Susan Mayclin Stephenson

A Music Surprise at the Beginning of Montessori Work in Vietnam
I am in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) for 2+ weeks of school consultations and lectures. The first evening my hosts, Giang and Tu, hosted me to a fruit tasting with their two young children and Tu’s parents at their home. The visit turned into a Suzuki type concert enjoyed by all. I would like to share with you some of the special moments.

THE FRUIT

The infamous SE Asia fruit it was brought to my attention upon arrival with a sign in my hotel room “No Durians allowed on the premises!” Above are pictures of one of the most delicious—but foul-smelling—fruits in existence. For details see this Wikipedia article. CLICK: Durian

Another fruit among the many on the family table was the Dragon fruit, a cactus flower native to southern Mexico and Central America now is grown all over the world. It goes by many names, including Honolulu queen, pitaya, pitahaya, and strawberry pear.

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THE MUSIC
I knew the family have a piano, so I had brought some piano music I travel with because of Dr. Silvana Montanaro’s reminder to take every opportunity to show children that music comes from the movement of the human body, not recordings. So, I played two short pieces by Bach and Chopin. Then, imagine my surprise when the dad, Tu, sat down and played, beautifully, a piece from the Suzuki piano book one! When asked how he had discovered Suzuki he said, “In your book Montessori Homeschooling.”

Here is an excerpt from page 73 of that book:
Since it was as difficult to find authentic Suzuki teachers, as it is to find authentic Montessori teachers I decided to teach Michael piano myself. I had begun piano lessons at age five with my mother and grandmother, who taught me in the traditional way. But I wanted to learn how to teach the Suzuki way. I found a book called Studying Suzuki Piano: More than Music, a Handbook for Teachers, Parents, and Students.

This was perfect. It was very much like Montessori. The method does not believe so much in talent as in talent education. And the activities are broken down into tiny steps that a music student can master and then build more complex skills. In the spring the international Suzuki Conference was being held in San Francisco and Jim, Michael, and I attended. Dr. Suzuki demonstrated violin lessons and I was able to attend classes given to students at all levels by Katoaka-san who was in charge of the piano part. It was quite inspiring so we started Suzuki Book One piano lessons right away.

For information on the homeschooling book, CLICK: Books

Next, I invited Giang, the mama, to sing. Her husband googled the Vietnamese song she choose and printed out the piano music and we performed a duet. At the end we bowed just as is done in any Suzuki performance (and in my primary classes when children wanted to give a little concert for a friend or friends). Then the audience applauded.

A few minutes later I played the first twinkle variation from Suzuki Book I and the oldest daughter, age 5, did the same. She is learning by listening to her dad practice.

Then she asked her parents if she could play her own composition for us. She got out the piece of music she had written and slowly, looking carefully at each letter she had written, played it on a small diatonic glockenspiel. Her confidence and concentration were clues that she attends a good Montessori school.

This is a very interesting family. Giang, the mother, grew up poor on a farm in the north, mostly taken care of by her grandmother because the parents were working in the fields. She credits this experience to her appreciation of Montessori, because she too was allowed a lot of independence and real work. By age five she was building a fire from the rice chaff and cooking rice and soup for the family. Later her training was the education of children with disabilities and, frustrated with their treatment, searched for something better. She discovered Montessori. She now had an AMI 0-3 diploma and, still at home with the youngest daughter, advises new parents. We met several years ago when she was a member of my own AMIESF (Educateurs sans Frontières) focus group that was carried out remotely because of Covid over two years.

The dad, Tu, is from an academic family, both parents’ mathematicians and his own education in math and science in Singapore. Like his wife, he sees authentic Montessori as the most powerful way of improving the lives of children. He has read all my books and taken AMI certificate courses and translated one of these books into Vietnamese.

Even the grandparents have learned a lot about Montessori – some (they tell me) from the video “The Wonderful Two’s, Montessori Infant Communities in Japan and USA,” a video I made many years ago that was sold by the Michael Olaf Company. Today we have put it free on YouTube. CLICK: Wonderful Twos

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7 The day ended at a beautiful vegan restaurant, where Giang and Tu and I discussed in detail the coming weeks of consultation, lectures, and learning about the culture.

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VIETNAM IN THE 1960s
The last time I was in Vietnam was on a student trip (University of the 7 Seas) in 1963-1964. The tallest buildings were the temples, but the war was just beginning. Here are some pictures from the internet.

That trip changed my life. If I had not been exposed to the horror of a war that was taking place, the dishonestly of the news reporting at home, and the imbalance of greed and poverty in the world, I would not have been forced to search for a way to be helpful. And perhaps I would not have found Montessori. It is a blessing for me to be here again and to be working with people who have the same compassionate goal.

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Take care,
Susan

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