Students Celebrate Maria Montessori

By CHARLES LUSSIER

Maria Montessori was born on Aug. 31, 1870, in Chiavarelle, Italy.

On Friday, 137 years later in an elementary school half a world away, about 100 East Baton Rouge Parish schoolchildren celebrated the memory of this maverick educator with a birthday party.

Belfair Elementary in north Baton Rouge held an outdoor ceremony, reading short statements about Montessori’s life and her influential teaching method, before cutting it short to avoid a brewing rainstorm. Inside, they ate birthday cake.

On Tuesday, weather permitting, the children plan to head back outside and plant a tree in Montessori’s honor.

The whole ceremony was the children’s idea, teachers said.

“They did all the research and put it together,” teacher Kellye Robvais said. “We proofed it and put it in order for them.”

Montessori established her first self-named school 100 years ago in Rome, and now her method, in which children direct their own learning based on their passions, is common throughout the world.

Belfair is one of two Baton Rouge public schools, including Dufrocq Elementary, which offer Montessori education. At least three private schools in the city also use Montessori methods.

Montessori education is now found in about 4,000 schools in the United States and about 7,000 around the world.

Meher Mojy said she lives far from Fairfields Avenue in north Baton Rouge, but nevertheless has sent all four of her children to Belfair.

“It’s a wonderful education program,” she said. “Kids learn a lot, and it’s the opposite of the traditional school.”

Teacher Nichelle Smith said that children will learn on their own, asking for help when they need it, often from other children.

“A lot of time the kids teach each other,” Smith said. “Kids seem to learn better from each other.”

Smith rattled off a list of famous people who grew up with Montessori training, ranging from hip-hop and R&B artist and businessman Sean “Puffy” Combs to Sergey Brin, a founder of Google.

Smith asked the children to name facts about Montessori.

“She helped people when they need help,” said Alex Alacon, a second-grader.

“She helped children learn,” said Loren James, a third-grader.

“She was the greatest teacher on Earth, said J.J. Ekeler, a second-grader.

J.J.’s mother, Barbie, has three children at Belfair and loves it.

“The kids don’t get bored because they find out what interests them and they go with it,” she said.

J.J., who is 7, explains what he likes about Montessori this way.

“I like recess and I like to work,” he said. “I like the classroom, too.”

Smith said people have misconceptions about Montessori. She said it’s not exclusively for children with disabilities, or gifted children, or that the teachers let children run wild.

Belfair assigns children to multi-age classes, grouped into three- year age groups. Students use specialized learning tools, such as paper lands on trays of sands, and abacus-like frames with beads that help teach multiplication.

Unlike most educational programs, Montessori starts with children between 3 and 5 years old – the earlier the better say Belfair teachers. After kindergarten, though, children are too old to enter the program.

Mojy said she and other parents of Montessori children would like the school system to create a dedicated, or schoolwide, program that starts in preschool and goes all the way to eighth grade. Belfair and Dufrocq are both small programs in larger public schools, and both end in fifth grade.

Sadirah Scott, who has two children in Belfair’s program, said she’s been impressed with the advanced work children there accomplish. Her own children are already planning their futures.

“My 5-year-old told me she wants to be a pediatric surgeon,” Scott said. “My 3-year-old wants to be a police officer. They’re completely different.”

(c) 2007 Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.