Listing of AMI 'Communications' 

Contents

San Remo Lectures: 1
The Creative Capacity of Early Childhood
Maria Montessori

Remembering…
Anne Marie Gillet, Margaret Stephenson, Dea Vollgraff, Margot Waltuch

Report of the Annual General Meeting

Financial Report—2002

AMI/USA Report

Report on the Activities of the MM 75 Fund in 2002

April in Amsterdam: Photographs

General Report on AMI Training Centres in 2002

Other Reports

Why the Extended Work Period is Central to Montessori Elementary Pedagogy
Phyllis Pottish-Lewis

This year 80 years ago…
Focus on important events of 1923

Training of Trainers Programme at Assistants to Infancy Level

Question and Answer:
Transition from Infant Community to Primary

Changes to AMI Blueprints for 3-6 Materials

Announcements

 Listing of AMI 'Communications' 

Highlights from 'Communications 2003/2-3'

San Remo Lectures: 1
The Creative Capacity of Early Childhood

The 8th International Montessori Congress took place from 22-29 August, 1949. The title of the Congress was La Formazione dell’Uomo nella Ricostruzione Mondiale (Man’s Formation in World Reconstruction). The four major lectures that Maria Montessori delivered then have been retranslated by Renilde Montessori from the original Italian and are being featured in this and forthcoming issues of Communications. In her introduction to the first lecture Renilde Montessori writes: ‘If one’s thoughts tend to seek symbolism in nature, the four San Remo lectures can be seen as verdant hillocks at the foot of the august mountain that is the work of Maria Montessori.

The title of the first lecture is “The Creative Capacity of Early Childhood”. In it, as in the other three, as in all her teaching, throughout her life, she enjoins humanity, not only parents, educators and other specialists in care of children, to study the child.

 Contents 

Why the Extended Work Period is Central to Montessori Elementary Pedagogy

Phyllis Pottish-Lewis is an AMI teacher trainer at the Elementary level. In the article “Why the Extended Work Period is Central to Montessori Elementary Pedagogy” she argues that ‘If we are to continue to implement authentically Dr. Maria Montessori’s tradition of assisting the child in his self-construction allowing for spontaneous learning and spontaneous self-discipline, we must persevere in the application of all her principles and theories in an atmosphere of freedom. Her theories and their genuine execution permit the child to develop according to his individual inclinations and potential.’

The article discusses the following main aspects of Montessori school-life at the elementary level: Fostering Independence, Importance of Freedom, Benefits of Offering Children Freedom to Act, Development of Social Characteristics, Emergence of Spontaneous Discipline, Drawbacks of Outside Teachers.

 Contents 

Question and Answer
Transition from Infant Community to Primary

In this particular “Question and Answer” Judi Orion, Denver, AMI director of training at the Assistants to Infancy level, deals with some of the main aspects to be taken into account when considering moving a child from an Infant Community to a Primary class.

Ms Orion focuses on how best we can prepare teachers and parents to anticipate this move from Nido to Primary and be open to this transition when the child is ready, not when the administration or teachers are ready. She outlines which signs should be looked out for and discusses extensively how the transition needs to be flexible to meet the needs of each individual child and describes the basic differences between the two environments that should be borne in mind.

 Contents 

Changes to Blueprints

This item deals with changes in the production of the materials for the 3-6 Prepared Environment, which results from revisions to the AMI blueprints. The recognised manufacturers of the approved materials are notified of any changes and they in turn make the relevant changes in the production of those materials.

Sensorial Material: Geometry Cabinet
For some time now the seventh triangle—the acute-angled, scalene triangle—has been part of the material. The question which arose about this triangle is where it should be placed in the cabinet, as there are only six spaces in the drawer of triangles. It has been decided that it should be kept in the drawer of the four quadrilaterals. This drawer contains the rhombus, the parallelogram and the two trapeziums (U.S. trapezoids), one acute-angled and one right-angled.

Arithmetic: Spindle Boxes
For many years there have been two containers for the spindles: one with compartments for the quantities from 0 to 4 and the other with compartments for the quantities from 5 to 9. From now on, there will only be a single container. This means that the children can see all the numbers from 0 to 9 at the same time. Besides introducing the concept of the zero, the latest design reflects what children have discovered with the Number Rods, but now the quantities are separated. In fact, that is the way Dr. Montessori originally designed the material.

Geography: Puzzle Maps of Continents
There have been two different productions of this material in place for some time, both of which are accepted. One set has a wooden base on which the pieces representing countries or continents rest or are placed. The other set has no wooden base; the pieces are kept in a separate container.

As regards the position of the knobs, there will now be two options as to where they should be placed. The knob may be placed where the capital of the country is situated or in the centre of the piece.

 Contents