Screen-Free Week

Editor's Note: This post is authored by S. H., third grader

This week is Screen Free Week.  Screen Free Week is when you don't use screens for fun.  It is a good idea because you don't want to get addicted to T.V.  Also, you need to get exercise.  Last, television isn't good for your brain.

Yesterday, we read two books.  They were Library Lil and Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair.  In both books, they said everybody was watching too much T.V. and they didn't read.  Then a person taught people to read, and the people started to enjoy books.

Ten things to do instead of screens are:
* read a book,
* fly a kite,
* go swimming,
* play board games,
* play on the playground,
* do origami,
* go biking,
* cook,
* play with a pet, or
* garden.

I did Screen Free last night, and I read a book.

Hands-On Night

 

 

Hands-On Night is my favorite kind of school open house.  Parents are guided by children as the children provide them with lessons on our beautiful (and sometimes mysterious-to-parents) Montessori materials.  It's a wonder to watch the children so proudly demonstrating all that they know, along with their blossoming sense of independence and ownership of our classroom.  This is their place, their open house.  I get to step into the background and observe.  The Guide-on-the-side rather than the Sage-on-the-stage. 

This year, I was gratified to have 20 out of my 22 students bring at least one parent!  Many brought two.  The room was filled with self-confident children, teaching their parents what they have learned.

Family Math Night

"What do you do with the Checkerboard?"

"What is the Stamp Game?  Is that playtime for stamp collectors?" 

"Aren't Test Tubes for science?"

Stamp Game

At Family Math Night, all was revealed!
Children gave lessons to their parents on the materials they utilize every day at school to learn and understand math concepts.

It is such a gift to watch children confidently collect the necessary materials from the shelf and teach their parents how to use them.  It is perhaps my favorite family event.  What better "assessment" of a child's understanding than to observe him explain to his father how the Checkerboard is used and for what purpose?  I love it most when the adults "get it" and begin to develop appreciation for the brilliance of Maria Montessori's math materials.  "Oh, wow!  How cool!  I wish I had this when I was a kid!"

Large Bead Frame

Even more gratifying, I had the pleasure of watching two sets of older siblings (now in middle and high school) receive lessons on materials they used several years ago as students in my class at my previous school.  Their younger brother and sister have returned to me in my new class across town!  What fun!  This is one of the many wonders of Montessori--the opportunity to play an enduring role in a family's education, to build trust and share joy as a series of siblings cycle through the same classroom over a period of years.  Losing that deep sense of community was one of the things that saddened me most when the program at my previous school closed and I began again in a new place.

Checker Board

In a year of remarkable drought and a swiftly evaporating education budget in Texas (not exactly what Pink Floyd meant by "We don't need no education"), our school was awarded a Federal Magnet Schools Assistance Grant to extend our Montessori program to the whole school.  While we wonder, "Will there be enough copy paper to last until the end of the school year?" trucks are rolling up with boxes upon boxes of beautiful Montessori materials and furniture.  We are growing by leaps and bounds!  I am now on a team of eight Lower Elementary Montessori teachers, five of whom were gifted with funding to begin Montessori elementary training over the summer.  Part of our agreement for the grant is that 80% of parents will participate in six or more family education events at the school.  Thank you to all of the families who invested an evening of their time in their children's education and, in the process, helped support funding for our school.