each one of those guesses
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    and analyze it.
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    Then they'll eventually get to an answer.
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    They may not necessarily
    always get the right answer,
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    but they know the process
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    and they don't see learning as a chore.
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    They certain see learning as as something
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    that is really exciting.
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    - Montessori education includes
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    specialized learning materials.
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    They are really very important
    to the learning process
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    because children in the elementary age,
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    they learn with their hands.
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    They have to be engaged
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    - Without telling.
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    We allow the child to
    use materials to discover
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    and unfold a truth,
    whether it's understanding
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    how numbers work together,
    understanding the history
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    of the universe, understanding
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    how a culture approaches something,
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    and they get to discover it,
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    and then we say, wow, what
    do you think about that?
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    - All the education in
    the world doesn't matter
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    unless a child has that
    sense of self and identity
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    and has that ability to understand
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    that kindness changes everything,
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    and that through that
    they can change the world.
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    - It really develops the foundation for
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    what Maria Montessori saw as
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    a civilized human being moving forward
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    through their learning, which is lifelong.
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    - When my sixth graders rock out the
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    door, I know they're ready.
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    They're ready. Intellectually,
    they are ready emotionally,
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    they're ready socially
    to navigate the next part
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    of their education.
Title:
Montessori: The Elementary Years
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Duration:
04:50
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