NHMA Meetings
New Hampshire teachers meet for theme-based discussions, visit various New Hampshire Montessori classrooms and schools and attend workshops for state required credits with certified professionals. We had our first conference in the summer of 2006 with a Montessori trainer who gave a overview and review of the Montessori math materials. We have had quarterly meetings and workshops since that time at various members' schools.
August 2010 Meeting:
Saturday, August 28 at Bedford Montessori
9:00-11:00 Classroom Spanish with Rosa Yuri-Luna. Two hours of workshop credits.
11:30-1:30 Classroom Yoga with Jackie O'Hara. Two hours of workshop credits.
1:45 NHMA meeting:
A. Share plans to celebrate International Day of Peace.
B. Discuss NHMA sponsorship announcements on NHPR.
C. Renew and get new memberships.
D. Continue discussion of state recognition of Montessori training for credentialing.
E. Plan next meeting.
May 2010 Meeting Notes:
NHMA Meeting Notes
May 1, 2010
Green Valley Montessori School
Pembroke NH
THANK YOU Wanda and Ursula for hosting the meeting! And to Gail for the wonderful blueberry coffee cake and fruit.
Attending were Chris Brown, Gail Bannon, Juliet Flesicher, Claire Doody, Sandi Lively, Wanda Nichols, Donna Compagna, Ursula Askins-Huber, Carolyn Alegaily, Laura Mammarelli
PRESENTATION
A. We began with a remote presentation from Dave Rabkin of Montessori Records Xpress, an electronic observation and record keeping system.
MRX is a web based system that allows teachers to create a list of students and lessons specific to their class, record presentations and competence levels almost as they happen in real time, plan subsequent presentations and group lessons, and create parent conference reports as needed. Email communication is facilitated, and there is the potential to communicate with other teachers about Montessori concepts and presentations. Because it is online, the subscriber does not need to host, back up, update or manage security. An internet connection is required. It is compatible with pcs and macs, but not iPhones or iPads at this time. Dave is expecting MRX to work with Android soon.
B. Wikisori.org is an online album-a resource with shared information about Montessori materials.
C. Dave is creating a second online product, intended to be ready over the summer, which will provide parents access to information and videos.
D. To learn more:
www.montessorirecordsxpress.com
drabkin@montessorirecordsxpress.com
1-847-395-7361
MEETING
1. We reviewed the work of the website committee, and planned four meetings for the next year, to be coordinated by Wanda. At the August meeting we will begin to renew and add new school memberships. We planned the statewide open house for January 30, 2011 to February 5, 2011, with Donna coordinating, and we will discuss promoting the event in August.
2. The year long schedule will be as above, with three workshops and the annual meeting every spring. Schools had success with International Peace Day in September, and plan to make it an annual event. Donna will write a generic press release for schools to use to share their celebrations with their communities. In August we can share planning with other programs.
3. We discussed recognition of Montessori training in NH credentialing. I will summarize very briefly here, for a better introduction, please see Donna’s note in the agenda. Some other states have made some progress on this topic. To pursue this we need to talk with training programs, other states, accredited colleges that recognize Montessori training and possibly contact AMS, although it would be difficult for a national organization to help on the state level. We want more information in order to make a decision about how to proceed. We also would need to circulate petitions with signatures of teachers, administrators, parents and members of the community to show broad support for this initiative. We also want to work on this issue at the best time. Below is a description of a session from the AMS meeting on the topic.
AMS and Public Policy: What’s Happening and How to Get Involved
Rebecca D'Neil Duffy , Michelle Hammons
Join the chairs of the AMS Public Policy Committee for updates on current policy topics, including what’s happening with Pre-K Now and the push for states to recognize Montessori teacher education credentials, and learn how you can get involved with the important work of championing Montessori education. Bring your questions, ideas, and enthusiasm! (ALL)
Please watch for an email announcement for our next meeting. It will be in August in Bedford, with the topic and date to be announced.
Thanks,
laura
Topic: Montessori Records Xpress remote presentation by Dave Rabkin, developer and owner. This is a commercial product which he wants to share with schools. Several schools are happy with this system. And we hope it will complement the recordkeeping information we learned at the last presentation.
A business meeting for NHMA will follow the presentation, at 12:00.
When: Saturday, May 1 at 10:00.
Where: Green Valley School, 389 Pembroke Street, Pembroke NH 03275. Wanda Nichols, 485-8550
Cost: No cost and no training credits for this presentation.
Questions: Email laura at lauram9@roadrunner.com.
PLEASE JOIN US!
February 2010 Meeting
Observations and Recording from the Reggio Emilia perspective in a Montessori Classroom
Presented by Gina Tsizik and Maria Bereket, February 7, 2010 at Merrimack Valley Montessori School in Salem. Thank you to Chris Brown and staff for hosting at their beautiful school.
Thank you also to everyone who made time to attend on a busy Sunday. It was great to come together, and share this wonderful information. Good food, too!Gina gave some background on the Reggio Emilia philosophy that she observed the programs in Italy and from her experience in the US. She presented documentation boards, beautifully executed boards with photos and text. These boards are used in many ways: to introduce teachers to the school community, to present projects the children are doing or to share information about any aspect of your school with parents. Using knowledge of marketing and good design, schools can communicate important information about their programs with a minimum of words, and powerful photos. Beautiful, careful presentation shows families the professionalism and care for every small thing that characterizes Montessori programs. Gina and Maria emphasized that not enough is done to communicate to families and communities the wonderful experiences and learning that happen in the Montessori classroom.
Gina described some techniques for facilitating classroom observations. She keeps baskets with pencils, paper, and cameras accessible around the classroom. Teachers can easily make notes of children's conversations and work, and later transfer the information to a file or folder to keep records of each child and to share with parents. One teacher uses the information to make power point presentations for each child at conference time. Gina has left tape recorders on tables to record conversations between children when the teacher is elsewhere in the room. She also has used these records to make a Daily Page to send home every day, or send out with email, with a photo, child's art, and a paragraph about the day. The pages can be collected to create a journal of the year.
Children also document their work, using cameras and computers, and review their own planning and process as they complete a unit, or a creative project.
Two resources Gina recommended are:
Learning Together with Young Children byDeb Curtis and Margie Carter, and
An American Teacher's Guide to Reggio Emilia
Maria Bereket introduced some guidelines for good design, so the materials we share, as Montessori programs, reflect the high quality of our schools.
Good Design concepts:
1. Contrast is the most important visual attraction.
2. Repetition is what organizes and strengthens the unity.
3. Alignment creates a clean, sophisticated look.
4. Proximity helps to organize information.
(from The Non-Designer's Design Book, Robin Williams, Peachpit Press
October 2009 Meeting
iNHMA Meeting Notes October 17, 2009 Southern NH Montessori Academy
We met this time at Green Valley School, in Pembroke. Wanda Nichols was our gracious host and she and her staff provided excellent facilities for both the workshop and the meeting that followed. We had 18 members attending and everyone reported being pleased they came. We are not only becoming a group that helps and supports each other, but one that can work together surprisingly well, in spite of being a relatively new organization.
The workshop topic was natural playgrounds and was presented by Ron King. He provided us with an overview of why natural playgrounds are more meaningful and enjoyable for children, and then showed a variety of ways to achieve the various elements that should be present. He also offers a consultation service as well as construction itself and his website, www.naturalplaygrounds.com, offers a wealth of information.
Our meeting afterwards started with a reminder to all members that NHMA membership dues for 2008-09 need to be paid by October 1st, 2008. Rates are $15.00/individual, $25.00/small school, $50.00/large school (schools decide their relative size themselves!). Checks can be mailed to Erin Woo (treasurer) 2445 Main St, Bethlehem, NH 03574.
We followed with an exchange of ideas for retaining kindergarten children, when the school is competing with public programs. Many schools find that they have high retention rates, especially if they offer full-day programs and more diverse and extensive activities than the public programs provide.
And we actually planned a retreat for teachers! It is being generously hosted by Juliet Fleischer, at Mountain View Montessori in North Conway, and a number of our members volunteered to help organize and contribute to the running of the event. It will be our next meeting and will be a weekend event, Friday night to Sunday morning, October 17/18/19.
Meg Jones has agreed to coordinate the event and activities and she may be reached at msmonti@sprintmail.com or 532-6481. Although we are unsure how many members would want to attend, Juliet’s site can probably accommodate 15-20 people comfortably. However, here is also the possibility of B&B accommodations nearby, if we need more room. More information will be emailed to members soon.
Claire Doody, of Country Village Montessori, in Nashua, NH was our host and we had a record 18 members attend. After a short heads of school pre-meeting, we covered the usual business of treasurer and membership reports and an update on the progress of the website.
Then we chatted about the Statewide Open House week that we all took part in. There was a general consensus that we had found it valuable in a variety of ways, both to raise awareness of our schools in our local community, but also to use it as a vehicle to promote Montessori philosophy and ideals. Many schools linked it to another activity, such as showing the AMS Peace video, or running a children’s art show or a book fair. Mountain View Montessori let the children run the tours! It was agreed that we will repeat the Open House idea next April.
Health insurance is a topic that causes much discussion in our small schools. Although it would be wonderful to provide it, it appears that as an organization, we are unable to improve on the “buying power” that the New England Businessmen’s Association or other such entities, can offer. Some of our schools are already getting a relatively fair rate from them, with a low yearly membership fee.
And we ended with a discussion on future offerings at our meetings. Currently we meet 4 times a year, and we picked a workshop topic for the August meeting. We are hoping to invite a speaker on outdoor play and design of playgrounds, which was inspired by some of our members having read Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv. A teachers’ retreat isi also still possibly on the cards as well, maybe in February.
Next meeting is planned for August 9th at Green Valley Montessori, in Pembroke, NH. Time: 10 AM. Host: Wanda Nichols
The New Hampshire Montessori Association met Saturday, February 9, 2008 at the Newport Montessori School in Newport. Teachers from all over the state came together to see this new facility and to discuss topics in Montessori education in NH.
Christy Whipple, NMS founder and owner, introduced herself to the group and described the program and plans for expansion. NMS has two preschool-kindergarten programs, and will add an elementary class in fall 2008. Plans are in place to expand the building as needed for the growth of the elementary levels.
We have a web site in place for NHMA. We will expand the website with an introduction to Montessori, meeting summaries, teacher-to-teacher resource information and photos of children from programs around the state. In the future we will add information for parents, job postings and communication for teachers, heads of schools and parents.
In April, from the 1st to the 6th, we will have a statewide open house. Individual schools will hold events, inviting anyone interested to learn about Montessori. Schools that are planning events include Bedford Montessori, Bedford, Merrimack Valley Montessori, Salem, Country Village Montessori, Amherst, White Pines Montessori, Bethlehem, Newport Montessori, Newport, Claremont Montessori, Claremont and Montessori Children's School, Concord. The events will be promoted in local newspapers and other news outlets.
Our next meeting is planned for Saturday, May 10 at the Country Village Montessori School in Amherst.
Submitted by Laura Mammarelli