Practical notes for Montessori families and educators, and what is new in FutureNerds.
Schedule tours during the work cycle, after the first hour. By then the children have arrived, settled and chosen work, and most of them are concentrating on work. A visiting parent who walks in at 9:45 on a Tuesday sees a four-year-old carrying a tray of water across the room without spilling, two six-year-olds working through a long addition problem with…
For educators
A plan and word-for-word scripts for raising a concern at a parent conference and leaving with one next step the parent agrees to.
For educators
How to write plain rules for fever, vomiting and returning to school that a parent can read and apply before breakfast.
For educators
How to publish conference slots that families book themselves, handle the families who don't, and send reminders before each meeting.
For educators
A two-week plan for gathering observations, work samples and progress records for each child so every conference starts from evidence.
For educators
A checklist for permission slips, chaperones, head counts and packing that you can work through in the weeks before a trip with young children.
For educators
How to set up club rosters, meeting days and fees so every family knows what they signed up for and what it will cost.
For educators
Record each child's progress with a lesson in three stages, presented, practicing and mastered, and use the record on Friday to plan next week.
For educators
Give a three-period lesson from naming to recall, know when to stop, and record the period each child reached so the next lesson starts in the right place.
For educators
Sort what you tell families into a weekly note, a direct message or a conference, and set a schedule you can keep all year.
For educators
Set up an arrival routine where children mark themselves in and you record present, tardy and excused before the work cycle starts.
For educators
Set up a fast way to record meals, naps, diapers and mood for every toddler, and get the records to families by pickup.