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Montessori Teachers Chatboard

RESEARCH - Divorce - it's impact on policy & the classroom

by Iman

Jul 14, 2012

Greetings! I am a LPC and Assistant Director of a Montessori School in WI. I am conducting a qualitative research study on divorce and it's impact in the classroom and on educational policies. I would like to hear from you how divorce has impacted your school or classroom. What administrative and behavior needs and questions have arose based on div...See More

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Montessori Timeline if life

by Tamiko

Aug 1, 2012

I want to do the timeline with my children next year and I love the rope idea that I have seen, but I can not find the measurements/directions anywhere. Has anybody made this work and are you willing to share the measurements / colors? I need to know how long in total and the lenght of each color. (basically the directions;)I like this version bett...See More

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J Rome On 8/01/12, Tamiko wrote: > I want to do the timeline with my children next year and I > love the rope idea that I have seen, but I can not find the > measurements/directions anywhere. Has anybody made this > work and are you willing to share the measurements / > colors? I need to know how long in total and the lenght of > each co...See More

Nov 24, 2012

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Stretched too thin?

by MM

Aug 4, 2012

I'm currently the Director of a Montessori school, as well as a Primary Head Teacher. We're thinking of adding on another Primary classroom. I'm concerned that I might be stretching myself too thin. I already feel as if there's not enough time in the day. Anyone else juggling two positions like this? (as well as a family, evening class...) Any advi...See More

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Montessori Anon On 8/05/12, MM wrote: > Thank you for your response. It certainly is not what I wanted > to hear, but I did expect it. I taught elementary many moons ago > and would like to get back to that age group. But, I can't do > that without adding a second Primary room, as you mentioned. I > know I'm biting off more than I can chew. Our scho...See MoreOn 8/05/12, MM wrote: > Thank you for your response. It certainly is not what I wanted > to hear, but I did expect it. I taught elementary many moons ago > and would like to get back to that age group. But, I can't do > that without adding a second Primary room, as you mentioned. I > know I'm biting off more than I can chew. Our school is tiny, but > we have a great reputation in the community and the parents are > thrilled with it. I have a great relationship with each and > every one of them, and am also concerned that that will suffer. > So, in short, I can assume expanding will compromise the quality > of the school. But even after this realization, why do I still > want to proceed??? > > My thoughts are if you definitely want to add elementary, then you HAVE to add that second primary. It is very difficult to support a elementary program with only one primary classroom. Even if you do add elementary I would be very surprised if you didn't add the second primary anyway. It makes more sense to get the "cart before the horse"! Parents' expectations/sometime attitudes change when their child reaches elementary age. All of a sudden even with the best parent education classes in the world, some parents just get concerned about things that were not an issue before (talking to parents of the other types of schools, test scores, etc)

I would suggest that you get a definite long term plan in place with all of what that entails on a list ready to cross off. Staff development would be your most crucial aspect as you want the right people in the right places. Cross training would be ideal. Some years enrollment just isn't as high as others and you want to be able to have work for those people you want to keep. You want to have those goals you are ready to work towards long term. If giving up the directorship or being in the classroom is one of them, you can be developing the role to be taken over by someone else. I would think there was no way one could be director of three or more classrooms and still teach. Something would have to give.

I had a very good relationship with the other classroom's parents and students, too. However, it was different in some ways. I didn't feel like I "knew" them in the same way I did with my "own" families. I enrolled them so I knew them, but that day to day interaction wasn't always there. That part I missed most when going "bigger".

The most important thing here is to decide "What do I want?" Are you willing to relinquish "control" of the school and start trusting others to do their part and take over different areas of the school? Do you want to teach elementary and give up the admininistration? Do you want to give up the day to day teaching and be responsible for overseeing the total quality of the school as it grows? I think those of us who love the "little schools" are some of the most perfectionists of perfectionists. The school reflects our labour and we receive kudos and personal satisfaction from those responses in public and from our school families. To grow in ways that you feel the urge to despite the writing on the wall, something has to give. You have to have faith that you will find the right people. One thing you will have to remember is that there is no such thing as a clone of yourself. That sure would make things easier wouldn't it?

Are you considering doing this this year already? I did that once a very long time ago but it was a first classroom in a new town. Decided in July and opened in September. It can be done. You have a lot to think about. Perhaps others will speak up and share their thoughts, too.

Aug 6, 2012

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MM Thanks so much for your time on this. No, I'm not considering this for this school year...I know I wouldn't be able to do that personally. I like to take things on slowly. This would be for next school year.

Yes, I guess you're right that it would be just too much to be the elementary head teacher, as well as the director of a larger schoo...See MoreThanks so much for your time on this. No, I'm not considering this for this school year...I know I wouldn't be able to do that personally. I like to take things on slowly. This would be for next school year.

Yes, I guess you're right that it would be just too much to be the elementary head teacher, as well as the director of a larger school. Has anyone else tried that?

At this point, I would probably choose to be in elementary, even though I love aspects of being the director. I did meet a director once who gave most of her responsibilities to the office administrator so she could return to Primary. I'd never seen her happier. However, she fully trusted the office admin b/c she had been working there for 15 years and knew the place inside and out.

Staffing will be key. I have someone already in mind for the Office admin position, but hoping we can pay her what she needs. I truly am a perfectionist with this school. I spend all of my spare time dedicated to running it, almost like it's a hobby I enjoy. At this point, I just need to buckle down and make the decision. Thanks again, Montessori Anon, for your guidance and experience. Any other thoughts to share???

On 8/06/12, Montessori Anon wrote: > > My thoughts are if you definitely want to add elementary, then you > HAVE to add that second primary. It is very difficult to support a > elementary program with only one primary classroom. Even if you do > add elementary I would be very surprised if you didn't add the > second primary anyway. It makes more sense to get the "cart before > the horse"! Parents' expectations/sometime attitudes change when > their child reaches elementary age. All of a sudden even with the > best parent education classes in the world, some parents just get > concerned about things that were not an issue before (talking to > parents of the other types of schools, test scores, etc) > > I would suggest that you get a definite long term plan in place > with all of what that entails on a list ready to cross off. > Staff development would be your most crucial aspect as you want the > right people in the right places. Cross training would be ideal. > Some years enrollment just isn't as high as others and you want to > be able to have work for those people you want to keep. You want to > have those goals you are ready to work towards long term. If giving > up the directorship or being in the classroom is one of them, you > can be developing the role to be taken over by someone else. I would > think there was no way one could be director of three or more > classrooms and still teach. Something would have to give. > > I had a very good relationship with the other classroom's parents > and students, too. However, it was different in some ways. I didn't > feel like I "knew" them in the same way I did with my "own" > families. I enrolled them so I knew them, but that day to day > interaction wasn't always there. That part I missed most when > going "bigger". > > The most important thing here is to decide "What do I want?" Are you > willing to relinquish "control" of the school and start trusting > others to do their part and take over different areas of the school? > Do you want to teach elementary and give up the admininistration? Do > you want to give up the day to day teaching and be responsible for > overseeing the total quality of the school as it grows? I think > those of us who love the "little schools" are some of the most > perfectionists of perfectionists. The school reflects our labour and > we receive kudos and personal satisfaction from those responses in > public and from our school families. To grow in ways that you feel > the urge to despite the writing on the wall, something has to give. > You have to have faith that you will find the right people. One > thing you will have to remember is that there is no such thing as a > clone of yourself. That sure would make things easier wouldn't it? > > Are you considering doing this this year already? I did that once a > very long time ago but it was a first classroom in a new town. > Decided in July and opened in September. It can be done. You have a > lot to think about. Perhaps others will speak up and share their > thoughts, too. >

Aug 12, 2012

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Own or Lease?

by Julie

Aug 12, 2012

Directors of private schools- Do you own or lease your building? We currently lease and as our lease comes to an end, we've been advised to start looking for a building to own.

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maureen On 8/12/12, Julie wrote: > Directors of private schools- Do you own or lease your > building? We currently lease and as our lease comes to an > end, we've been advised to start looking for a building to > own. I think it depends on a lot of things - relationship with the owners, how long of lease, is the lease good if ownership ends, ex...See MoreOn 8/12/12, Julie wrote: > Directors of private schools- Do you own or lease your > building? We currently lease and as our lease comes to an > end, we've been advised to start looking for a building to > own. I think it depends on a lot of things - relationship with the owners, how long of lease, is the lease good if ownership ends, expansion plans, those kinds of things.

If the school is wanting to exist beyond the years of the owner of the school, I would guess that ownership would be ideal if the right location, affordability, etc became available. Ownership should have involved years of following a business plan,buidling a nest egg, establishing some kind of foundation to fund the purchase - those kinds of things. They took care of snow removal, any electrical, furnace, ac problems. Cosmetic work was on our dime.

We leased long term and although the landlords were good about most things and they allowed us(and in the beginning they paid) to do a ton of adaptions to make it into a school (playground, back door, pave front lot for parking). However, we had some major issues that they never resolved in all those years. They only would do bandaid treatment and the problem would return. We found out towards the end of the lease that the owners had had a falling out with each other and were trying to sell a lot of their properties. We knew that there was always a chance that we could then be asked to leave by a new owner. When our lease was near the end, we asked to get out early according to our schedule and they did with no penalities. We relocated to another location that we owned.

A friend of mine bought her property and just had a one classroom building but she added a small toddler program. This worked well for them except once the recession hit, her enrollment dropped enough to cause her to worry. She says she has 4-5 more years on paying off the mortgage and then she will decide about selling the school. She will be ready to retire by then also. Other friends have leased spaces in churches mainly.

My feeling is that if a school has a plan for expansion it makes sense to make a permanent location decision. For the Mom and Pop type one classroom schools, it makes more sense to go the leasing route unless one doesn't have a firm, supportive landlord.

Aug 12, 2012

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manuals

by atl2013

Aug 18, 2012

I am looking for teacher made manuals. Any leads are appreciated. Thanks

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montessori training

by montessoritx

Aug 21, 2012

Does anybody know if there is a montessori training center in the Waco Texas area? Also does anybody know where I can find a list of montessori school in that area.

Thanks

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Math question - best solution

by CS

Aug 27, 2012

Hello all,

So, if you are about to introduce a child to a material for example, the addition strip board, but he/she can already do basic additions upto 18 visually on paper (like 2+8=10...) quite well, would you still show it?

Some of my kids like this always say, "I already know how to add, so why do I need to do this work?" ...See More

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maureen On 8/27/12, CS wrote: > Hello all, > > So, if you are about to introduce a child to a material for > example, the addition strip board, but he/she can already > do basic additions upto 18 visually on paper (like > 2+8=10...) quite well, would you still show it? > > Some of my kids like this always say, "I already know how &g...See More

Aug 27, 2012

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CS to maureen Excellent. Just what I was contemplating. Thanks. Always helpful Maureen!

On 8/27/12, maureen wrote: > On 8/27/12, CS wrote: >> Hello all, >> >> So, if you are about to introduce a child to a material for >> example, the addition strip board, but he/she can already >> do basic additions upto 18 visually on ...See More

Aug 27, 2012

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Montessori Grammar Materials

by CS

Sep 1, 2012

Hello,

Has anyone ever made their own version of the complete Elementary Grammar set including all the cards for the Grammar Filling Boxes & Grammar command boxes?

I am in dire need and don't have the budget to buy the entire set. Hoping to DIY.

Thanks.

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