Montessori Matters

Years ago, when I did tours around our campus, I always enjoyed taking a new family through and hearing them exclaim – “How wonderfully quiet and busy the children are but... where is the teacher?” (The teacher was on the floor behind a shelf giving three children a lesson on the golden beads. Her assistant was up and moving around overseeing the rest of the busyness. Cardinal rule in our classrooms: one up, one down – translated to say – when lead teacher is down giving a lesson on the floor, the assistant is always up where the children can see her at any given moment of need.)

This was a perfect opening to explain how Montessori is so different than many traditional classrooms. Chances are you and I grew up in a traditional school setting where teachers stood at the head of the class giving instruction and walked up and down the aisles making sure we were paying attention or on the right page. Things have changed a good bit since then – in all schools -- but still many classrooms are “governed” by the syllabus of the teacher, principal, district, school board, and state.

Don’t get me wrong: there are Montessori standards, syllabi, curriculum guides, Common Core correlation, sequence of instruction, even standardized testing during the elementary years and above. (MSA’s testing policy is for another MM issue).

But who knew? Children really love to be involved with meaningful work, projects, and research – much of which is self-initiated. Overheard recently, a conversation between two high schoolers: “I remember the days when I would become completely absorbed in some research project or piece of work. I sometimes still feel that excitement, but I also know I am now working for the grades and to get into a good college.”

What we know having watched many mature into their adult lives is that exposure at a young age to being a “joyful scholar” will come back because it has become internalized.

Ahhh, to work because the work itself is self-refreshing.

- Karen Holt

MSA Founder

March 11 - 21 - MAP testing

March 17 - MSA Open House, 1-4PM

March 19 - Third quarter ends

March 22 - Teacher professional development day

March 25-29 - Spring parent conferences

March 30 - Spring Benefit at 6:30PM at the T. Ed Garrison Event Center

The MSA Spring Benefit will take place at 6:30PM on March 30 at the T. Ed Garrison Arena. Tickets admit two and provide one entry into the $10,000.00 drawing and can be purchased at the MSA front desk for $150. The event is for ages 21 and older. There are games, heavy hors d'oeuvres, dancing, silent and live auctions, and a cash bar.

The Spring Benefit is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and all proceeds raised by the event support our financial assistance program. Former student Alicia Staggers helps sell Spring Benefit tickets to community members each year and had this to say about her willingness to help out:

"I'm so happy to help anytime. MSA helped make me the woman I am today and is so dear to my heart."

Please help support the MSA financial assistance program by purchasing a ticket and by inviting family, friends, and neighbors to attend. Call the MSA front office at 864-226-5344 if you would like additional information.

Monday’s traditional flag ceremony also included a Peace Walk. It was the kick-off for Montessori week at school. One child takes the hand of another and they walk mindfully around the inner circle. Each step plants a “seed of peace” while Thích Nhat Hahn’s poem is read: “Take my hand. We will walk. We will only walk...”

At the start of the HS MAPS (Mentors for Academic and Personal Success, our mentorship program in the High School) meeting on Friday afternoon, a Jostens representative gave our juniors information about the MSA class rings that will be available for purchase and provided a sample ring for them to view.

Upper Elementary students have been researching volcanoes in science class over the past few weeks. They began exploring the topic by learning about volcanoes and whether or not one could erupt in their backyard. They then mapped the Ring of Fire, a ring-shaped area surrounding the Pacific basin that is the location of many earthquakes, volcanoes, and tectonic plate boundaries. As part of their research, they divided into groups with each group choosing and researching one particular volcano from around the world and constructing a model volcano designed to erupt. This Friday afternoon, each group took turns creating volcano eruptions using a variety of trigger mechanisms.

After the class ring presentation during this week's MAPS meeting, three of our High School students presented their internship experiences from the beginning of the quarter to their peers. The High School students have had a wide range of internship opportunities; of the three that presented this week, one interned with a graphics designer at Clemson, another with a Japanese professor at Clemson, and another interned with Molly Moorhead in the Lower Elementary classroom at MSA. The students got an in-depth look at the career opportunity of their choice, and all of the students received valuable information about the other students' choices through the subsequent presentations.

Lower Elementary students are always excited to read with the Middle School students who come as part of their weekly community service. Our middle schoolers captured these photos of the students reading this week.

Students in Middle School Biology learned the evolutionary advantages of opposable thumbs in a hands-on activity this week by attempting to tie shoes and fasten buttons without using their thumbs and comparing the time and difficulty to doing the same tasks with the use of their thumbs.

Students in LEGO Club have decided to transition the club into a more general Technology Club, so they have been developing their skills at a variety of technologies (still including LEGO robotics) and working on a potential upcoming fundraiser gathering opportunity.

In Cub Scouts this week, the Scouts learned how to encode messages using hieroglyphics.

MSA artwork was on display at the Anderson Arts Center alongside art from schools throughout Anderson County. There were many wonderful individual pieces of MSA High School students' work as well as the mural from the front office and two of the three abstract murals from the Middle School. Freshman Sarah Landre and sophomore Emily Hiebel received honorable mentions for their submissions.

Precipitation fell from the sky in sixteen of the twenty-eight days this February in Anderson, adding up to 1.18 inches over the monthly average rainfall for February. With the wet month, students and teachers found creative ways to release pent-up energy indoors during recess, including using the LEGO table in the Middle School as a makeshift ping pong table for Middle School and High School students and even one infant.

Upper Elementary had indoor PE this week and played a game called Fitivities, which is like Monopoly except every spot on the board has a workout for you and your team to perform upon landing on it. The students had a good time staying fit despite the rainy day outside. Thanks to sophomores Teagan Gordon and Emma O'Brien for photographing the activities.

Nurse Merriman arranged for our High School students to participate in a distracted driving course this week at Concord Baptist Church in which students learned the dangers of distracted and impaired driving.

Special thanks to junior Abby Keenan for capturing these great moments!

Special thank you to our Spring Benefit Sponsor of the Week, Cromer Food Services, Inc.!

Our mission is to nurture the whole child, physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually, preparing students for academic excellence, lifelong learning and responsible, caring lives.

Email: mdabney@msasc.org
Website: msasc.org
Location: 280 Sam McGee Road, Anderson, SC, USA
Phone: 864-226-5344
Facebook: http://facebook.com/MontessoriSchoolofAnderson