Montessori in Morocco and Amsterdam and with friends from many places
Morocco
This has been a very interesting and rewarding Montessori month. First of all I returned to Ecole Montessori Casablanca, the Morocco school. (http://www.montessoricasablanca.com/)
A year ago I worked here as a consultant for the classes for children from age 1-12. This year I returned to see the progress and to document a “Montessori First Year Project” in an orphanage in Casablanca we started at that time. It was quite wonderful to see the results at the orphanage and the school!
I visited the orphanage and the village school (two school outreach projects) and then spent the week, as together we explored the country (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chefchaouen) , thinking about what the next step might be for both.
Morocco First Year Orphanage Project
I posted pictures from the orphanage earlier but here is an update.
Over the year the school and several other people helped to create a Montessori environment for children from age 9 months to 18 months.
Since this change in the environment everyone present with the children has remarked on the level of independence exhibited that no one previously thought possible. The pediatrician told us that one child had been given up on, thought unable to move in any way except to lie on his back and rock back and forth. But he surprised everyone. After observing others and how they could move, he made his way across the room to climb up on the Montessori “stair”. It was considered a miracle.
After a morning observing children in this environment and talking to all of the staff we asked to see if we could help the 0-9 month-olds who, although they are given loving care by the entire overworked staff, pretty much spend their days in cribs with slanted mattresses.
After a week of thinking what to do, I put together a PowerPoint showing the movement and language potential of children in the first year of life – most of it from development video clips, and information from the book The Joyful Child: Montessori, Global Wisdom from Birth to Three
Book – CLICK: Joyful Child
Video clips – CLICK: Video
The results were mixed. There was a hesitancy to make such drastic changes mixed with an enthusiasm to “do it all”! So we identified a room that is being used as storage and suggested they just give these very young children daily opportunity to spend time on the floor rather than in a crib, and see what happens, to follow Dr. Montessori’s advice to all of us to “follow the child.”
I predict that they will be even more impressed with the human potential at this age as they were with the older ones. And this will have a lasting effect on the children.
“Foundation Zakoura” Montessori School Outreach Village School Project
Rita El Kadiri is the CEO of the Foundation Zakoura, whose aim is to create schools for the poor village children of Morocco.
She is also a parent as Ecole Montessori Casablanca and ever since her daughter entered the Montessori school she had been wanting to figure out how to share some of the Montessori ideas in these village schools all over Morocco.
We met over lunch at the beginning of my time in Morocco, and then she accompanied us to spend the day at one of the project schools.
At the end of the week we met again and I presented a paper of ideas. Some of these were from my experience of teaching a class of children the same age in Lima, Peru with no Montessori materials. If you want to know more about these projects, it and others have been included in the book Aid to life, Montessori Beyond the Classroom.
CLICK: Aid to Life
We had a very long and fruitful discussion, Rita and her head teachers for the project meeting with Aicha and Leila from the school. We came up with several ideas that would incorporate the cultural values of Morocco, and gradually move toward giving the children more general knowledge and independence. I look forward to hearing about the progress of this very important work.
AMI Affiliate Societies – at the Annual General Meeting
Every year there is am annual general meeting in Amsterdam of AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) people from all over the year, the AGM. One day is spent in meetings of AMI affiliated societies from around the world. Becoming an AMI affiliated society is a really big deal as it brings attention to, and provides international support for such as school consultations and plans for teacher training in the country. There can only be one AMI affiliated society in each country of the world.
Finally at this AGM I enjoyed the culmination of a year of work in assisting both Morocco and Argentina in the formation of AMI affiliated societies. I didn’t do much more than encouraging application nd helping them through the process by putting them in touch with the correct person in the AMI office. But I was richly rewarded in being able to be present at the official signing of the affiliate agreement between AMI and my friends in Argentina and Morocco.
Argentina: http://www.fundacionmontessori.org/
Morocco: http://www.montessorimorocco.org/
Balarus
Thinking that my Montessori work was done for one lifetime I was ready to return home and act like a normal 72-year-old, but oh no!
On the last day of the AGM I was approached by the representatives from Belarus who want to translate my books into Belarusian! And since one of my favorite artists, Marc Chagall, is from there I just may have to go! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarus
The picture to the right above is from the book The Red Corolla, Montessori Cosmic Education (for age 3-6)
CLICK: The Red Corolla
Portland, Oregon
And then, in Portland Oregon on the way home I visited the wonderful Montessori school in Portland, Childpeace, where three of our grandchildren study. (The oldest attended from age 2 through middle school, graduated from Montessori, and is now in high school)
When I see how valuable Montessori has been for our own children and grandchildren and could be for children and adults in all kinds of situations, I cannot help but continue to study and learn, and to reach out and help spread this wisdom.
Shared with love,
Susan
For more information see these FaceBook pages:
Susan Mayclin Stephenson
Montessori Books by Susan Mayclin Stephenson
The Art of Susan Mayclin Stephenson
The Michael Olaf Montessori Company
The Joyful Child Montessori Company
Montessori Help for Zika Babies
AMI Montessori Discussions
Thank you for posting this wonderful inspiration Susan. I want to be like you when I grow up!
Julia Volkman
Lovely, Susan. And, I must say, I can’t imagine you ever acting “like a normal 72 year old”! And that’s a good thing.