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In October, it was my pleasure to be in beautiful Cartagena to celebrate the first in-person Montessori congress held in this country since Covid. Continue reading
They thought we were crazy. After all of the work we had done in the Cauca Valley and the mountains of Colombia, we were on our way to beautiful Cartagena, on the north coast of Colombia, for a little rest before the opening of the annual AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) congress for Colombia.
But a few days earlier a friend in Barranquilla asked us (Lyda Franky, my good friend, translator, and head of the AMI affiliate for this country) and I, if we would come to see her brand new school and perhaps give a public lecture. So we were met at the Cartagena airport upon arrival, driven 2+ hours to Barranquilla to do what we could to help this tiny new school, and driven back, still with a few hours to rest before the congress begins.
Most people from outside the country are familiar with the beautiful tourist destinations of the coast of this country, but I always enjoy seeing the typical villages, shops, people going about their daily lives. There was plenty of this between the two cities. Continue reading
Es para mí gratificante poderles compartir lo que he visto durante estos días viajando por Colombia. A menudo le digo a la gente: “La autencidad Montessori puede existir sin el material, pero no sin los mejores educadores y un profundo entendimiento de Montessori”.
EL COLEGIO GRANJA TALLER MONTESSORI, EN TIMBÍO
La fotografìa que aquí les muestro, nos habla de una increíble tarea de la vida práctica, un niño de siete años ensillando su caballo “La Negra”, una yegua, al finalizar la jornada escolar en su colegio Montessori. Pensemos en las funciones ejecutivas (las mejores vaticinadoras del éxito en la vida) que se están fortaleciendo a través de su trabajo: planear, organizar previamente para iniciar el trabajo, la paciencia, la secuencia lógica, el autocontrol, la perseverancia, la solución de problemas, la memorización… y los sentimientos de los niños mientras se involucra en el trabajo real que se realiza cotidianamente a su alrededor y que en gran parte ya puede hacer por sí mismo.
TRANSLATION: ENGLISH Continue reading