 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Page 6
MPA Newsletter / February 2004
Over the past 2 1/2 years, we have been so impressed with
both the CK Montessori program as well as our 9 yr. old's
amazing academic progress. This program provides a won-
derful opportunity for parents who want their children to be
encouraged to soar academically and not be forced to work at
the "group pace". Our other children were in accelerated
programs which required entrance testing. CK Montessori
provides so many of the same accelerated benefits without
the testing.
We had never had any Montessori experience prior to our
daughter's 1s grade year at Tracyton (i.e. no pre-schools,
LETTERS FROM OUR PARENTS
Greetings friends, it certainly has been a time for evaluation,
reflection and decision. Therefore I digress from the normal
Montessori study and attempt a rallying cry. Allow this
statement to stir your hearts, "If a man is called to be a street
sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo
painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare
wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the
host of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great
street sweeper who did his job well." -Martin Luther King Jr.
Lets ask ourselves, have we done our job well? Yes, we have.
Will we continue to do our best for all children? Absolutely.
Shall we throw our hands in the air and toss our peace out
the window from one setback? No way. This is an opportu-
nity for growth. A way to bind together and remember why
we find this way of teaching as a powerhouse for education.
The decision here is to nonviolently, patiently, cautiously toe
the line and remember why we believe in this methodology.
It works!
Furthermore, we must not assume everyone understands the
message of Montessori. It is time to return to the beginning
and review the essential language of this philosophy.
Thereby, reintroducing the sublime language of love that is
inherent in our classrooms.
We must understand certain key pieces that Ms. Montessori
had stood for: Piece 1: "I have studied the child. I have
taken what the child has given me and expressed it and
that is what is called the Montessori method." "Taken
what the child has given me and expressed it", therefore the
Montessori method is student centered. This is the reason why
many classes could appear to be in disarray to the untrained
eye. Having the student be the center can be challenging.
Finally, my friends, we will remember the term "student-
centered" and build upon this base. I thank all the staff at
Tracyton for persevering, they are a truly "job well done"
group of people. We shall overcome!
—Sincerely, Douglas L. Engebretson
homework because she has spent extra class time working on
a poem or research project with one or two friends. We
NEVER had to "nag" or even prompt her to finish her work.
Completing that "job sheet" was a challenge she loved. As
the years go by, and the work gets harder, she may not al-
ways complete every item each week, but she works very
hard to do so, AND - she is learning !
One of the strongest aspects of this program is the dedica-
tion this group of wonderful teachers has to keeping the chil-
dren progressing at their own rate. It is common for these
children to be placed 1, 2, or more years ahead of their grade
level in reading or math or both.
Another real strength the CK program has is the large group
of extremely dedicated parents who commute many miles
from neighboring districts. These parents are willing to sac-
rifice much time and gas to bring their children to Tracyton
because of this excellent program. We in CK benefit greatly
from both these very bright students and from their ex-
tremely devoted parents who often are some of the most in-
volved parent volunteers for all of our children. In many
cases, Montessori parents have sacrificed second incomes
just to have their children in this program. How fortunate
we are to have one of the VERY few public Montessori
schools in this district since private schools are completely
out of the question for most of us.
We would highly recommend the CK Montessori program
to parents who seek for their children an exciting, non-
traditional classroom experience with outstanding acceler-
ated, academic content. Our third grader now wants
to know where she can find a Montessori university!!!
—Richard and Rhonda Jaramillo
etc.). We knew nothing about Montessori classrooms.
The first few weeks of that year were "interesting" as we
kept receiving lists of incomplete assignments on Fri.'s. The
entire week's assignments were "prescribed" for each individ-
ual child on Monday. It was the child's responsibility to
budget and manage their time wisely over the 5 day period
to complete the list. Sure !!? Guess what - IT WORKED ! By
the middle of October, she was completing everything !! Of-
ten, she would bring home a few tasks for her self-assigned
Rhonda Jaramillo and daughter Mikki
 |