The Blog of Tuckahoe Montessori School
Contributed by Shelby Driskill, TMS Great Books teacher (Elementary) Early in the school year, a story in the New York Times Magazine caught my attention: “Steve Jobs Was a Low-Tech Parent.” In response to some criticisms he had raised about the new iPad, the author, tech journalist Nick Bilton, received one of Jobs’ hard-hitting phone calls. “So, your kids must love the …
Contributed by TMS Studio Teacher, Julia Schneider The studio has been buzzing with creativity this fall as our Primary students make new art projects each week. The primary students have taken on a combination of product-focused and process-focused work. Though as I’m sure most of you will agree, at this age: PROCESS RULES! Here’s why…. Through process oriented art our young …
Contributed by TMS Assistant Teacher, Danielle Hines Parents often hear the phrase, “I can do it myself,” coming from their little ones and still may want to take the reigns on the situation. One of the most beautiful things about the Montessori philosophy is that it fosters a child’s independence by encouraging adults to help a child do it herself. Maria Montessori saw …
A significant part of the Primary day at Tuckahoe Montessori is devoted to learning how to take care of our environment and ourselves. In the classroom all the children are responsible for keeping the space beautiful. Supplies such as towels, sponges, brooms, and vacuums are always available for students to use during the day. They really enjoy keeping the room clean and …
One day in Rome, over a hundred years ago, Maria Montessori brought a sleeping four month old infant into a classroom. When all the children had gathered around her, Montessori pointed out the stillness of the child as it slept. After drawing the children’s attention to this stillness, she offered a challenge to the young students: could they make themselves …
We are just a few weeks away from the official start of spring (current weather conditions notwithstanding), and classroom conversations are turning to the many things we can grow — in paper cups, pots — in gardens large and small. Gardening is a simple, beautiful way that children can experience change. The garden slows us all down; we notice the …
Every month or two, we look through the Scholastic flyers and highlight a few titles. Here are some excerpts from our recent recommendations… A TMS teacher, passing by the library shelves, spotted the same book of Mother Goose rhymes that she had as a small child. She stopped, took it down gently, and smiled as she turned the pages. …
As they reach comfort with themselves and the classroom, students of all ages achieve what Maria Montessori referred to as “normalization.” In a 2006 lecture, Dr. Rita Shaefer Zener described normalization in a way that parents find particularly accessible. There are many personality types, of course. However, when children enter the process of normalization the same characteristics appear… love of work, …
What a wonderful start to the new school year! The classrooms are so busy with activity. The students’ maturity, independence, and curiosity grows with each day. One of the keys to this success in the classroom is the freedom that a dependable routine offers the children. To some, this seems counterintuitive. Freedom… through routine? But that is precisely what Maria Montessori understood over a century …
Our school garden continues to flourish as September has brought a return of more typical hot weather. We have some new visitors as well. The teachers discovered four beautiful caterpillars on the carrot plants. Many of the Primary students have had time to observe them on the stalks and their questions have been wonderful! Of course, everyone wanted to know, …
