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Montessori vs. Conventional School

Learn more about the Montessori method and how it compares to conventional teaching methods in this excellent video:

Go to the Kew Park Gallery

kewparkmontessori

Nov 23

We had an interesting, thought provoking and inspiring day of professional development at the C.C.M.A. National Fall Conference at Centennial College today. It is always wonderful to connect with other Montessorians, spend some time together outside of the classroom, hear from incredibly knowledgeable and experienced keynote speakers and rekindle our love for what we do!

kewparkmontessori

Nov 15

Here we see two students examining items on their classroom nature table.

The purpose of the nature table is for children to observe and explore anything that has been brought from nature into the classroom. The children are encouraged to bring in items of special interest from nature. For example, interesting stones, bird nests, old egg shells, pinecones, feathers, acorns, leaves, anything that takes the child’s interest. Displaying their objects on the nature table makes them feel proud.

The nature table fosters an interest and respect for nature and helps to develop observational skills and vocabulary.

kewparkmontessori

Nov 15

Some of our lower elementary students made sundials and took them outside to see if they could use them to predict the time based on the shadow from the sun.

kewparkmontessori

Nov 15

Kew Park students have been out on several fun and interesting field trips this month. Our first-year casa friends took a big yellow bus to Riverdale Farm! Our second and third-year casa students spent a morning doing printmaking at Harbourfront Centre. And our lower elementary classes enjoyed a day outdoors at Tommy Thompson Park learning about animal habitats and searching for animal clues. A great time was had by all!

kewparkmontessori

Oct 14

Congratulations to several of our elementary students who competed in this week’s cross country meet with the Independent Schools Athletic Association. We had beautiful weather and all of our runners did amazingly well and we had many medal winners! We are always so impressed with their effort and their sportsmanship - the children are so supportive of one another and cheer each other on! Thank you so much to all the parents who accompanied us to the meet who made it safe and enjoyable for all.

kewparkmontessori

Oct 6

Our upper elementary students have various mentoring responsibilities within the school, including greeting and walking the casa children down to their classrooms every morning. Aside from being extremely helpful, this opportunity develops confidence, empathy and leadership skills in our upper students and the casa children are always happy to walk and chat with them. It is such a joy to watch their interactions and listen to their conversations!

kewparkmontessori

Oct 6

Our lower elementary classes are learning about the primary, secondary and tertiary colours in art class!

kewparkmontessori

Oct 6

In a Montessori elementary classroom, many lessons are given in small groups. Here we see a group of grade one students in a lesson on the provinces and territories of Canada.

The small group lesson is a powerful tool that allows a teacher to interact with each child and assess their understanding. The kind of interaction a small group lesson provides is very authentic. Unlike a teacher calling on a student with a raised hand, the conversation flows naturally. The children also have the opportunity to learn from each other, by asking questions and sharing ideas, insights and experiences. Maria Montessori recognized the importance of social interaction for the elementary child, which is why much of the work in elementary is done collaboratively and many lessons are presented this way.

kewparkmontessori

Oct 6

Our school participated in our annual Terry Fox walk on Wednesday! After a short warm up, everyone dropped their money in the big shoe and walked around the block. In the afternoon our upper elementary students collectively ran the equivalent of two marathons at Greenwood Park. They also made and sold Terry inspired bracelets to the lower elementary classes throughout the week to earn more funds for @terryfoxfoundation. A great effort and thank you to all of our families for their generous donations!

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