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Montessori Inspired - The Color Bears

6/10/2016

As I shared last week, we are beginning our transition from a traditional preschool to a Montessori Inspired school. We will be using found objects, dollar store purchases, current toys & activities, created materials and a few traditional Montessori Works to prepare environments to enable our students to learn independently. We will be sharing these ideas with you through our Montessori Inspired blog posts over the next few months. We are excited to show you some of the things we have learned already.

A few of the principles and philosophies of the Montessori Method are following the child (observing their interests), prepared environment (order & beauty), control of error (successful learning), isolated quality (color, shape, etc), freedom within limits (choice), and independence (not helping a child do something they can do themselves). I love all of these and am constantly trying to encourage the students in these areas.

All of the materials in a traditional Montessori school are designed to be self-teaching. Children learn to solve problems, see natural connections in knowledge, learn skills related to practical living, and therefore, expand their imaginative thinking.

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Montessori Inspired

6/4/2016

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Several years ago I was an "after-school nanny". Basically, I picked up these 2 precious girls from school & drove them to their various after school activities. They were involved in theater, art, dance, and even Hebrew school. One of the many cool things about these girls is they attended a Montessori school. I had never heard of or experienced a Montessori school before so the concept was brand new to me.

Through conversations with the girls while hanging out at the local soda shoppe, I learned the VERY basic idea of the Montessori-style of teaching. Basically what I gathered was multi-ages in one classroom with multiple teachers. Students learned at their own pace and had goals to accomplish within the week but they could choose what, when and how they completed those classes.

This style of leaning intrigued me as there were times that I struggled with traditional school, not because I'm not intelligent but I tend to like to learn on my own. I love research and figuring things out and testing theories and a lot more tactile opportunities. This resonated with me greatly. I didn't realize at the time what an impact this small conversation would have on my life or I would have paused, taken pictures, asked more questions, observed the classrooms more closely, scrutinized every detail until it was imbedded in my brain.

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Author

I am on an amazing adventure traveling the world with Jesus. After 7 years of teaching preschool in Alabama, God called me to the mission field in Mexico full time. I led short-term missions trips for 6 years and the Lord opened the door for me to mix both of my passions, missions and teaching. I am now the director of Little Builders Preschool and we will soon be opening a full International K-12 school. The current students are missionary kids but will be open to the local community in the future.

Join me on my adventure and learn what I learn.

As a full-time missionary, I do not receive a traditional pay check. I rely on the generous support of friends, family & people like you. As any teacher does, much of what we use in our school is purchased by me out of my own personal funds. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our ministry and help our students reach their potential in education.