A Little Something for the Mind and the Soul plus a Diary Date!
A New Article - Playful Learning and Montessori Education
Dr Angeline Lillard, professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, author of Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, as well as several academic articles on Montessori, and Montessori speaker and advocate, has a new article in the American Journal of Play: Playful Learning and Montessori Education. It’s a must read!
David Ayer on the mariamontessori.com blog gives an excellent summary of the article, he says,
“Because the world of public education depends on academic studies and research, the article has all kinds of implications for the expansion of Montessori [ECE] to many more children. It also offers a lot of theory and data for conversations with curious or skeptical non-academics. This one should be on the coffee table in the admissions office at every Montessori school out there.
I encourage readers to read take the time to read the whole thing. Here’s the executive summary:
- Play, as opposed to didactic learning, is a big deal in the world of Early Child Education.
- Montessori has been generally considered anti-play (when it is considered at all).
- Which seems strange, since freely chosen, open-ended activity is what we do!
- In fact, Montessori has many of the elements identified as part of playful learning (to wit, structure, objects, interactive lessons, free choice, peer interactions, intrinsic rewards, and fun).
- What Montessori doesn’t do is pretend play, such as dress-up, toy kitchens, and fantasy.
- When you look at the research, the evidence for pretend play (as opposed to play in general) isn’t all that strong one way or the other.
- Consequently, we don’t really know if adding pretend play to Montessori environments would help or hurt.
- But we can look to see if the other elements of “playful learning Montessori style” is helpful to children’s learning.
- This can be problematic because Montessori is practiced under a range of interpretations.
- But if we control for certain elements of “high-fidelity” Montessori, we see improved social and cognitive outcomes”
Here’s the link to download the article yourselves http://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/5-2-article-play-learning-and-montessori-education_0.pdf
Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale at the World Science Festival in 2009.
Thanks to Connie Black presenter at the Montessori Aotearoa Conference in April 2013 – we were delighted to this wee gem:
Assistant Certificate Course – April 2014
We promised we’d give you lots of notice for the next Assistant Certificate Course – well here it is!
Tuesday 22nd April – Friday 1st May 2014 (9 days)
Friday 25th April - Anzac Day -& and Sunday 27th April will not be study daysVenue- Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
We are delighted that Philippa Romig AMI 3-6 Auxiliary Trainer will be delivering the course.
Philippa, born in Britain, raised in New Zealand and Australia, discovered Montessori just after completing her BA in California, USA. She spent a year as an assistant in a 6-9 environment before taking the 3 – 6 training course at the Maria Montessori Training Organisation, London.
She worked for many years at the International School of Geneva before starting a small bi-lingual Montessori Children’s House in 1996. This school has recently expanded to take children from 18 months to 6 years of age.
Philippa trained with the Association Montessori Internationale to become a Montessori trainer. She has participated in Montessori training courses in London, Ireland and Geneva.
Philippa and her husband raised their family - and now live - in Switzerland.
She is a board member of the Association Montessori (Suisse) romande et italienne.
Registration forms will be sent to schools later in the year.
Please email mmef@ihug.co.nz with your comments, thoughts and suggestions.
Ka Kite,
Carol, Tia, Anna, Shirley, Lynne
MMEF TRUSTEES
Dr. Adele Diamond to speak at the 2013 International Montessori Congress! 
“ Building the Pink Tower is a feature-length documentary film that opens our eyes to what Montessori education means today. With the help of educators, neuroscientists, families, and children, it answers our most challenging questions about what children need.
We are delighted to announce that the Aid to Life website for parent education is now live. 
Picture this – have a fabulously relaxing Christmas and New Year with family and friends, then re-connect your neural pathways and join the students of the AMI 3-6 Course for a three week introduction to Montessori’s unique yet profound approach to child development. 
These three weeks offer a unique opportunity for Montessori school owners, parents, prospective parents, and ECE teachers working in Montessori environments –everyone, really—to understand the enormous potential of young children. 
Now, for students aiming to make Montessori their career, we remind you that MMEF will hear next week about our application for TEC funding, the success in which will enable you to apply for student loans. A final reminder, therefore: ALL applications for the full AMI 3-6 Course for the next year must be processed by November 30th. Simply text Carol on 021 2601802 and she’ll look out for your application.
We know from the many inquiries we’ve been receiving that there are a number of course applications ‘in process’ – can we ask you to complete your application enclosures and send them to us ASAP! 
coming! As a general response we’re inviting each of you who are even contemplating applying to send in your applications as soon as possible! 
As many of you may well know, the Maria Montessori Education Foundation (that’s us, folks) has gone to considerable lengths establishing a New Zealand AMI Montessori training centre – offering an AMI qualification here at home that is internationally recognised. Our aim, as articulated by many of you, is to continue delivering high quality and a greater choice of Montessori-trained teachers here in New Zealand.
