Virtual Montessori in the time of Covid-19

Several Montessori Institute of America schools in the Philippines came together to innovate and support one another, as education moved from the classroom onto online platforms. This is a guest blog by Michelle Ulgasan.

Montessori Outdoor Science School 2019 (MOSS) Day Five

Well, today the rain that was forecast for the whole week finally came! We only ventured out to complete our weather forecast. And our young scientists predicted the weather accurately. “Well, the sky is covered by a heavy blanket of grey cloud – nimbostratus clouds – that means continuous rain.” “And there is almost no

Learning about the Brain

Our school is so lucky to be in a small college town.  Many of our parents work at the university, and are involved in research.  This allows us to have very interesting presentations by experts to enrich the curriculum. So far this year we have had a presentation by a Mom who worked at NASA

Montessori Outdoor Science School Day Four ~ Presenting our inquiry projects

Yesterday afternoon each group chose a topic they wanted to explore more and designed an inquiry project to answer a question.  This morning, each group worked hard to find ways to communicate their project and findings to the other groups and their parents.  The three groups of first-third graders incorporated the scientific method, and used

Montessori Outdoor Science School Day Three ~aquatic ecosystems, plus the scientific method

Welcome to our outdoor classroom, day three! This morning we were all about the river!  I love it when children make connections.  When one of our educators mentioned aquatic ecosystems, one of our kindergarteners piped up, “Oh, like our aquatic center, where we swim.  It’s water!” Activities this morning included testing water quality using technology

Montessori Outdoor Science School Day 2 ~ Ecosystem day at Kamiak Butte State Park

  Welcome to our outdoor classroom, day two!  We hiked the Pine Ridge Trail at Kamiak Butte County Park, and focused on comparing ecosystems.   The south facing slope of Kamiak Butte is sunny, open, and at this time of year covered with wildflowers.  I chaperoned the kindergarten group today, and we learned to identify

Montessori Outdoor Science School 2018 Day One ~ Decomposition!

First of all, many thanks to all of our family members, friends, neighbors, former families, current families and community members for supporting our Montessori Outdoor Science School this year.  Your donations helped to pay for four science educators from the McCall Outdoor Science School to visit our school for five days and lead small group,

“Sticks and Stones may Break My Bones, But Words Can Never Hurt Me!”

How many of us learned the above rhyme as a child, and how many of us still believe it is true?  For many of us, it is the names we were called that have caused us long-lasting hurt. In the Children’s House, we focus on simple lessons of grace and courtesy and a safe place

Out and about – all day field trips

This is an experiment.  I am wondering if I can link a facebook blast of photos to my blog, so that family and friends and parents not on facebook can get a glimpse into the wonderful days of our students at school ~ or not at school, as in this case.  Today we spent an

Outdoor Science School ~ day four. Inquiry projects

Today we returned to Sunnyside Park for our final day of our outdoor science school, and focused on inquiry projects.  The children divided into two groups the day before, and thought about what they were most interested in studying.  One group chose birds, and the other group chose more hunting for aquatic macro invertebrates ~