My first time to circle the globe was on the ship University of the Seven Seas (now called The Semester at Sea), an academic semester trip of 4 months. 2018 provided the second opportunity of seeing our home planet from different perspectives.
Mongolia
It was very exciting (and very cold!) to be able to attend an Eagle Hunter competition not so far from Ulaanbaatar, the capital. If you have not heard of this ancient sport I highly recommend a movie (see below) about hunting with eagles which has been the way of getting food in this part of the world for many years. During a competition the horse and rider and eagle must work together to obey commands, just as though they were hunting for food. It was a beautiful sunny day but so cold that I had to turn my face to the sun to convince my brain that I was not freezing. Above is a short video clip of one of the riders. The eagles are trained as babies and after 7 years returned to the wild with gratitude of the hunter.
Here is one of the statues of the revered Eagle Hunters found at the amazing Genghis Khan Equestrian statue, the largest statue of its kind in the world.
To learn more about this tradition, The Eagle Huntress is a 2016 internationally co-produced Kazakh-language documentary film that follows the story of Aisholpan Nurgaiv, a 13-year-old Kazakh girl as she attempts to become the first female eagle hunter to compete in the Golden Eagle Festival in Mongolia. I highly recommend this movie as an introduction to the Islamic/Buddhist country of Mongolia.
To see more about the statue on a YouTube video CLICK HERE: Equestrian Statue
The Montessori work!
On my first trip to this country several years, guided by Lynne Lawrence, Executive Director of AMI, we formed the AMI affiliate organization for Mongolia, It is wonderful to return.
My good friend and AMI 3-6 teacher trainer, Lhamo Pemba, gave a 10-day AMI orientation/introduction to Montessori for the pre-school years, and allowed me to contribute by answering questions on the 0-3 and 6-18 years. Also I gave a workshop based on the book The Joyful Child: Montessori, Global Wisdom for Birth to three, and signed copies of the book now available in the Mongolian language It was translated and published by Tsolmon Namkhainyam, PhD, environmental engineer, president of the Mongolian AMI affiliate society, and graduate of the AMI 0-3 diploma course in Denver.
The cover art is of an oil painting of a baby whose herder family, living in a ger (yurt in Russian) out on the steppe, we interviewed the last time I was in Mongolia.
More of my Montessori books are being translated. The complete list in English is found here: CLICKS: BOOKS
Here is a picture of two members of the AMI affiliate board as they presented both Lhamo and me (both in Mongolian dress) with beautiful scrolls of our names written in the ancient Mongolian script. Today mine hangs in my art studio at home and constantly reminds me of this trip.
Now on to Sweden and the Mindfulness Talk
In both Mongolia and Sweden I gave a talk based on the book, “Montessori and Mindfulness”. The book was inspired by a presentation at the AMI congress in Prague last summer. It was something I had been thinking about for a long time. Montessori and Mindfulness has been translated into Mongolian. It is sad to see Montessori teachers, with all good intentions, interrupt the 3-hour+ work period completely mindful morning with adult-led mindfulness activities.
As adults in today’s world we are always rushing from one thing to the next, our attention usually on the past and the future. But in Montessori, uninterrupted concentration on age appropriate activities that involve the body and the mind working together, are the most important and most valuable gift we have for children. This is the most natural experience of true mindfulness.
In Montessori education, instead of the teacher delivering lessons to a group of children (morning group or circle time common in non-Montessori classrooms), he or she is trained to observe each child individually, as well as the group, all day long, to adjust individual lessons to the stage of development and the interest of each child.
Montessori and mindfulness for adults? There is no way for this teacher to be thinking about the past or the future during this work; the Montessori teacher is drawn into each moment of the teaching day, completely being in the moment. Thus Montessori is a method of mindfulness for both the child and the teachers. Here is the link to this book on Amazon. CLICK: Montessori and Mindfulness
Patricia Wallner and Louise Livingston, both AMI teacher trainers, were the other two speakers. Here is a picture of us with Barbra and members of the AMI affiliate organization for Sweden.
Blessings,
Susan
Home page, CLICK: Susan