Voices in Montessori Podcast
Voices in Montessori podcast shares interviews with seasoned Montessori educators and leaders, as well as learning specialists, and other experts to inspire and support you. Our podcast is a resource for Montessori educators and leaders packed with actionable ideas to elevate and support your practice. Hear from Montessori elders about real-world classroom tools and school management strategies. How do I offer positive discipline in my Montessori classroom? How do I get the support that I need as a first year Montessori teacher? How do I change the culture of my Montessori school community? We will explore these questions and more on the Voices in Montessori podcast. Topics include supporting learning differences in the Montessori classroom, positive discipline strategies, the neuroscience of learning, creating school cultures of belonging, and Montessori for elders and dementia. Tune in and subscribe to deepen your Montessori practice and join a revolutionary community of Montessori educators and leaders who are shaping the future of education. View the show notes at https://greenspringcenter.org/podcast/ Join the conversation on our Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/greenspringcenter Learn more when you follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/greenspringcenter/
Episodes
3 days ago
3 days ago
Heather Barger joins the podcast to talk about bringing Montessori outside. She shares Dr. Montessori's vision for outdoor learning, which was for children to learn primarily through first-hand experiences in the natural world.
Heather is the founder of The Montessori Field School in Floyds Knobs, Indiana. She describes how its nature and Montessori-based curriculum supports a hands-on, experiential approach that nurtures the development of the whole child.
Heather shares what a typical day looks like at The Montessori Field School, including the practical logistics. She also shares her discoveries about how learning outside impacts children's academic development, as well as their social/emotional growth.
Tuesday Apr 30, 2024
Building Ecological Awareness in Young Children
Tuesday Apr 30, 2024
Tuesday Apr 30, 2024
Tammy Oesting joins the podcast to talk about raising ecological awareness in young children, which includes cultivating awe in Montessori classrooms, integrating nature seamlessly, and empowering educators to nurture eco-consciousness. Tammy discusses why is it important to support children with ecological consciousness, and which specific Montessori principles and practices align with nature education. Tammy talks about how Montessori guides can nurture their own sense of ecological wisdom, and then offers some practical strategies for integrating nature education across the planes of development. Finally, Tammy talks about how Montessori communities can collaborate with environmental education initiatives. She also shares some resources that educators can use to learn more about how to bring ecological consciousness into their classrooms.
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Tools for Supporting Learning Environments with Human Development at the Center
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Seth Webb joins the podcast to discuss tools that can be used to support Montessori practice, while keeping human development as the focus. Seth starts by highlighting current research about developmental objectives and "dimensions of wellness." He advocates that we redifine educational outcomes to what matters most: executive functions, social fluency and emotional flexibility, linguistic and cultural fluency.
Seth then shares how the Montessori philosophy has human development at its core by focusing on planes of development, human tendencies, spontaneous activity, and a prepared environment. He then shares how we can extend this framework to the school community as a whole.
Seth describes the resources offered by the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector (NCMPS) that support both classroom and school-wide Montessori practices.
Tuesday Apr 09, 2024
How the Montessori for Aging and Dementia Movement is Changing Care for Elders
Tuesday Apr 09, 2024
Tuesday Apr 09, 2024
Mandy Cheskis and Margaret Jarrell join the podcast to discuss Montessori for Aging and Dementia and how this movement is changing care for elders. After painting a picture of the current state of longterm care, our guests then share some exciting research findings about the impact of the Montessori approach on older adults and people living with dementia. They discuss features of a prepared environment for adults that combine best practices for people living with dementia with the Montessori approach of meaningful engagement. Mandy and Margaret talk about the importance of deeply knowing the person and designing individualized activities and roles that invite elders to contribute to their care of self, care of others, and care of the community. They also share how specific Montessori materials can be used to help elders maintain skills. This approach often requires a longterm care community to undergo culture change, but the results speak for themselves. Listen in to learn more about this innovative approach to elder and dementia care!
Tuesday Apr 02, 2024
The Role of Infant & Toddler Guides as Tone Setters for New Families
Tuesday Apr 02, 2024
Tuesday Apr 02, 2024
Uniit Carruyo visits the podcast to discuss the additional responsibility that Infant & Toddler Guides have to serve as "tone setters" for new families. Many times, this is their child's first experience away from home. 0-3 Guides must shepherd the entire family through the transition to school, thus setting the tone for the way they view Montessori throughout their entire journey.
Tone setting starts with building the relationship with the family and truly getting to know their family culture. Uniit strongly advocates for doing home visits before the school year begins. Tone setting continues through the phase in process, and includes sharing Montessori philosophy, inviting parents to observe in the classroom, and offering multimodal communication. It requires staying non-judgemental, meeting families where they are, and inspiring them by showing them what is possible.
The community Infant/Toddler Guides help new families to build may last their entire lives!
Tuesday Mar 19, 2024
Tuesday Mar 19, 2024
As Montessorians we thoughtfully prepare our classroom spaces to support children's self-construction. Sarah Moudry, both a Montessorian and an interior designer, joins the podcast to share her knowledge of design research and best practices. She identifies five design elements essential to a well prepared environment that you may not have considered before!
The Invitation
Perspective
Purposeful
Enchantment
Surrender
Join us for this fascinating conversation. You may be inspired to look at your classroom with fresh eyes!
Tuesday Mar 12, 2024
Tuesday Mar 12, 2024
In this episode, we have a conversation with long-time Montessorian, Elizabeth Slade who talks about the importance of using Language of Reverence as a central part of the Montessori practice.
Language of Reverence explores the power of our words and their effects on human flourishing. By examining and changing our word choice to and about children, each other, and ourselves, we can change our sense of the school community and ultimately our impact on each other. The Language of Reverence model emphasizes creating a powerful, shared language that allows all members of the community—children, families, and school-based adults—to feel respected and valued.
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
Preparing Adolescents for High School and Beyond
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
Sylvia Glassco joins the podcast to share how the Adolescent Community prepares students for high school and beyond. As they straddle the line between childhood and adulthood, their time in the Adolescent Community is a time of skill building. Students need to be comfortable with drafting and revision as a writing process; entering into a math problem and searching for a way to represent it; and using evidence to support an argument. They must build executive functioning and self-regulation skills. They must discover what kind of learners they are and build the self-advocacy skills they need in the adult world. They must be empowered to make meaningful contributions.
Sylvia discusses how all this skill building is interwoven through a rigorous academic curriculum, how students engage in formative and summative assessment (without traditional letter grades), and how Microeconomy work provides Adolescents the opportunities to build many of these skills while working as a team, experiencing failure, and overcoming challenges.
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
Bringing Music Into the Primary Classroom Through the Bells & Song
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
Marcia Perez joins the podcast to share her expertise with Montessori music curriculum and materials. Long before the technology existed to prove it, Montessori realized that music was key to children's neurological development, and language development in particular. The Bells, therefore, can not be thought of as an "extra." Instead, they are an essential part of the Sensorial curriculum in the Primary classroom.
Marcia briefly shares the history of the development of the Bells and Tone Bars. She then encourages Guides who are intimidated by the music work to think of it simply as pitch and rhythm. They can be studied individually, or together in the form of song. Marcia dives into how to incorporate rhythm, pitch, singing, movement, and music appreciation into a rich experience woven throughout the curriculum.
Marcia does a deep dive into how the Bells should be set up, introduced to the children, and used by the Guide when singing. She talks about how to use the White Boards (the singing charts), which introduce pitch and pattern, and the Rhythm Patterns (clapping charts), which work on rhythm. These materials become centerpieces for the child training their ear in music, which in turn, improves the child's ear for the development of language. Marcia says, "Music IS language!"
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
Providing Early Art Experiences for Toddlers that Promote Creativity
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
Sue Saad joins the podcast to talk about providing early art experiences for toddlers. Sue describes how to lay the groundwork for toddlers to use art experiences in their self-construction. Sue explains that toddlers are in the process of gaining the true creative spirit required for producing innovative art, confident independent thinking, and problem-solving. They are truly absorbed in the process, not the product. Sue shares the art materials and experiences that are appropriate for toddlers and how to refrain from stifling their creativity and learning.
About Greenspring Center for Lifelong Learning
The mission of the Greenspring Center for Lifelong Learning is elevating and supporting the emerging generation of Montessori educators, leaders, and schools.
View the show notes at https://greenspringcenter.org/podcast/
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