Listing of AMI 'Communications' 

Contents

Message from AMI's President

A Montessori Approach to Physical Education
Greg MacDonald

Montessori 'Movement'

Lecture on Movement, London 1946
Maria Montessori

Annual General Meeting of the Association Montessori Internationale
Agenda and Venue

Nominations for the AMI Board

Secretarial Report for 2000

Centro Studi Casa Natale Maria Montessori

Question and Answer

Announcements

 Listing of AMI 'Communications' 

Highlights from 'Communications 2001/1'

A Montessori Approach to Physical Education

Many of today's children tend to lead more sedentary lives than ever before; television and computers coupled with 'fast food' diets contribute to an unbalanced lifestyle. Recognising the need to turn the tide, to initiate discussion and to raise awareness of this growing problem, AMI invited Greg MacDonald to address the meeting of the Directors of Training and Trainers in Ambleside in August, 2000 on the subject of Montessori and physical education.

Greg MacDonald is an AMI Elementary trainer, consultant, and examiner. Greg's talk was introduced to the assembled Directors of Training and Trainers by Camillo Grazzini.

From the Introduction to 'A Montessori Approach to Physical Education' by Camillo Grazzini:

Maria Montessori is always primarily a scientist rather than a pedagogist, also when it comes to physical education. We can find evidence of her scientific approach to physical education in the first two Italian editions of her book, The Montessori Method - Scientific Pedagogy as Applied to Child Education in 'The Children's Houses' (1909 and 1913)...

As we can see in her book, Montessori herself adopts the so-called 'natural gymnastic movements' ... that lead to essential exercises such as 'standing and standing with good posture; walking and developing endurance in walking; running, jumping, moving and lifting weights; developing powers of balance', etc. We can find all these physical activities in Montessori's education of movement in the Children's House as well as in the relevant language activities.

From the main article on Physical Education by Greg MacDonald:

Section/Issue #1 Introduction

In this part of "A Montessori Approach to Physical Education", the author focuses upon the need for inclusion of physical education programmes in our schools. He traces the development of physical education from its historical roots in the lives of early human beings to the present day, and also examines Maria Montessori's own experiences in the field, her work in the area of nutrition and its relationship to classroom materials and practice.

'Intellectual progress is conditioned at every step by bodily vigour. To attain the best results, physical exercise must accompany and condition mental training'. (Comenius A.D. 1650)

A Montessori approach to physical education can be distilled into a single sentence: Approach physical education in your classroom as you would approach mathematics or biology, or any other area of knowledge, or any other skill.

Section/Issue #2 Introduction

In this part of "A Montessori Approach to Physical Education", the author highlights Maria Montessori's work in physical education, describing a range of apparatus introduced to the young children in her care. Fundamental Montessori principles are identified, and their application to physical education is discussed, the place of competition is examined, and a physical education programme having a distinctive Montessori flavour is described.

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From Lecture on Movement, London 1946, Maria Montessori

On the 1946 Training Course in London, Dr. Montessori spoke of the importance of freedom of movement for the very young child. She illustrated her lecture with a number of personal observations, demonstrating the child's inner drive towards the construction of the adult of the future.

"... Now that the child can walk independently, he begins not only to carry heavy things but also to engage in other activities which are difficult for him. He needs to engage in what we call 'the maximum effort'. He climbs on chairs, climbs the stairs, he does all those things which require a great effort. It is not merely that he exercises his conquest but that his conquest enables him to exert great effort. This is an example of horme which compels the child to exert the maximum effort: to go into the world and do these difficult movements. Children of this age evidently have an urge of nature, a determined urge, because all children all over the world show the same need to exert the maximum effort."

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Annual General Meeting of the Association Montessori Internationale

In Communications, no 4, 2000, on page 42, a notice informed you that the Annual General Meeting of the Association Montessori Internationale will take place on Saturday, April 21, 2001 at 14.00 hrs at 't Nieuwe Kafé, Nieuwe Kerk, Dam Square, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The full Agenda for the Annual General Meeting can be found in the Upcoming Events section.

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Centro Studi Casa Natale Maria Montessori

The name of the town Chiaravalle will most probably have a familiar ring for many Montessorians: it is a town whose history goes back to the 7th century A.D. Construction of its Abbey Santa Maria in Castagnola was started in 1172. Situated on the Adriatic coast, with the town centre only six kilometres away from the sea, it has a population of some 14,000 inhabitants. Small, yet with a long history; perhaps unassuming, yet the home of Maria Montessori's first years. It is where her parents married and she was born.

The very house were she was born has for many years been identified as such. Now, Chiaravalle has expanded its recognition of the merits of one of its most prominent citizens ever. The 'casa natale' has been turned into a Montessori study centre and museum. 16 November, 2000 saw the official opening and inauguration of the museum. Special guest of the Mayor and authorities of Chiaravalle was Carolina Montessori, great-granddaughter of Maria Montessori. Together with the Mayor, Alessandro Bianchini, she unveiled the plaque of the new museum.

So, if ever you find yourself in the province of Ancona in the neighbourhood of Chiaravalle, by accident, or on purpose making a little Montessori pilgrimage, do visit the Casa Natale. It should be a most interesting stopover along the Montessori route.

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From Question & Answer

This time the Question and Answer section deals with the question when and how to use the term cuboid or Prism, with reference to the Sensorial Material.

The article first gives the explanation given by Mario Montessori in 1977 and is expanded by Camillo Grazzini and Baiba Krumins.

"...Each 'step' of the broad stair, as well as each rod of the long stair, can be called a: geometric solid; polyhedron, hexahedron; (special) prism; (special) parallelepiped; (special) cuboid. All of these terms are correct and exact; the only difference is that some are more general and others more specific. We can always choose one or another according to the context; in other words, which one is more appropriate in the present context?"

AMI invites questions for this section of Communications. Just send an e-mail to info@montessori-ami.org

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