The workshop will focus on these topics:
Enrichment of vocabulary
The power of words… What is language? Where do we start? The limits of my language are the limits of my world.” Ludwig Wittgenstein. The starting point in all that we do is the child. What do we know about the child? What are the universal laws that the child brings with him and how do we support this unfolding development?
Logical thinking and free expression
The child is born with a potential to develop a language but is unable to speak at birth. Montessori observed that during the first six years of life the child possesses a special type of mind called the Absorbent Mind and experiences a ‘sensitive period’ for language. This enables the child to create his mother tongue without any conscious effort.
From birth the child is absorbing whatever language/s he is surrounded by. Therefore, as soon as a child is born it is vitally important that he is always in an environment. When a child is exposed to an environment where the language spoken is rich and he is given the opportunity to speak as well as listened to, he will have the possibility of speaking clearly and articulately. Inevitably, this will later enhance his ability to write as well as give him a greater appreciation of what he reads.
Writing – The manifestation of thought
Montessori education guides the children to explore writing. But how do we do this? Children have the natural drive to write, express themselves in a constructive love to write. We need to remember this drive that mankind has of self-expression, now in a graphic form. Writing is the ability to put down one’s thoughts on paper, preparation began long before the child got anywhere near a pencil in the Children’s House! So that when writing happens, it will explode from within, over a period of time.
The explosion into reading
So what is our aim? To read the child needs to be an accomplished ‘writer’… They need to be able to; look at the word, the unknown, a mystery, breakdown the symbols, analyse, breakdown, fuse back together, put in context of the sentence, give experience, that eventually leads to understanding. It’s a long process that leads the child through an organic process to that of total reading.
Schedule
Day one:
Part 1: Enrichment of vocabulary
Part 2: Logical thinking and free expression
Day two:
Part one: Writing – The manifestation of thought
Part two: The explosion into reading
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Guest: Karen Pearce, AMI Montessori educator, level 3-6 years
Date: 24-25 February 2024
Time: 12.00-15.30, Romanian time
Price: 500 lei (VAT included)/100 euro (VAT included)
The meeting will take place online, on Zoom.
Registrations: please fill in this form.
Language: English with Romanian translations.
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Karen Pearce is Director of Pedagogy at The Montessori Place in Brighton, UK, where she mentors the Children’s House guides. She has 35 years of Children’s House experience and she lectures and runs workshops across Europe. Karen also offers an online Montessori mentorship programme to support guides in putting theory into practice. Alongside all of this, last year Karen put her slippers back on and returned to lead a Children’s House for a year’s maternity cover!