This course is designed to provide students with the necessary technical skills required for the classroom teacher of the twenty-first century. The course will orient students to contemporary frameworks for technology education and introduce students to technology based tools and media that support instruction, extend communication outside the classroom, enhance classroom management, and perform administrative routines more effectively.
A survey of information regarding children with special needs including possible causes and characteristics of exceptionalities, educational intervention, available resources, referral processes, and the advocacy role and legislative issues. Regularly scheduled observations of children are required. This course considers children with special needs from a critical perspective, drawing on element of disciplines such as disability studies and social justice. We will approach special needs and disability as an interaction between individual factors (such as the nature and severity of impairment, personal strengths and abilities), and structural factors (such as attitudes of others, abling or disabling environments).
This required core course, a blend of both online and in-person class time, offers a thorough historical and philosophical examination of Montessori's view of physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of human life and development. A prerequisite or co-requisite to all other courses, this course introduces the program’s rigorous standards in writing, discussing, and presenting.
- Teacher: Connie Laufersky
Participants will integrate foundational principles and strategies for leadership in the classroom and managing the environment. Among the techniques and topics for managing time and classroom behavior are the four-step passage to abstraction, control of error, ground rules, The Great Period, CORA, fuzzy sequencing, and the use of student notebooks.
An introduction to children’s literature, values of literature, genres of children’s literature, the qualities of classic and current children’s literature, and methods to integrate literature into the preschool and elementary Montessori classroom. The Montessori view of fiction, fantasy, and realistic literature and children will be explored.
This is an introduction to the historical, cultural, and philosophical foundations of modern education, public, charter, and private, including Montessori education. Students will reflect upon and critique their own educational experiences and articulate their own beliefs and values about teaching, learning, and schooling. Students will also examine current and historical roles, expectations, stereotypes, and characterizations that define teaching, especially Montessori teaching, as a profession.
Explore the origin and art of oral storytelling. Provide a variety of oral storytelling techniques, styles and exercises to enhance the understanding and delivery of telling stories. Storytelling literature and the history of storytelling will be surveyed. Assist in the integration and application of storytelling to the learning environment in the classroom. The practice of telling stories orally to children will receive the major emphasis.
This course is intended to offer a foundation in fundamental arithmetic and geometry concepts and skills. It is intended for students planning to work with preschool and elementary children. Topics include numeration, operations, fractions and decimals, powers and multiples, descriptive geometry, equivalence, area and volume, graphing, problem solving, math integration, history of numbers and mathematics, and basic number theory.
How did language come to be? Are we shaped by our words, or do we shape words to fit our understanding of the world? Beginning by looking at what defines “language,” this course introduces the study of human language, explores the history and development of human language, language families, and language relationships. We will look at how language changes over time as well as other key topics in the field.
An introduction to developmental psychology, the course explores the different stages of human
life- Prenatal, Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence, and Young Adulthood- and the biological,
psychological and social changes occurring in individuals during them. Concepts related to the
Montessori’s theories of development will be integrated throughout the course.
Application of theory to the pre-school and school setting are discussed. Topics also include the
impact of culture and diversity on learning.
- Teacher: Louise Reid
This is a basic course designed to acquaint students with knowledge and skills necessary to create and successfully implement Montessori inspired activities, games and sports to promote health and wellness. Students will gain an understanding of the role of physical education in Montessori settings even if they are the classroom teacher. This includes curricular components and class approaches. The course will also include an orientation to concepts of PE specific observation, the structure of a typical PE class, providing feedback, encouraging participation, and using sports to teach interdisciplinary concepts.
Students examine family life from historical and cultural perspectives, particularly its influence on the development of young children. A critical examination of the changing American family is central to this course. Strategies for effective parenting and educational interventions for working with young children and families from a variety of cultural settings are also emphasized. Throughout the course, students apply Montessori philosophy to their partnerships with families. Students will have opportunities to explore current issues addressing families including the changing role of fathers, the impact of economic stress on families, same sex parenting, grandparents raising grandchildren, and realistic expectations for family involvement in today’s Montessori school communities.
This course will present methods of teaching the arts (music, dance, drama, visual art, and
storytelling) in the preschool and elementary grades, as subjects in their own right, and integrated
with other curricular areas.
- Teacher: Elena Rosemond
This class will explore professional development strategies for teachers. Like young students, teachers move through different stages of professional development. The students will use reflective methods of actively conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating. They will discuss and understand five major aspects of guide’s professional growth – intellectual, physical, didactic, moral, and spiritual.
This course will examine eight key elements of what Montessori called Total Reading as it is taught in Montessori programs. These are Creating a Literacy Culture; Emergent Literacy; Working with Words and Grammar; Penmanship and Creative Writing; Passing from Writing to Reading; Oral Language, Vocabulary, and Fluency; Speaking; and Listening and Viewing. Each of these will be examined in terms of importance, and applicability. Special attention will be paid to materials and methods for implementing these areas in Montessori classrooms.
This course explores a foundational overview of peace psychology principles focusing on the nature, cause, intervention, and prevention of the determinants of peace. Students will analyze how peace psychology can be applied to a variety of interpersonal settings, and to promote conflict resolution and create non-violent social environments.
This course provides an introduction to research methods and exposition. Students will acquire fundamental skills in developing and conducting research through the creation of an effective research question, how to write a review of the literature, and develop an understanding of the principles of quantitative and qualitative research methods. In addition, students will gain an understanding of principles of data analysis, interpretation, and presentation of results.
This foundational course introduces and develops a frame of assumptions for strengths-based philosophy, as well as creates a framework for dealing with students from a strengths perspective. Originating from the fields of positive psychology, this course will familiarize students with elements of Seligman’s theory of Positive Psychology, Clifton’s Strengths perspectives, and Purkey’s Invitational Theory. Students will develop a new paradigm that will provide a differentiated lens to observe and evaluate students. The underlying assumption being that all students have talents and potential strengths that can provide a mechanism for performance excellence. Leaders are charged with assisting students in the discovery, development, and application of these strengths