Montessori Newsletter
Volume 5
Published by Montessori Homeschool
Archive of Montessori and homeschool e-mail newsletters for parents, teachers, homeschool, toddler, preschool, elementary
In This Issue . . .
Education as Peace
New Montessori and Homeschool News
Peace & Conflict Resolution Books On-line
Peace Albums
Quote of Peace by Hilary in South Africa
 |
Peaceful
Parents, Peaceful Kids: Practical Ways to Create a Calm and Happy Home
by
N. Drew
"This great book provides parents with great tools that will enable them to commit to a truly peaceful family and a more peaceful world."--Anita Arnold, M.S.W., Family Therapist |
PEACE
EDUCATION...
"Education as Peace Part
One," Ursula Thrush
an excerpt fromThe Montessori
Elementary Curriculum for children 6-9 years old
The essentials of education for peace are
built into the Montessori curriculum at
every level. At the preschool stage when children are in an absorbent
state of mind, they
are exposed to the Continents and the Peoples of the World, thus
providing the basis for a
global view of life and humanity's part in it. At the elementary
stage students are in a
reasoning, abstracting and imagining state of mind. At this time
the Peoples of the World
are studied in depth and from a historical perspective, with the
help of the timelines,
leading to the discovery that all humans have the same fundamental
needs and that the
fulfillment of these needs vary according to the potentialities
present in each given
geographical environment and historical era. By emphasizing the
family of [people] and the interrelationship of all life, students
begin to realize that the individual is not an isolated,
fragmentary entity separated from the life around him but rather
an integral part of a
potentially harmonious whole.
At the Erkinder stage (12-18), students
who are now in a social, moral, and
ethical state of mind are ready to explore the larger community
and to begin to find their
own place within it. During this period they move toward a true
“valorization of
personality”: a realization that everything in the universe is interdependent
and that each
individual has a function to perform which serves the whole. Their
own relationship to
life is reinforced through their academic studies: at this time
they bring to consciousness
all the microcosmic and macrocosmic analogies Montessori uses to
illustrate the
interdependence of everything that exists, from the concentration
of energy which
induces cells to specialize and to reform the function of the organ
they are about to
construct, through the lichen which eat rocks and give their life
so that mosses and
grasses can take root in their remains, to the great river of life;
commerce--the exchange
and sharing of goods, which, like the blood circulating in the body
and servicing all parts
of it, binds all nations together. . . .
Now on the threshold of adulthood, students
are exposed to actual involvement in
the larger community. Self-expression and cooperation with others
are the keys to their
educational experience. Their activities include large group discussions
which were
started in the previous period, with the addition of training in
the classic art of debate. On
a local level they are exposed to other peer and adult groups, be
they of an artistic,
economic, athletic, or political affiliation. Nationally and internationally
there can be
correspondence and visits with similar groups. . . . In all
such activities, the goal is to
create concrete experiences of conscious, non-competitive cooperation
and collaboration
with others.
It is during this period that we, as teachers,
[educators, and parents] are challenged to the core. We cannot begin
to teach cooperation and collaboration if we ourselves are interacting
with others in a competitive way. Despite the content of the Montessori
curriculum, it cannot in and of itself result in peace. We as teachers,
[educators, and parents] must remain aware, at every step, that our function
is not simply to talk about peace, but to create an environment
that will promote the
evolution of peaceful individuals and will allow for the “normal
development of the new
[human being].” We must reach beyond our efforts toward an education
for peace and venture in to the virgin territory of education AS
peace.
END Part One ("Education as Peace Part Two," in our next
e-mail newsletter! )
Ursula Thrush is the directress (and founder) of The Montessori School of the Golden Gate and Montessori Teacher Training Center in San Francisco, as well as the chair of the Peace Education Task Force of the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education. She has developed Peace 101 for classroom education. Her writings have been widely published in Montessori publications and she is an international lecturer.
Browse the Peace
and Conflict Resolution Room!
"Peace Albums: Tools
for Peaceful Classrooms" by Rebecca Janke is a fantastic and informative
article in the fall 1998 issue of Public School Montessorian that
shares categories for Peace Albums in order to build "a comprehensive view
of peace education in Montessori" environments. Categories included are:
staff development; designing a peaceful environment; peace music, art,
writing/spelling, and games; peacemakers and conflict resolution.
"We would appreciate
hearing from you . . . about any peacemaking activities you have found
useful and/or any other categories you would suggest be included in Peace
Albums. We will find a way to share them [with] the other readers." Rebecca
Janke, co-director of Growing Communities for Peace, PHONE 651-433-4303,
FAX 651-433-4357.
New Montessori and Homeschool News
Montessori Teachers' Collective http://members.aol.com/moteaco "Exciting New Site Update! Check us out in the latest issue of The Public School Montessorian! We're one of four sites featured in an article about the growing online Montessori community. We're fast approaching 2000 hits! The Technology Discussion is still lively, and data is piling up in our Teacher Training Survey , source of our next topic. There are new submissions in Great Kid Stories and new Classifieds with jobs, materials and opportunities, as well. ANNOUNCING! Maria v1.0 and MariaPlus v1.0, HyperCard stacks that contain over 100 quotes from the lectures and writings of Dr. Montessori. Click on her image and get a randomly chosen quote for each day of the school year (well... almost)! As always, thank you for your support." Don Jennings Montessori Teachers' Collective.
NEW: HEM'S NETWORKING &
DISCUSSION BOARDS
"The new HEM Networking & Discussion
Boards are available at:
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/wlcm_brds.html;
Bookmark this site, or add this site to your AOL Favorite Places, and check
it out often! We'll be taking the wonderful discussions and support
previously found only in America Online's
HEM forum to a whole new audience out on the Net! "We're excited about
this new adventure, and the potential to yet again strengthen homeschooling
for families everywhere through our combined online sharing of news, information,
support, and resources!" HOME EDUCATION MAGAZINE
A Quote of Peace by Hilary in South Africa
"Montessori philosophy is a
philosophy of hope. Hope in the future of mankind,
of peace, of global unity, of respect, of
the essential goodness of man. It
requires of us who have not grown up being
raised under it that even the
smallest actions require us to question
their validity, stance, emphasis,
perspective... It is a philosophy that is
sorely needed in our day, even more
than in her own time. Our divisions have
become more subtle as has the all
pervasive attitude that sameness is good
and safe and right, the result is
others imposing their will and beliefs,
expectations and standards on others,
or the rejection of one group by another.
"It is the liberation of the
spirit of humanity and the consequent out flowing
of peace in which I believe. To all of you
out there helping in this the
enormous task I salute you."
Hilary in South Africa
END