Blog • Raintree Montessori

If I Had to Live My Life Over
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If I Had to Live My Life Over

Parenting

If I Had to Live My Life Over

Heather2024-10-10T16:47:22-05:00October 10th, 2024|Categories: Parenting|Tags: community, happiness, love, parenting, soft skills|

Over the past few weeks, my sister and I have been clearing out our parents’ garage. We aimed to box up items that we'd examine more closely later. This includes treasures from both sets of grandparents and great-grandparents, along with other inherited memorabilia. It’s been a challenge not to peek at a wartime letter addressed to our grandmother or sift through old report cards and marvel at a collection of early 1900s postcards. In a box that seemed like a random office drawer dump—complete with [...]

Science Says: Eat with your Kids
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Science Says: Eat with your Kids

Parenting

Science Says: Eat with your Kids

Heather2024-10-10T17:16:47-05:00September 29th, 2024|Categories: Parenting|Tags: community, food, Grace and Courtesy, manners, parenting|

Liz Struble, guide in the South community writes: Grace and Courtesy Lessons are always the first lessons we begin with when we return to school. Remembering how we move about the room, what utensils are appropriate for which foods, where we place our shoes, how we carry a chair, the list goes on and on. Our focus lately has been centered around lunch time. We have been practicing placing our napkins in our laps, using our hands ONLY for finger foods and keeping our knees [...]

My Early Intervention Program
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My Early Intervention Program

Early Childhood

My Early Intervention Program

Heather2024-05-25T09:00:05-05:00May 25th, 2024|Categories: Early Childhood|Tags: autism, brain development, neurodivergency, parenting, research|

Excerpt from Autism and Education: The Way I See It, What Parents and Teachers Need to Know by Dr. Temple Grandin I had a wonderful and effective early education program that started at age two and a half. By then, I had all the classic symptoms of autism, including no speech, no eye contact, tantrums, and constant repetitive behavior. This was in 1949, and doctors knew nothing about autism, but my mother would no accept that nothing could be done to help me. She was [...]

New Meta Study: Montessori Education Leads to Positive Student Outcomes
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New Meta Study: Montessori Education Leads to Positive Student Outcomes

Montessori

New Meta Study: Montessori Education Leads to Positive Student Outcomes

Heather2024-05-25T08:02:51-05:00December 25th, 2023|Categories: Montessori|Tags: academics, brain development, education, Montessori, research|

by Dr. Dean Blase Montessori educators have all experienced it: walking into a well-run, humming classroom where children are focused on learning, making and reinforcing new discoveries, and demonstrating works to younger peers. Where teachers are happily engaged in the best adult work imaginable, “observing the children, judging their ripeness, and figuring out when and how to stoke a child’s interest.” (Randolph et al 2023, 2.2). These images bring us home to Montessori classrooms. For those of us who may be “fish in water” when [...]

The Montessori Method in Dementia Care
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The Montessori Method in Dementia Care

Montessori

The Montessori Method in Dementia Care

Heather2023-10-04T09:53:00-05:00October 4th, 2023|Categories: Montessori|Tags: brain development, independence, Montessori, soft skills|

Wondering about the different approaches to caring for people with dementia? Inspiration is everywhere - and there's some great evidence that shows that applying Montessori methods to dementia care can deliver some promising results. Published in Seniorly Resource Center, September 18, 2023 By Marlena del Hierro Reviewed by Nipun Chopra Bridging the worlds of gerontology and early education may seem an unlikely connection, but as a gerontologist with over a decade of experience, it's always exciting to see where practitioners are finding inspiration. Some of the most [...]

Raintree Chef Spotlight: Chris Rieke
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Raintree Chef Spotlight: Chris Rieke

Raintree

Raintree Chef Spotlight: Chris Rieke

Heather2023-06-10T15:12:23-05:00April 23rd, 2023|Categories: Raintree|Tags: food, gardens|

As the chef at Raintree, I have the unique opportunity to utilize some of the base, organic processes of the school. Whether it’s Erdkinder students composting all of our useable food scraps or using fresh produce from the gardens – all of it comes down to supplying the students and staff with high quality food and creating as low an impact the environment as possible. During the peak of the season, I often go out to the classrooms’ gardens just outside our back doors with [...]

Spring Has Arrived!
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Spring Has Arrived!

Early Childhood, Raintree

Spring Has Arrived!

Heather2023-06-10T15:50:43-05:00March 26th, 2023|Categories: Early Childhood, Raintree|Tags: Montessori, nature|

Spring has arrived! As we look outside we see sprouting bits of green and blooms beginning to form. It is a time for new beginnings. As we transition from snow boots and gloves to rain boots and umbrellas, the children are bursting for outdoor adventures. The South classroom children have spent this past week cleaning and prepping the outdoor space, splashing in rain puddles, petting the goats and soaking up each and every ray of sunshine. Immersing ones-self into nature is an integral part of [...]

World Peace Game Reflections
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World Peace Game Reflections

Adolescent, Elementary, Raintree

World Peace Game Reflections

Heather2023-06-10T16:15:45-05:00February 19th, 2023|Categories: Adolescent, Elementary, Raintree|Tags: education, peace, World Peace Game|

What affects one of us affects all of us. "My first impression was that my role was not important and I wouldn't be able to do much. After a while I realized that I could change the game and solve crises and at the end I was proud of myself." - Elise "Before, I believed peace was nearly impossible. Now, I have a achieved it, it could happen in the real world" - Ella "I feel that violence is something connected with humans. It will [...]

Animals of Raintree
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Animals of Raintree

Early Childhood, Raintree

Animals of Raintree

Heather2023-06-10T16:42:44-05:00January 26th, 2023|Categories: Early Childhood, Raintree|Tags: animals, community, independence, nature, responsibility|

The longer I work at Raintree, the more I wonder about the stories that collect around these fourteen acres of land. The tales that are told with the most joy and humor are those of the animals. Some are woven into the Raintree quilt, the earliest threads of the school story. Some are retold at staff gatherings or parent/teacher conferences. All are cherished memories that remind us of our responsibility to the small and delicate life around us. The chickens are visited daily by children, [...]

What Is It Like to Be a Raintree Substitute (and also a Raintree Parent)?
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What Is It Like to Be a Raintree Substitute (and also a Raintree Parent)?

Early Childhood, Elementary, Montessori, Raintree

What Is It Like to Be a Raintree Substitute (and also a Raintree Parent)?

Heather2023-06-10T16:41:20-05:00December 18th, 2022|Categories: Early Childhood, Elementary, Montessori, Raintree|Tags: community, love, Montessori, parenting|

Some names in the story have been changed. After making my way down to the Lower Far East toddler community, I find the children gathered around the tables joined by a few parents and/or guardians, having a cookie exchange. It’s the penultimate day before winter break and although the children may not have a full grasp of how much their routines are about to alter for the foreseeable future, they can certainly grasp the growing buzz around campus as the holiday spirit begins to take [...]