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Montessori Philosophy

Jun 27 2024

More than Movement: Montessori Dance

By Emotional Wellbeing, FMS Values, Montessori in Action, Montessori Learning, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
This week at Forestville Montessori School, we invited the wonderful Kei from Montessori Dance to share insights about teaching dance in a Montessori environment. Movement at Montessori A key element that differentiates Montessori schools from the mainstream is our child-centred approach, emphasising the development of the whole child. Maria Montessori, the founder of the Montessori approach, believed that education should cater to all aspects of a child’s development—intellectual, physical, social,…
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Jun 20 2024

Grace and courtesy for social development and relationships

By FMS Values, Montessori in Action, Montessori Learning, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
As we develop a new vision and mission for our school, we continually refer to the guiding principles of Montessori philosophy. What are the values we impart to our students and how can we, as educators, leaders and parents, cultivate these in our own lives? Two words regularly used in the Montessori classroom are grace and courtesy. To inspire grace and courtesy in our children, we need to model these…
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May 23 2024

Creating and caring for community

By Montessori in Action, Montessori Philosophy, Our School No Comments
We talk a lot about community at FMS; parent community, school community and the wider community. Beyond being a part of a community, education at FMS is intended to prepare children as responsible, capable contributory community members. We have programs in place to do this for every child, at every stage of the FMS journey! In Montessori, we provide numerous ways for children to participate as community members. These include…
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Feb 29 2024

It takes a village to educate a child

By FMS Values, Montessori in Action, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and at FMS, we extend this to educating children too.  The work of educating children is the sum of much more than letters and numbers. A holistic, traditional Montessori education does not stop at the school gate. In fact, it starts at home and extends into our broader families, social groups, community and of course the school itself.  The holistic…
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Feb 08 2024

Helping children “find their flow” in the school day

By FMS Values, Helpful Hints, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
You may have heard the quote” “How you start your day is the way you live your day, how you live your day is how you live your life.’ (Louise Hay).  At the start of the school year, this quote is a great reminder to help our children get the best start to their day so they the best outcomes from their day.  One of the simplest ways to structure…
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Dec 07 2023

Shifting from “Stuff” to the Spirit of the Season

By Montessori in Action, Montessori Learning, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
All too often the holiday season becomes about “stuff”–presents, decorations, more presents. How do we wean our children away from their focus on getting gifts and instead shift attention to the spirit of togetherness, generosity, peace, and goodwill? It can be helpful to hold a family meeting and talk about everyone’s feelings about the holidays. We can ask our children about what, besides the gifts, they really like about the holidays.…
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Sep 20 2023

Making Amends

By FMS Values, Montessori Basics, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
Our children make mistakes. We can help them learn how to make amends. Help children shift from throw-away apologies to repairing the wrong-doing.Mistakes are a part of life. We all make them. Hopefully, we even learn from them! Intellectually we probably understand that mistakes are part of our children’s process of learning and growing. Yet as parents and caregivers, it can be hard to know how to handle situations when…
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Sep 14 2023

The Positive Way

By FMS Values, Montessori Basics, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
Positive Discipline aligns well with Montessori philosophy and helps us shift from being punitive or reward-based to being kind and firm at the same time. We are often asked about how we handle discipline in Montessori. It’s a great question because we think differently about discipline. Ultimately, we want our children to develop self-discipline and to understand how to balance being an individual within a community. We know that children need…
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Sep 07 2023

The Montessori Prepared Environment

By FMS Values, Montessori Basics, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
A Montessori prepared environment (classroom) is a place designed to foster children’s learning as well as support their fundamental human tendencies.In Montessori, we talk a lot about the “prepared environment.” Really, though, this concept of a prepared environment isn’t limited to Montessori. In fact, from the earth’s biosphere offering an array of support for life, to the fragrant and colorful flowers existing to lure pollinators, to a woman’s uterus preparing…
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Aug 24 2023

Moving Away from How Was your Day?

By FMS Values, Montessori Basics, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
It can be hard for children to talk about their experiences at school. If we shift our approach, we can often get more insight into our children’s day.When we pick up our children from school, it can be so tempting to ask, “How was your day?” Often the responses are pretty lackluster. As adults, we can likely relate. If a partner or friend asks about our day, our responses may…
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