We were thrilled this week to host Kristina Freeman, co-founder of the award-winning Mental Health & Wellbeing program, Grow Your Mind. Children at Forestville Montessori School have been participating in Grow Your Mind as part of their learning around selfcare and wellbeing since late last year. This week, FMS parents had a personal introduction to the program, learning how it is implemented here at FMS and what they can do…
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Last weekend, FMS families joined our quarterly Working Bee. Adults, children and teachers all pitched in to work in our gardens, helping to keep our school environment beautiful and healthy. This type of community work is not unusual at FMS. From toddlers through to primary school, Montessori students engage in purposeful work. This may involve contributing to the cleanliness of the classroom, the beauty of the environment, the comfort of…
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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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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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Last Friday, as part of the Combined Sydney Montessori Staff Development Day for 2024, FMS staff were treated to a live presentation from clinical psychologist, Dr. Andrew Fuller. Dr Fuller is a psychologist, author and (very entertaining) speaker. He specialises mental health and wellbeing for young people and their families, working with schools, communities and individuals in Australia and around the world. According to his website, Dr Fuller ‘puts the…
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After our recent parent education session on literacy at Forestville Montessori School, we wanted to introduce you to more of our in-class language materials. Montessori grammar materials are not only beautiful, they do a great job of engaging children to learn about something many of us dreaded when we were kids ourselves. Parents who attended our In Conversation Literacy session had a first-hand experience of some of the beautiful literacy…
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Our children’s early years are essential for developing strong language skills. So, in Montessori, we pay particular attention to how we support young children’s receptive and expressive language development. The exercises we use to enhance children’s spoken language development don’t have a large physical presence on the classroom shelves because many are games or conversations. The integration of these spoken language games and activities are prominent in children’s daily experience…
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