“If I had a Hammer” An Intervention!

“If I had a hammer, I’d hammer in the morning …” goes the old song but what if I needed a pair of pliers? “I’d hammer in the morning…” Or if I needed a screwdriver? “I’d hammer …” well you get the idea. Each tool has a specific purpose and optimum use. So it is in the Montessori environment.

Normally, we intervene with our children when they are abusing the material. However, as guides with all good intentions, we seem to abuse the material. Abuse here does not mean to destroy but to improperly use material for something it was not intended for.

An example of this is seen by the “extension” of matching cards for knobless cylinders, broad stairs, pink towers, color tablets etc. While it seems like a nice extension it takes away from the primary purpose of the material. We have to also make sure that by “extension” we mean another facet by which the materials purpose can be explored. Pink towers are not sensorial matching exercises. They have a specific teaching purpose and once mastered lead on to the next stage of development.

Another classic extension is using the red rods to build “The Maze.” I know that thousands of teachers have been shown how to build “The Maze” but is that the purpose (or even a good extension) of the red rods?

All of these “extensions” keep our children from going deeper in their learning as we tend to lose our focus of what needs to be mastered. We visited a classroom that had four or five alphabet puzzles or matching exercises and of course the child is going to do each one (and more than once) which only encourages the child to go wide instead of deep.

The building of towers with the knobless cylinders is another common abuse (and waste of time.) It is fun but it is neither the direct or indirect aim of the material.

I can hear you saying, “You’re taking all of the fun out of the environment. You’re squashing their ability to discover.” Allowing discovery is one thing but to present these extensions to the child wastes their effort and energy because they are a distraction from the purpose of the material. If a child discovers that the knobless cylinders do in fact build a unique tower, you smile and remark on their discovery and encourage them on to their next mastery.

Observe your environment, (even revisit and revise your training if necessary), to see what might hinder your children’s development. It could certainly be an over abundance of extensions that do not lead your children deeper into learning but might be considered busy work. Observe and ponder because all extensions are not equal.

“If I had a hammer…”



Early Conference Registration extended to Jan. 6, 2012

Christian Montessori Fellowship
National Conference
February 17 – 19th, 2012

Conference Theme
Building on a Sure Foundation

“Whatever you have seen in me – put it into practice” Philippians 4:9

Our national conference has taken a departure from 29 years of summer conferences and we will be holding our 30th conference this winter. San Antonio is a great place to visit while it is cold and snowing in many other places.

The fellowship will be warm, the learning exciting and your spirit will be refreshed for this great adventure that God has called us to.

Conference starts Friday morning at 8:00 A.M. and finishes Sunday Morning at 11:30.

Conference cost:
$350 Regular registration
$325 Early Registration if paid by Jan. 6th
$300 Early Registration for CMF members
Conference includes 2 Lunches and Saturday dinner.
Conference Location:
Crockett Hotel
1-800-292-1050
www.crocketthotel.com
Lodging costs $105.08 (tax included) per night
Double or single
Rates good if you register by January 17th
If you have never attended a Christian Montessori Conference you will enjoy the true spiritual encouragement that comes from sharing Jesus with each other in the context of our educational lives.



The Bethlehem of Your Classroom

Christmas reminds me again of how special God looks on His children. Dr. Montessori writing in “The Child and the Church” says, “A the teacher must be able to see the child as Jesus saw him.” Jesus says that whoever receives a child in His Name receives Him. It is an interesting challenge that was first started in Bethlehem. What was it about the physical Christ-child that was so special? He was a dark-haired, dark-eyed child much like the other children born in Bethlehem or Judea. Looking at the child there was nothing about Him that was distinctive to differentiate Him from all the other children. But it was what was “about” Him that made the difference. There was the long history of prophecy coming about to be fulfilled, there was a special star in the heavens to announce not only His birth but His place on earth. There were angel choirs rejoicing at His birth. There were the hosts of shepherds and wise men to note His birth. Their gifts of presence and presents honored God the Father’s gift to us.

Two thousand years later we each come to the Bethlehem of our classrooms. Is there anything about the brown-eyed, brown-haired, or blue-eyed, blonde-haired child in front of us that tells us that this is the Son or Daughter of God? Is there anything that says you are in the presence of royalty? That this child will transform the world? Yet, this child shares in a long history of prophecy telling of his or her coming. (That prophecy is written in heaven long before time began.) The place of the child’s birth is also written from before time began – and his parents. He or she also has a star that marks the place of birth – it is the “Bright and Morning Star.” And the Angels rejoice when the child is born. There are shepherds and wise men, common folk and educated that will play a part in the life of the child in front of you.

Bethlehem is a place to see with the eyes of the spirit. Your classroom becomes holy ground when you begin to search for the Christ-child hidden in plain view.



Early Registration for the National Conference

Christian Montessori Fellowship
National Conference
February 17 – 19th, 2012

Conference Theme
Building on a Sure Foundation

“Whatever you have seen in me – put it into practice” Philippians 4:9

Our national conference has taken a departure from 29 years of summer conferences and we will be holding our 30th conference this winter. San Antonio is a great place to visit while it is cold and snowing in many other places.

The fellowship will be warm, the learning exciting and your spirit will be refreshed for this great adventure that God has called us to.

Conference starts Friday morning at 8:00 A.M. and finishes Sunday Morning at 11:30.

Conference cost:
$350 Regular registration
$325 Early Registration if paid by Dec. 19th
$300 Early Registration for CMF members
Conference includes 2 Lunches and Saturday dinner.
Conference Location:
Crockett Hotel
1-800-292-1050
www.crocketthotel.com
Lodging costs $105.08 (tax included) per night
Double or single
Rates good if you register by January 17th
If you have never attended a Christian Montessori Conference you will enjoy the true spiritual encouragement that comes from sharing Jesus with each other in the context of our educational lives.



Needed: Imperfect Perfectionists

Life holds many paradoxes – Jesus tells us to save our life we must give it away and to love our enemies. In Montessori we find the need for an imperfect perfectionist. Even though we all make the excuse, “Nobody’s perfect” we sure hope that our pilot, our surgeon and our lawyer sure come close. However, in our Montessori environment we need “imperfect” perfectionists. (An another paradox is how an environment can be ruined by a perfect perfectionist.)

Perfectionists impact (and enhance) every part of a Montessori environment. Perfectionists make sure that all the colors match, that all the corners are even, the environment is pristine, and all of the materials are just as they need to be – perfect and whole. But isn’t that what a Montessori teacher is supposed to do?

Yes, but the perfectionist lives and breathes and has a driving passion not only for the environment but for the program to be perfect. We are blessed by perfectionists – to a point. What is needed, however, are imperfect perfectionists; those who realize that others may not have this same driving perfectionism and are able to accept this both in the environment, in their co-workers and in the children.

Proverbs tells us that a clean barn brings no profit – and a pristine and a “perfect” environment may not bring any real learning or life. But just like a used barn is restored by cleaning so an environment is also brought back to its state of equilibrium between use and perfection.

In Montessori, the imperfect perfectionist allows life to happen and then allows life to deal with reality. Our challenge is maintaining the balance between starting off with a perfect environment and ending with a perfect environment because what happens in between is imperfect. (Perfectionist mothers don’t teach their children to cook because the child may make a mess.)

If perfectionism is our goal – whether in the environment, our co-workers, our children or their learning we will hinder the child’s development and growth. Life (and learning and becoming) all happen in imperfect fits and starts. Even though perfect environments, lessons and examples act as models for learning and life – they are not the goal. Mastery is the goal. Mastery of the environment; mastery of the learning, mastery of ourselves.

Some of us need to be more perfectionist and step up our game in the environment and with our children, while others of us need to be less perfectionist so our children can breathe and become who God is calling them to be. Life is always a balance.



National Conference – Major Change

After 29 years of summer conferences we will hold our first national conference in mid-winter. February 17th – 19th 2012 in San Antonio, Texas.

Conference theme “Building on a sure foundation”

Conference cost:
$350 Regular registration
$325 Early Registration if paid by Dec. 31st
$300 Early Registration for CMF members
Conference includes 2 lunches and Saturday dinner.
Conference Location:
Crockett Hotel
1-800-292-1050
www.crocketthotel.com
Lodging costs $105.08 (tax included) per night
Double or single
Rates good if you register by January 17th



Trusting the Kite to the Wind

A kite is made to soar – to peer above the horizon, just as our children are made to live beyond the horizon of today. One of the challenges for a beginning Montessori teacher is to believe that Montessori education actually works when the kite won’t seem to soar; when you get no lift off. A beginner teacher is always tempted to revert to those heavy restraints and actions that are familiar and comfortable but they won’t enable the kite to fly.

It is only when the kite of the child’s life begins to ascend gracefully that it has a chance to meet fully God’s purpose for the child’s life. Unless the kite gets into the wind and rises, it may never get to see the horizon and what is beyond. The whole Christian Montessori experience is oriented for the child to be able to break out of the bonds of earth and to experience the exhilaration of the discovery that only the heavens, the sky and the horizon can provide.

Psalm 104 “Praise the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of His upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messenger, flames of fire his servants.”

Finding God in His fullness is the whole purpose of soaring. Soaring releases the spirit of the child. There are those who are concerned that Montessori doesn’t provide the sure foundation that the child needs; often considering that Montessori education is a free floating blimp (the child only being guided by the indiscriminate winds of unregulated choice.)

However, it is the traditional heavy ropes of constraint that keep the kite from soaring at all. In the Montessori experience the kite is delicately held by the long tether of a light string. The string doesn’t constrain but grounds the kite to reality and provides for the gentle tug of direction and guidance. In one sense, Montessori becomes the tail of the kite – offering a balance and creating stability while allowing the kite to soar.

We are made to walk in the winds with God’s Spirit, filling our souls with that which is beyond the earth. Earth looks very small from the heavens – our concerns assume the same dimension in the light of God’s time and eternity. Helping our children live out the vision of God for their life requires them to soar – which is a good definition of a Christian Montessori life.



What feeds the soul of a Montessori teacher?

A Montessori environment is dynamic and exciting and as great a joy as there is it requires energy and renewed enthusiasm to continue at its high level. What feeds the soul of a Montessori teacher? It is the connection with the inspiration that created this amazing way to live and learn. This inspiration is not just academic – with new and better ways to present material – but spiritual in ways to encourage the child’s (and teacher’s) heart toward God.

That is why we have the national Christian Montessori Fellowship conference each year – to renew that enthusiasm, commitment, and love for God, the child, the environment and the ministry that we each have to our children.

Economic times are tough and we say we can’t afford it – which may be true. But in our own walk there are things that I am being asked and I tend to respond in the same way – I can’t afford it. In fact I often respond I can’t afford it (I’ve looked at the budget) even before I ask God if it is something He might want. The question might really be “How can I afford it?” and then let God be creative with the ways to afford it. Then there is always the sales question – “How can I afford not to?”

The other day our second granddaughter overheard a conversation about a school that is struggling to send their staff to the conference. Madeline asked, “Is that the school with the mother and the two daughters that came?” “Yes”, said grandma. Madeline began to think about it and then went downstairs and soon came back with a paper listing how many chocolate chip cookies we would have to sell to help them. “Maybe, grandma, we should sell lemonade too!”

This conference is more than just about Montessori education – it is about the heart of God and how He has provided a way for us to reach into the heart’s of children and let Him transform them.

Cutting with dull scissors, a dull knife or a dull axe makes the work so much harder. Come and sharpen your skills and your vision for where God has placed you.

To register for the conference go to www.crossmountainpress.com
Hotel reservations with special rates are good through June 27th.
Crockett Hotel 1-800-292-1050



National Conference July 28 – 30th, 2011

San Antonio, TX

Theme: “Christian Montessori and the Spirit of Elijah”

What does God ask of us as Christian Montessori teachers?
And what do we need from Him to be most effective?

Just a few of the questions that will be asked (and hopefully answered) at this year’s conference. The CMF conference is different than a traditional Montessori conference. The typical Montessori conference starts from the teachings of Dr. Montessori. The CMF conference starts with the One who inspired Dr. Montessori.

The fellowship, the knowledge, the encouragement and the inspiration that comes from the CMF national conference will not only change your environment – but will change you.

This year’s topics include:
Observation
The language of the classroom
Montessori science through creation.
The Hebrew vs. Greek educational mindset
Hands on Bible
The Great Lesson of Creation
Effective verbalization for children and parents
Special needs
And more …

Conference details

Conference registration $350
Early Registration (May 31st) $325
Early Registration for CMF Members $300

Registration includes all materials, lunch each day and Saturday closing dinner.
Conference Location:
Crockett Hotel
1-800-292-1050
www.crocketthotel.com

Crocket Hotel (provides breakfast) Room cost per night double beds $105.08 (includes taxes.)

Register for the conference at www.crossmountainpress.com



Accreditation Moving Ahead

The national accreditation meeting held Feb. 26th addressed the need for accreditation for Christian Montessori schools. The 28 delegates from all over the country (teachers, administrators, parents and business people) focused on giving greater vibrancy to the future of the Christian Montessori movement.

It was a very different educational meeting. A lot of time was given to prayer and worship. Christian Montessori, while focused on education, is about sharing the Gospel through education. Doing Montessori education successfully is important but more important is the Christian spiritual transformation of both student and teacher (and parents as well.)What does it profit a man if he gets the best Montessori education in the world but loses his soul?

Christian Montessori Fellowship working with NCPSA (National Council for Private School Accreditation) will follow standard accrediting protocols while creating a unique set of standards for Christian Montessori Schools. We are in the early stages of crafting CMF standards. If you are interested in contributing to this process please email us so we can add you to the information flow.