Continued from Homepage:
Imagine a School Like this...
Based on the upcoming book The New Learning Culture by Carmen Gamper
On school mornings, you and your child get ready to leave for school without hurry or stress. In fact, the school encourages you to take time for the morning routines of waking up, washing, dressing, and having breakfast. You and your child enjoy the morning time together and come to school in a relaxed, joyful manner. Your child will not be late or feel rushed for anything at this school because, in agreement with the teachers, you arrive when it works best for your family. Upon arriving at school with your child, a friendly learning companion welcomes you and fills you in on the daily details. If you wish, you may accompany your child and settle into the learning environment together. Throughout the school, you observe children playing, talking, crafting, moving, and taking care of themselves and others, in groups and individually. Learning companions are always close by, ready to offer guidance when needed.
This school allows children to follow their own rhythm and inner guidance, which leads them toward the most relevant, individually appropriate learning opportunities. The spontaneous activities and free play of your child are regarded as an expression of his or her inner world, and they are observed and documented. Children choose their own activities, including resting, talking, eating, or observing others. In addition to the infinite learning opportunities in the prepared environments, children can choose to attend a great variety of teacher-guided lessons covering the traditional curriculum, story time, singing circles, weekly councils, and more. Of course, all this freedom works only when there are safe and clear boundaries in place. Learning companions encourage and invite materials being returned to their proper places, no one is disturbed in their play and work, and everyone feels safe.
Looking around, you see some children having breakfast because their parents didn't have time that morning to sit down with them. At the crafting table, children eagerly building a wooden boat with sails. In the pretend play area, a couple of girls are dressing their dolls and preparing to go for a stroll in the garden. In the math room, a learning companion is presenting a Montessori material to an older child who wants to calculate volumes in order to build a planter box for the porch. Another boy is busy in the writing and drawing room, focusing on writing his own cookie recipe on the typewriter. He is planning to have it published in the school magazine. In the movement room, a group of children is planning a circus performance. They are dressing up, rehearsing, and crafting elaborate entrance tickets and stage backdrops.
In this environment, your child is allowed to stay in the present moment, as he or she is meant to be, without worrying about an upcoming exam or yesterday’s conflicts. Accompanied by skilled and kind learning companions, children feel completely safe to be authentic. They know they can ask for help and guidance at any time. They are protected; no one is allowed to tease or disturb them or disrupt their work. At this school, conflict is seen as a learning opportunity in the moment when it occurs. When your child is in disagreement with another child, an adult learning companion will witness, comfort, and accompany the children as they find their own solutions. Learning companions respect the children's responses to challenging situations and offer tools and resources to support them in learning how to be a friend and how to work as a team. From early on children learn to use peaceful communication, empathy, and compassion as effective strategies for meeting their needs.
Math is more than sitting down at a desk with a math book and calculating written problems. Math is explored in the kitchen by following recipes and measuring ingredients. In the woodshop, a child calculates the exact length of wood board needed to craft a functioning chair. At the lunch table, a teacher brings out 5 apples to be shared equally among 20 children. Through handling many different countable items during numerous activities such as playing, crafting, cooking, and woodworking, the world of numbers naturally opens up to children, and counting, sharing, adding, subtracting, and dividing become tools of daily life.
In addition to your child’s genuine needs, the school is intended to fulfill the needs of the whole family, including parents. A special room allows parents to meet with one another and with the learning companions to exchange information, help each other, and develop friendships. A billboard is available to communicate needs and contributions, such as “in need of baby clothes” or “could share apples from our trees” or “invitation to natural building workshop.”
Through ongoing adult education and parent-teacher communication, you develop an in-depth understanding of your child’s genuine needs and how you and other adults can contribute to fulfilling them. This community center school also invites parents to spend time in the children’s prepared environments such as the math room, wood shop, and gardens to better understand how the children learn and to learn themselves. The school building can also be used for workshops, gatherings, celebrations, and relaxing—in short, it is a safe haven for all involved with the school.
This school allows children to follow their own rhythm and inner guidance, which leads them toward the most relevant, individually appropriate learning opportunities. The spontaneous activities and free play of your child are regarded as an expression of his or her inner world, and they are observed and documented. Children choose their own activities, including resting, talking, eating, or observing others. In addition to the infinite learning opportunities in the prepared environments, children can choose to attend a great variety of teacher-guided lessons covering the traditional curriculum, story time, singing circles, weekly councils, and more. Of course, all this freedom works only when there are safe and clear boundaries in place. Learning companions encourage and invite materials being returned to their proper places, no one is disturbed in their play and work, and everyone feels safe.
Looking around, you see some children having breakfast because their parents didn't have time that morning to sit down with them. At the crafting table, children eagerly building a wooden boat with sails. In the pretend play area, a couple of girls are dressing their dolls and preparing to go for a stroll in the garden. In the math room, a learning companion is presenting a Montessori material to an older child who wants to calculate volumes in order to build a planter box for the porch. Another boy is busy in the writing and drawing room, focusing on writing his own cookie recipe on the typewriter. He is planning to have it published in the school magazine. In the movement room, a group of children is planning a circus performance. They are dressing up, rehearsing, and crafting elaborate entrance tickets and stage backdrops.
In this environment, your child is allowed to stay in the present moment, as he or she is meant to be, without worrying about an upcoming exam or yesterday’s conflicts. Accompanied by skilled and kind learning companions, children feel completely safe to be authentic. They know they can ask for help and guidance at any time. They are protected; no one is allowed to tease or disturb them or disrupt their work. At this school, conflict is seen as a learning opportunity in the moment when it occurs. When your child is in disagreement with another child, an adult learning companion will witness, comfort, and accompany the children as they find their own solutions. Learning companions respect the children's responses to challenging situations and offer tools and resources to support them in learning how to be a friend and how to work as a team. From early on children learn to use peaceful communication, empathy, and compassion as effective strategies for meeting their needs.
Math is more than sitting down at a desk with a math book and calculating written problems. Math is explored in the kitchen by following recipes and measuring ingredients. In the woodshop, a child calculates the exact length of wood board needed to craft a functioning chair. At the lunch table, a teacher brings out 5 apples to be shared equally among 20 children. Through handling many different countable items during numerous activities such as playing, crafting, cooking, and woodworking, the world of numbers naturally opens up to children, and counting, sharing, adding, subtracting, and dividing become tools of daily life.
In addition to your child’s genuine needs, the school is intended to fulfill the needs of the whole family, including parents. A special room allows parents to meet with one another and with the learning companions to exchange information, help each other, and develop friendships. A billboard is available to communicate needs and contributions, such as “in need of baby clothes” or “could share apples from our trees” or “invitation to natural building workshop.”
Through ongoing adult education and parent-teacher communication, you develop an in-depth understanding of your child’s genuine needs and how you and other adults can contribute to fulfilling them. This community center school also invites parents to spend time in the children’s prepared environments such as the math room, wood shop, and gardens to better understand how the children learn and to learn themselves. The school building can also be used for workshops, gatherings, celebrations, and relaxing—in short, it is a safe haven for all involved with the school.