Montessori Innovators at Riverbend

Last Thursday evening, The Riverbend School held its first ever Academic Fair. Students from Kindergarten through Grade 8 treated professional evaluators, parents, teachers, administrators and their fellow classmates to beautifully presented research projects.

Riverbend students had been asked to think of a topic that sparked their interest or ignited a passion. They were also asked to not only research their topic and become an expert, but to practice their public speaking skills to orally connect their research to their visuals, demonstrations, experiments and activities to visitors. Teachers helped their students cultivate their ideas, and once the students got going, nothing held them back.

Casey, 2^nd Grade, challenged himself to learn how to dance like Michael Jackson and tore up his living room floor which all were able to view on his lap top (with envy). 

Madison, Kindergarten, wondered how paper was made, so she taught herself how to make it! She brought in her own pulp and paper press and went to work demonstrating how our every day paper is made. Madison also made us aware of the real and crucial need for recycling. Brooks, 8^th Grade, wanted to know more about the Geneva Conventions and how they came to play such a critical role in our present day world. He graciously and eloquently provided his evaluator with the history of the first Convention and how it has shaped modern day politics. Have you ever seen a Venus Fly Trap in the winter months that looks dead? Well, thanks to Jonathon, 4^th Grade, we now know that the plant lives in a dormant state through the winter—changing to a dark color and remerging in the Spring bright green and ready to be fed! Ian, 5^th Grade, taught us about Space Exploration and his desire to travel deep into the universe. Judging by the intense enthusiasm he exuded, there’s no doubt he will make his way there someday.

“It was incredible to talk with Riverbend students tonight and evaluate all the unique projects—these students are curious, bright, passionate, creative and are developing skills for real life as innovators. It is so energizing and reassuring to see what America’s children, who will soon be our leaders of tomorrow, are doing to prepare. My hat goes off to Riverbend, and their commitment to providing students with the best principles of education," said one outside evaluator.

The backbone of Montessori philosophy is based on nurturing the whole child by fostering their individual learning styles. “The selection of topics was as individualized as each child’s personality.  It was extraordinary to see the joy they felt as they explained their projects to visitors,” said our Head of School, Karen Riccardi. 

The night proved, once again, that children at any Montessori grade level, are capable of unbelievably amazing things. 

Why Montessori

Thanks to our friends at The Cobb School, we just finished reading the New York Times education article, What You (Really) Need To Know, by Lawrence H. Summers, former president of Harvard University and former secretary of the Treasury. 

"A PARADOX of American higher education is this: The expectations of leading universities do much to define what secondary schools teach, and much to establish a template for what it means to be an educated man or woman. College campuses are seen as the source for the newest thinking and for the generation of new ideas, as society’s cutting edge....Suppose the educational system is drastically altered to reflect the structure of society and what we now understand about how people learn...Here are some guesses and hopes..."

Guess and hope #4 reads:

"Not everyone learns most effectively in the same way. And yet in the face of all evidence, we rely almost entirely on passive learning. Students listen to lectures or they read and then are evaluated on the basis of their ability to demonstrate content mastery. They aren’t asked to actively use the knowledge they are acquiring." 

We cannot help to proudly state, Maria Montessori created a method some 100 years ago that answers the questions of modern day education reform. Let's break #4 down, Montessori style. 

1. "Not everyone learns most effectively in the same way." 

Yes, yes, yes! Maria Montessori's method is based on the fact that every child is unique, and learns at their own pace. It is the educator's role to nurture each student's individual learning style.  

2. "...we rely almost entirely on passive learning."

The Montessori Philosophy relies and exists on active learning. Our students are "actively" engaged on a daily basis--whether they are learning how to scoop solid items from left to right,

or making a mobile out of atom models of the first 9 elements in the Periodic Table.

There are no limits to their curiosity and wonder. Montessori schools are completely devoted to helping their students reach their full potential by guiding them as they answer their own questions through hands-on activities and tasks. 

3. "Students...are evaluated on the basis of their ability to demonstrate content mastery."

Evaluation takes the form of observation in a Montessori environment. Montessori teachers are trained to observe their students--following their footsteps of learning and fostering progress. 

4. "They aren’t asked to actively use the knowledge they are acquiring." 

Montessori students use their knowledge in every task or activity they engage in. They make connections and are expected to put their questions to the test. A student may ask, "Can a triangle be more than 180 degrees?" A Montessori teacher would respond, "Let's find out together. Try making a triangle that isn't!" (True story, by the way.) 

Want to know more about Montessori? Come see it in action. Join us for a Walk in Wednesday, or ask us for more information. 

The Power of Montessori in Natick, MA

Riverbend is feeling particularly honored. This week, in a gym full of parents, visitors, educators and friends, we listened to two internationally recognized key-note speakers discuss the power of Montessori Education. 

Our first speaker was Trevor Eissler. Trevor is a father of 3 Montessori students, a business jet pilot and the author of critically acclaimed book Montessori Madness: A Parent to Parent Argurment for Montessori Education/video: 

Our second speaker was Daniel Petter-Lipstein. Daniel is also a father of 3 Montessori students. He is a lawyer and the author of the viral article/video Superwoman Was Already Here:

Together, they captivated us with the powerful, eminent theme of Montessori students owning their education. Owning. Let us share with you a real-life example (one of many) they gave and something that all Montessori schools are proud to see on a daily basis:

In a Montessori classroom somewhere within the USA, two young boys were working on a project together at a table. As they wrote feverishly, one stopped and looked at the other to say, "Is it getting noisy in here?". The other boy, fully immersed in his work, continued working as if nothing had just been said to him. The distracted boy, without hesitation, walked silently across the room and dimmed down the light. And then he it brightened the room back up. He proceeded to his seat and went back to work. Are you wondering where his teacher was? She was giving a lesson and never flinched at what the boy has just done. The room quieted down. Harmony.

This student owned his education. He owned his shared classroom. He was having trouble working on the project that he was excited about and he did something about it--in a respectful, courteous, and graceful Montessori fashion. Wow. This is what Montessori is all about. 

Trevor and Daniel belong to Montessori Madmen,

"a ragtag group of Montessori dads from around the country and a variety of backgrounds, united by a common zeal to bring the Montessori method to millions more American children."

The Madmen have become quite a sensation in our Montessori community as they are,

"inspired by all Montessori children, including our own, who demonstrate every day how amazing school can and should be. We are fired up to bring awareness about Montessori schools to as many families as possible." 

We can't thank them enough for visiting us and for working so hard to bring awareness to the country about our collective Montessori passion. If you would like them to present at your school, please go for it. Trevor can be reached here (bottom of page) and Daniel here. 

Want to see Montessori classrooms in action? Join us for a Walk in Wednesday! 

Montessori breeds independence. Every day.

Working independently, silently and smiling. It is such a joy (moreover, a privilege) for one to walk into a Montessori classroom and look around at the independence at every work mat, lesson, or even snack table.

Bringing Fall into the classroom, our student above is cleaning out a pumpkin. Seems like a normal task, but for her, many things are happening. She is discovering independence through science. As she works, she feels the pumpkin seeds, the mush of fibrous strands, and the feeling of accomplishment when the cavity becomes bare. She is learning. "Why are the seeds slippery? Why is there a stem? Can we grow one of these things? I finished this all by myself!" 

We who work at Montessori schools are constantly honored to watch our students' independence flourish through self-directed accomplishment. 

See below of another Primary Student, she is sweeping.

With a target area to sweep into, our student is thinking as she sweeps. She figures out how to move objects (in this case colorful tissue paper) with something she see's adults use, maneuvering the broom in the direction she wants--she learns that she can accomplish this independently. Building self-confidence and concentration, Practical Life lessons, as with sweeping, helps students focus on caring for themselves and their environment. When this picture was taken, she looked up and grinned, and went back to work. Working independently, silently and smiling.

Any child who is self-sufficient, who can tie his shoes, dress or undress himself, reflects in his joy and sense of achievement the image of human dignity, which is derived from a sense of independence. -Maria Montessori 

To see a Montessori classroom in real time, please join us on a Walk in Wendesday!

Montessori Materials, from India to Riverbend

“The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences.” -Maria Montessori

One fascinating aspect of the Montessori philosophy is that it sweeps across international borders. Montessori schools literally exist all over the world:

• Thailand
• Italy (Montessori homeland)
• Japan
• Pakistan
• France
• Indonesia
• Vietnam
• Egypt
• Nigeria
• China
• Malaysia
• ...the list goes on (and on)

Montessori children across the globe are connected--they all use the same Montessori Materials in a prepared environment and are taught with the same nurture and care. Can you imagine a Primary student in India using the Pink Tower alongside of our Riverbend toddler, Ava, except they are separated by 7,000+ miles of ocean?

Check out the Pink Tower in India:

Now check out the Pink Tower at Riverbend with Ava:

The Pink Tower helps students develop their ability to compare variations in size and discrimination of volume using their sense of sight. 

Montessori Materials were birthed out of Maria Montessori's observations of young children spontaneously working with sensorial objects with independence and curiosity. Seeing their minds concentrate as they lit up with fascination and happiness led her to beautifully design age specific learning materials. 

“The first essential for the child’s development is concentration. The child who concentrates is immensely happy...The human hand allows the minds to reveal itself.” -Maria Montessori 

The materials are attractively displayed in the classroom (whether in Prague or Cairo) and are carefully presented to students at an appropriate time based on pace and age. Once shown the charming and interesting looking materials, students are then allowed to freely engage with their minds and hands as they become self-directed and independent.

Riverbend Parent Piece: Why I Love Montessori Education

By Julie A. Baker

The assignment was “Mystery Mystery.”  Each student had to choose something – anything – and come up with 5 clues about it, ranging from hardest to easiest, and see if their classmates could guess what it was.

 My daughter and I talked about a few possibilities, and she settled on one – the Eiffel Tower.  She sat down at the computer, looked up “Eiffel Tower” on Wikipedia, read through the information, and printed out 4-5 pages of interesting facts.  She went through the printout and underlined potential facts that could be “clues” – the height of the tower, the weight of the metal used to build it, the year it was built.  Then, she took a piece of paper and listed out the most promising clues; asked me my opinion on a few of the them (too hard? too boring?); numbered the clues in backwards order from hardest to easiest; and chose the best 5.  Those, she copied onto a separate piece of paper, titled it “Mystery Mystery,” and put it in her backpack to take to school the next day.

She was 8 years old, a second-grader at the Riverbend (then Eliot Montessori) School in South Natick.

I am a law professor, a professional educator.  I watched her complete this assignment in awe – and not just because she is my child, which puts me in awe of everything that she does.  I watched in awe because I have seen so many (too many) adults, professionals, college graduates, who cannot organize themselves and see an assignment through from start to finish, and who have no particular motivation to try.  And here was my 8-year-old, already there.

The number one quality that every person needs to survive and succeed in life (in my humble opinion) is the ability and willingness to think for himself or herself .  The number one reason that our society is struggling the way that it is today (again, IMHO), is the lack of personal responsibility – the idea that whatever happens, it’s someone else’s fault, someone else’s job to do the thinking and do the work necessary to achieve the result.  But Maria Montessori knew, almost 100 years ago, that each person – each child – can and must learn these skills, and that giving children these lifelong lessons would set them on an unwavering path to success.  And I am so grateful that my daughter has had the opportunity to take that path.

Please believe me when I say that I mean no disrespect to the public school systems.  I am a proud graduate of the Norwood Public Schools; my husband, the Springfield Public Schools, where his father was an elementary school teacher for 41 years.  I believe that most of the teachers and administrators – and students – in the public schools are doing the very best that they can with the resources that they have.  But the resources are not what they were when we were children.  Materials are old and scarce; facilities are outdated; classrooms are overcrowded; and teachers are stretched far, far too thin.  Setting aside the reasons for this crisis in public education (that’s a whole separate article, or 12!), the effects are that too many of our children are not getting the tools that they need to grow into the responsible, successful adults that they all have the potential to be.  The hallmarks of Montessori education are respect, personal responsibility, and hands-on learning – to give each child his or her own skills and confidence in what s/he can accomplish and achieve, in a supportive community carefully structured to encourage academic, social, and emotional growth.

Two more important qualifiers.  First, I am not in any way, shape or form a “Tiger” or “Helicopter” mom.  Someday, my child will be on a psychiatrist’s couch explaining, justifiably, that she could have been a musical prodigy, but since I never got around to signing her up for music lessons, we’ll never know.  She’ll probably also mention that she finally got some religious education only after telling my mom, who was trying to explain to her why her Catholic and Protestant cousins were making their first communions and confirmations, “hmm, maybe I should be something, too,” i.e., Catholic, Jewish, Protestant … anything!  But at least, when it comes to her education, I’ve managed to get that right.

Second, Montessori education is private education – we have to pay a yearly tuition.  Believe me when I tell you that I had no intention of paying tuition for my child to attend elementary school.  The money that we are paying each month is what would have gone into her college fund (which does not exist).  We rent our home, we take modest vacations, we don’t have a lot of fancy toys – but we have enough, and more than most, and this is just more important.  What good is a college fund if your child finishes high school with no motivation or ability to take advantage of higher education?

We made the move away from public education when our daughter was in kindergarten because the program was not meeting her educational needs.  Others have come to our school community to escape overcrowding, lack of academic rigor, cuts in “specials” (music, art, computers, phys ed) or, sadly, bullying.  All of us have found an environment that benefits not only our kids, but our whole families – from all-school assemblies to volunteering in the classrooms to community service projects for parents and kids together.

Our family moved to Natick so that we could become a part of the Riverbend community; and we all know how much fun moving is.  But since the moment we arrived, we have never questioned our choice.  And it’s hard to say who was more excited about the start of school this year, us or her.   As I watched my fifth-grade daughter, now almost 11, sit down with her Homework Binder – that she set up and she will maintain all year long – and attack her fractions homework last night – Friday night, without being asked or told to do so – I was reminded yet again why I am so grateful to the Riverbend School for giving my child the tools and the motivation for lifelong success.

Julie Baker can be reached at jbaker54@gmail.com.

What is Montessori?

The Montessori method has been surfacing in the news quite a bit lately as the philosophy becomes more widely recognized. Noteworthy Montessori alums and their contributions to our world have made headlines. Of course, this couldn’t make Montessori schools prouder or more honored. As the press highlights how powerful Montessori education is, it’s important that we understand what Montessori is and the fundamental principles that shape it and our students.

Founded in Italy by Maria Montessori in 1870, the Montessori method/philosophy is firmly based on:

• nurturing a child’s inherent passion to learn through respect

• educating the whole child, academically and developmentally

• creating a consistent, caring and engaging environment with specifically designed classrooms

• utilizing the keen observation and guidance of Montessori-trained teachers

Maria believed that children learn best at their own individual pace, as they build self-confidence with each step of mastering skills, lessons and discoveries both inside the classroom and in the natural world.

Montessori teachers are trained to "follow the child"--constantly observing strengths and providing challenges, recognizing obstacles and fostering tools for progress, drawing out passions and fueling them. This philosophy knows no boundaries in terms of how far a student can travel academically in the classroom. Likewise, there are no time-limits nor race to the finish line. Basing an education on a student's pace not only secures their own self-confidence in their ability to learn, but secures a child's active participation in their self-motivated educational endeavors as they become a Life Long Learner.

Multi-age classrooms form one of the most vital and instrumental components of a Montessori education. This environment breeds unparalleled collaboration, respect for each other’s abilities, and relationships founded on support. The elder grades serve as role models to their younger classmates, inspired by their own personal accomplishments, and eager to encourage others. Students therefore not only have their teacher to look to for assistance, advice, or an opinion, but their peers. Friendships between all ages flourish and there is nothing quite like seeing a 3rd grader welcome a 1st grader to their classroom with poise and enthusiasm.

If you are new to the Montessori method, our school, or our website and would like to know more, we invite you to come visit us to see first-hand the philosophy brought to life in our classrooms, contact us here! Please also feel free to request information here.