CLOCK HOURS FOR PNMA EVENTS

PNMA events for Winter and Spring 2008 have been submitted for approval for Clock Hour credit to our WA State Certified teachers who attend. Our pathway is to 24/7ed, the on-line professional development site for the Washington Federation of Independent Schools. When we receive WFIS approval the events will have this noted on the website announcements at www.pnma.org Teachers will find details in the workshop descriptions and be able to get your clock hour credits at  www.my247ed.com

PNMA SPRING SHARING FAIR 2008
Date: Saturday, April 12
Location: Graham Hill Elementary School, 5149 S. Graham Street, Seattle, 98118
4 S.T.A.R.S hours or Clock Hours + 1 hour for presenters of lessons
Content: A tour of Pre-Primary and Elementary Montessori classrooms in a school recognized in 2007 as a School of Achievement by the Seattle School District.  On display will be lessons created by teachers and the shared lesson plans.  Bring your camera and colleagues. 
Vendors of school materials and services will be on hand and there will be a door prize drawing for their donated items.
Buffet luncheon will be served.

PNMA SCHOOLS AT EDUCATION FAIRS
Parents are attending fairs for local resources and finding a booth for PNMA schools. I am bringing the Montessori school information to these booths and recruiting volunteers to help convey our school resources to parents. We represent all our members’ schools by referring parents to our website and using our directory to guide their search. Also we have a collection of school brochures for them to select. This collection needs updating and I invite any member who represents a school to send a packet of 10 current brochures to: Dee Hirsch c/o Discovery Montessori School, 2836 34th Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98199.

PNMA thanks Anne Marie Ryan, Anastasia Samuelson, & Gail Longo for sharing their time and themselves at the Parent Map Private School Fair in Bellevue and the Seattle’s Child Early Education and Enrichment Fair in Seattle. Additional volunteers may contact me via discoveryschool@msn.com We will be able to extend our attendance to fairs in other locations with the help of volunteers in new areas.
Upcoming events for the PNMA Booth include:
Parent Map Preschool Preview Nights, see info at   www.parentmap.com
January 15, 2008; 5:30 to 8:00 at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue
January 22, 2008; 5:30 to 8:00 at the North Seattle Community College
Infant & Early Childhood Conference, see info at  www.ieccwa.org
May 8 & 9, 2008 at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue

The New School Foundation has secured an agreement with SPS to continue the Montessori program through the 5th grade at TT Minor Elementary on Capital Hill.

The program began as a single classroom in MLK Elementary after months of negotiation, community meetings, and parent support. A year after the first classroom began, the district closed MLK and the Montessori program moved to TT Minor where it was almost assured to fail. Thankfully, the new principle at TT Minor, Laura Davis, is supportive and committed to having Public Montessori available to central area parents. Friends of TT Minor is a community based group of former MLK parents, community members, and interested parents who support the expansion of Montessori at TT Minor and have been vocal supporters for the program since the beginning.

As the Montessori classroom at TT Minor flourished, The New School Foundation became involved in advocating for the existing program and approached the district about extending the Montessori option to the fifth grade. Thanks to their influence and work, the district has agreed to their proposal.

At TT Minor, the Montessori classroom is thriving with a wait list of families who want their children placed. Thanks to the skill and care of Anna Savage, a veteran Montessori Elementary teacher, this program is getting the attention of community members, parents, and district representatives. The district is currently looking for another Montessori teacher to help Anna, and the plan is to raise enough funds to add another K 1-2 classroom. Each year more grades will be added until there is at least one classroom through fifth grade.

The existing pre-k program, since 1998, is currently tuition based with some subsidy, but like Bagley Elementary, it is not nearly enough. Graham Hill does not have an on site pre-k program. The New School Foundation is seeking support from the Washington Women’s Foundation and is hoping to use their help in providing tuition assistance to more low income families for the pre-K, as well as classroom set-up costs. The goal is to have a healthy mix of diversity, including economic diversity in the pre-K to feed into the elementary program.

The task at hand is funding. The district OK’d the expansion but is providing no funding. The New School Foundation has submitted a proposal to the district for a magnet school grant. They are not sure this will work. They continue to look for other sources of funding. There is hope that The New School Foundation will find a way to grow Montessori and enhance the learning opportunities that already exist at TT Minor.

For more information you can contact Nancy Hopkins with The New School Foundation at  206-407-2154. You can also contact Anastasia Samuelsen at  206.324.4788.

After reading the book by Dr. Kozol and I was struck by the attitude of entitlement, compartmentalization and lack of ownership that is pervasive in every school and situation he describes. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Why is it always someone else’s fault? How can people be so accepting and adaptable that they allow these situations to exist and continue to exist.

In my experience every situation has a solution. By being resourceful and remembering the goal of education is to give our children the skills to live in today’s world. That does not just mean academic skills but life skills to be able to create beautiful homes and have loving relationships and make wise decisions. The children need to be able to change the “ghetto” environments into functioning communities. Schools need to teach the whole child.

There is so much research out there that about educational methods that it is a bit confusing and often overwhelming. I believe one on the basic models that seems to simplify and work is Maslow’s Heirachy of Needs.

“Abraham Maslow is known for establishing the theory of a heirachy of needs, writing that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs, and that certain lower needs need to be satisfied before higher needs can be satisfied. Maslow studied exemplary people such as Albert Einstein, Jane Adams and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Physiological Needs
Physiological needs are the very basic needs such as air, water, food, sleep, sex, etc. When these needs are not satisfied, we may feel sickness, irritation, pain, discomfort, etc. These feelings motivate to alleviate them as soon as possible to establish homeostasis. Once they are alleviated, we may think about other things.

Safety Needs
Safety needs have to do with establishing stability and consistency in a chaotic world. These needs are mostly psychological in nature. We need the security of a home and family. However if a family is dysfunctional, i.e., an abusive husband, the wife cannot move to the next level because she is constantly concerned for her safety. Love and belongingness have to wait until she is no longer cringing in fear. Many in our society cry out for law and order because they do not feel safe enough to go for a walk in their neighborhood. Many people, particularly those in the inner cities, unfortunately, are stuck at this level. In addition, safety needs sometimes motivate people to be religious. Religions comfort us with the promise of a safe and secure place after we die and leave the insecurity of this world.

Love Needs
Love and belongingness are next on the ladder. Humans have a desire to belong to groups: clubs, work groups, religious groups, family, gangs, etc. We need to feel loved (non-sexual) by others, to be accepted by others. Performers appreciate applause. We need to be needed. Beer commercials, in addition to playing on sex, also often show how beer makes for camaraderie. When was the last time you saw a beer commercial with someone drinking alone?

Esteem Needs
There are two types of esteem needs. First is self-esteem, which results from competence or mastery of a task. Second, there’s the attention and recognition that comes from others. This is similar to the belongingness level; however, wanting admiration has to do with the need for power. People who have all of their lower needs satisfied often drive very expensive cars because doing so raises their level of esteem. ‘Hey, peon look what I can Afford!’

Self-Actualization
The need for self-actualization is ‘the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming.’ People who have everything can maximize their potential. They can seek knowledge, peace, esthetic experiences, self-fulfillment, oneness with God, etc.”

(From Model Curriculum for 20 Hour Basic Training STARS Training in Washington State)

The major flaw in Kozol’s work seems to be that he forgets that the people that are self-actualized and creating great learning environments for their kids do so because they take responsibility. They do not feel entitled to getting a good education; they know they need to be proactive to get it. They realize that our under-funded schools need cash inputs and community support to thrive. They recognize they need to be active in the PTA and give feedback to the school to keep quality programs. They support their kids with their time and money. They do not compartmentalize and accept whatever is offered but insist that great programs are available. These families become a part of the school community. They take ownership and the schools are shining examples of what is possible.

Kozol does describe in detail the failure of many schools to be successful. He is detailed and accurate in his depiction. What he highlights is children who come to school not ready to learn. But why aren’t they ready? Why are their basic needs especially physiological and safety needs not being addressed? Until those needs are met, there is little chance they have the ability to learn or study. Kozol describes elaborate attempts at schools to force feed drills or mandated tests to create learning. What a waste of time and money. These children are not capable of learning until there basic needs are met. So what can be done?

One model of education was created to help poor street children in Italy become successful and reach their potential and become self-actualized. A scientist, Maria Montessori, studied these children and came up with a method of education that has at its basic core to “follow the child”. She believed one began with where the child was and allowed the child to choose what they wanted to learn. The teacher facilitated the child’s learning and helped interact successfully with their environment. The “Children’s House” was a safe place for children to learn. Dr. Montessori taught the children practical life skills to be capable; dusting, sweeping, scrubbing, window washing, painting, gardening, sewing, and dressing skills were an integral part of the curriculum. She believed that learning consisted of three parts: the child, the environment, and the teacher. All are important components.

What I like about the Montessori approach to education is that it works with children across all economic, and social barriers and all around the world. Since we have schools that are failing because we are not beginning with where the children are and the environments are falling apart according to Kozol, why not adopt a method that was developed to address these very same issues and works.

Children deserve a great educational experience but our current thinking that are entitled to it without working for it or that what is available elsewhere should be theirs isn’t a working attitude. What I think needs to happen is that the children who will be living in these classrooms, need to clean them up. Fix the holes, paint them, scrub the desks, wash the windows, etc. The children need to learn to be responsible for halls, bathrooms, etc. They may have dysfunctional homes and communities, but if they learn the skills to fix up their environments the communities may begin to change over time. Since we don’t have qualified teachers in the classrooms, higher people with the skills to repair and remodel the environment. The basic need for clean air, water and food need to be met before any learning can take place. I suggest that the children learn to prepare their own food and snacks so no child goes hungry. Have the cafeteria bring the food to the classrooms so the children can eat at a reasonable hour. Eating lunch at 9:30 or 2:30 is either too early or too late. What we will be creating is a beautiful room with order. Get community support to help with making the school beautiful but the children have to take ownership of the room for it to work successfully.

Another model of education that I think would help our failing school programs was developed by the Committee for Children. The Committee studied first abused children. They discovered these children lacked certain fundamental skills, i.e., the ability to say “no”, the skill to know acceptable touches, the right to go for help and who to tell. They created a program to help these children learn the life skills to protect them from becoming victims. The Committee then researched the abuser. They found abusers lacked certain skills, i.e., empathy, problem solving, anger management and impulsivity. The committee also developed strategies to teach children these skills. People from all over the world have used these methods successfully. I have found that social skills are very important to help children learn to work with others. Social skills would also help the program Klouzal describes to become safe places. Safety is also a basic neccessity before learning can take place.

When we have clean, orderly, and emotionally safe places for children, we create families or groups for the children to belong. Dr. Montessori describes these groups as Planes of Development. She felt that children benefited from being in multi-age groupings. She felt a 3-year age span was optimal; 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, 12-15, and 15-18. These groups could not only learn from one another but help one another and create communities. This is very important in dysfunctional societies. The older children help the younger children and thus get reinforcement or esteem from the younger children. The younger children learn not only from the teacher but from each other. Since there is a shortage of books, the children can choose to do reading, or math or geography or science, when they want to during the day. The teacher is a resource to help where needed. Places are given where children can nap or relax since not enough desks are available anyway.

The last step in self-actualization is the children getting involved in creating a better world or giving service. This could be in helping their parents learn to read through tutoring programs. They could sponsor a neighborhood clean-up or painting. They could read or sing to older citizens. They could create a neighborhood newspaper. When I first began teaching in rural Colorado, I had my 5th through 8th graders interview people in the community and create a history book. It was a great way to preserve the history of the area and allow the children to use their writing skills.

I think we need to help people adopt models that work in difficult situations. Throughout our history the “haves” always figure out a way to have. Rather than adopting an attitude of entitlement, compartmentalization or lack of ownership, let’s study the “haves” and find out why they “have”. Let’s teach those skills and values to all. Let’s teach personal responsibility. Let’s teach not to blame others or accept below standard environments, but let’s get busy and do it ourselves and create beautiful schools. The reason ghettoes exist is that people accept them and are resigned that this is all they deserve. They lack permission to make things better and they lack the skills to know what to do to make it better. Let’s teach these skills to them in our schools. As Dr. Montessori proposed let’s “follow the child” and allow him/her to develop to his/her full potential. By working together we change the world to be a better place.

One Preschool's Saga

At our preschool, The Learning Tree Montessori, we have always worked together with the broader early education community. When NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) accreditation came out in 1989, we were among the first in the area to become accredited. We wanted to work with NAEYC because we wanted to be good early childhood citizens, because we felt that they could help improve our program and because we felt that the NAEYC stamp of approval would help us maintain full enrollment.

We’ve maintained our accreditation status continuously. There were a few issues. Our mixed age group class size has always been larger than NAEYC would like. Translating NAEYC standards into usable tools for a Montessori class was always a little strange. A few things are silly: one year our validator gave us demerits for not having a hill on our playground.

In the last two years NAEYC unveiled new standards: Standards on Steroids!
Why? A few national trends came together recently. One: Early Childhood teachers kept demanding the respect, resources and rewards that their work deserves. Two: The states want better early childhood programs so that preschool graduates can pass the NCLB (WASL) when they reach elementary school. Three: The early childhood education hierarchy that has developed over the past thirty years needed to feel useful. And four: NAEYC had an organization in place to harness these trends while it consolidated its power. NAEYC was able to set itself up as the gold standard that parents and state education bureaucracy could both trust.

Preschool teachers could have more recognition, resources and the promise of more financial rewards on the condition that they become “more professional.” “More professional” means more paperwork, more recordkeeping, and more standardization. The state is saying “Show us what we are paying for. Show us something we can measure and verify.”  Well, we can’t measure the most important things. We can not measure curiosity, courtesy, order, concentration, coordination, independence, community, love, hugs, laughter, joy, peace, enjoyment of learning, and respect for each child as a unique being.
What can we measure? We can measure the education levels of teachers, aids and administrators down to specific courses. We can measure lesson plans, parent surveys, program improvement plans, administrative paperwork detail, classroom record keeping and ongoing child assessments. We decided to try to continue our accreditation.

Child Care Resources gave us many opportunities to learn how to meet the new standards. They gave us an excellent mentor. They helped us with the considerable expenses. For $300, we ordered the self study guides: ten books of the new standards with explanations and suggestions. The books recommended that we get the administration, board, staff and parents together to decode as a team if we wanted to pursue reaccredidation. We failed to follow this step but in hindsight, we wish we had.
The next step is Candidacy. When a program has decided to pursue accreditation and is ready to meet the standards, they file Candidacy papers. It cost our small program $600. Preparing the candidacy papers took about two full weeks of detailed forms on attendance and staffing patterns throughout every hour of every day. It meant collecting proof of teachers, aids and administrators qualifications. It would help if Montessori had a college credit correspondence class for aids.

After the candidacy, we began work on actually meeting and documenting the standards. We felt that we already met about 70% of the new standards. We felt that another 20% of the standards were good ideas and meeting them would be an improvement. 5% were useless but harmless and another 5% were either too expensive or unacceptable. We prepared a Program Portfolio that held our staff and parent manuals, our health care policy, samples of our financial records, and community relations. We had to find specific phrases, organize and make small revisions in these documents. We prepared classroom portfolios for the teaching staff to document many of the things that they do. There were a few standards that will help improve our program but mostly it involved taking the time to document proof of what the teachers normally do. It is a change in our school culture but the teaching staff is preparing more detailed lesson plans, record keeping, and proving that they constantly reevaluate their strategies and accomplishments. We were very worried that we wouldn’t finish in time for our inspection. It is a big organizational task. There are hundreds of standards and substandard. It is a big time commitment. It took us at least 100 hours down the stretch and at least that many in preparation earlier. Plus, we still have to run a school with all the normal challenges. We didn’t get to work on it during the summer, when we hoped to. We didn’t get to work on it in September or early October, except for spare hours here and there. We did get to work on it in late October. And we worked like mad. We were lucky to get prepared right before our inspection. (And they don’t tell you ahead of time when your inspection will come.)

Another issue that we had with the process was the built in lack of a human relationship. In Montessori and the entire early childhood field, we are used to relationships. We have long term relationships with the community: licensors, health inspectors, nurses, educators, community colleges, Child Care Resources (who helped us enormously with NAEYC,) Montessori associations and director groups.
Dealing with NAEYC is like dealing with an impersonal bureaucracy: corporate headquarters.
When our inspector came, she was polite but she was a stranger; she was forbidden to give us any feedback. She toured our building. She visited one of our two classrooms, examined 10% of our children’s files, 25% of our staff files and checked on an unknown number of randomly selected standards. Near the end of her inspection she gave us a list of 20 documents that she couldn’t find. We had one hour to produce them. (We found 16, lacked 3 and found one the next day, too late.)
At the end of the visit, she told us that we had met the seven required criteria so we could move on to having our possible accreditation considered. We’ll know our fate within three months.

We had some problems with the NAEYC accreditation process. The amount of time it takes away from other worthwhile tasks is a problem. It is expensive. It is so impersonal. It doesn’t give teachers or aids credit for experience; that’s a real problem. Just how accurately the standards can measure quality is suspect. What it can measure is mediocrity. It can measure that a program had the financial and organizational resources to complete a complicated process. Does that mean quality?

There were a few benefits. It helped us get better organized. It was a challenge that caused us to rethink how we do things. We still feel like we are trying to be good citizens. And we hope that it will help us with enrollment (if we get it.) Programs that are both already high quality and also have financial and organizational resources can meet the standards if they work on it. But the children and families of these schools are already being well served. Programs that haven’t reached high quality and don’t have the financial and organizational resources won’t meet the new standards. The children and families of these programs that could use more support may fall further behind as resources are rewarded to accredited programs.

The question for us is this: Are these standards the best we can do for children, families and teachers?

If you have questions about becoming NAEYC Accredited you can call Vinnie or Laura at: 206.324.4788 or email us at: seatree@aol.com.