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Our societal belief is that homework is needed to continue learning. However, there is no documented research that this is valid or true. According to Alfie Kohn, author of “The Homework Myth,” the positive effects of homework are largely mythical. There is no evidence of academic benefit from assigning homework in elementary or middle school; and the younger child gains no meaningful academic achievement through doing homework. Our school’s belief is that Homework is actually Work @ Home. This work is to be meaningful, purposeful and productive, as well as being developmentally appropriate for the child. Research also shows that reading to/with your child, allowing for 90 minutes of uninterrupted free play (outside if possible), and eating a meal together EACH DAY has HUGE implications for their academic success. Work @ Home during Summer Break is to be with purpose, generated by the child if possible, and meaningful! ***Limit Screen time :) Computers, phones, tablets and television: create a media plan with your child and observe what your child is exposed to on the screen. To support families in this process, we encourage them to use strong observation skills with their child to see when they are ready for new challenges. The work you do with children at home should be more learner-led and self-correcting and should try not to involve the family in correcting the child. Here is a list of ideas to enjoy with your child (mostly 6-12 year olds) over the break: Language/Reading: Read a chapter book of interest each night with your child Purchase a “kid-friendly” magazine and read the articles Read a newspaper article Play “ABC Find” in the car – finding words that begin with a, b,c and shouting out – Who can get to a “Z” word first? Read favorite poems Read and sing a song Read directions on a package Read about a topic on Wikipedia Choose a reading computer game and enjoy Make sight word flash cards and time yourself to see how fast you can read them Find words with the following blends: ph, wh, sh, ch, th Make a list of rhyming words Make up a 4 sentence rhyme Write a paragraph about your favorite food using capital letters and periods Write adjectives (words that describe) about your favorite place Practice your first and last name in cursive Practice memorizing and writing your address and phone number (as well as those important people you need to know) Write a story (a few paragraphs) about your favorite place to go Take a walk around your house and make a list of things you see, hear, smell and touch Take a monthly trip to the library and read a book while you are there – even learn to use the computer to search for books Keep a “running” list of nouns, verbs, adjectives – adding to it once a week Look up new words in the dictionary and write their meanings – catapult, ecstatic, minor, fare, challenge, gingko Practice writing 3-5 syllable words in cursive Do jumping jacks as you spell out challenge words - 3-5 syllables Start writing in a journal or diary each day Find 5 favorite pictures and write a sentence (or paragraph) about each Math: Measure a cup, ½ cup, ¼ cup of cereal Make a list of math terms that go together (+/plus, add, addition, put together, addend) (-/minus, subtract, subtraction, take away,subtrahend) (times,multiply,product, multiple) (divisor, division, dividend) Write out 10 facts that equal ten when using addition Write out ten facts when using 1-10 with multiplication Make a list of 3 shapes you find in your house (with right angles) Draw a triangle, square, circle, rectangle, oval and ellipse Make a schedule for your daily routine in digital time (XX:00) Use a clock to show 3:00, 7:00, 10:00, 9:30, 12:30, 4:30 Count 35 minutes from now, what time is it? Write numbers 1735 and 468 in expanded form (1000+700+30+5) Find the tens place in the number 1235 Find the tenths place ins 765.39 Mark the hundreds place in 479 When at a restaurant, add up the bill without tax (or calculate tax too!) When at a grocery store, find the price of your three favorite foods Round 459 to the hundreds Round 17 to the tens Pick three of your favorite numbers, then add them together Add the ages of your family members Practice subtraction and addition facts in the 1000s place with exchanging Measure cups of water – which is more: a cup or a quart? How many quarts make a gallon? Draw a right angle and label it Draw parallel lines Draw a segment, ray, line Use a tape measure to find lengths of favorite household items Cultural: Find out five facts about your favorite animal Make a list of the 5 kinds of animals and their characteristics Look at a map and find where California is – north, south, east, west Can you name and label all 50 states? Where is Antarctica? Start a leaf or flower collection Make a timeline of your life – include at least 5 important things Find India, China, Venezuela and Nova Scotia on a map Take a walk Find out the parts of a tree Pick out three favorite toys – do they sink or float and why? Write at least one paragraph about your favorite place Discuss your family belief about the creation of the world Draw or write about your wants and needs Put the 50 United States in abc order What are the differences of a carnivore, herbivore, and omnivore Draw and label the planets Research about Pluto – a planet? Research dinosaurs or other prehistoric animals Make a list of the seven continents and at least one animal or plant that is native to each continent Name at least 5 landforms Make a map of your community or house and yard Write at least three facts about North America and Europe Play in water or swim Other: Label your room with words – ex. Door, bed, carpet, poster, shelves Chart the foods you eat every day for a week using the food pyramid Run in place for 10 minutes a day for a week Create a unique sandwich or food item to share with your family Write down 3 jobs you want when you grow up – list pros and cons about the jobs Make a “sitter” list with important information and phone numbers, then place by the phone Practice with your family a fire safety drill – where is your meeting spot? Make a personal safety book to share with your family – include how to speak with strangers, what to do if approached by a stranger Make a street safety guide – about riding bikes (helmets and pads), walking, and what to do if you get lost or separated Paint a picture for a friend Use three “trash” items to recycle and create with Start or add-to your responsibilities at home – try to do without your family reminding you Create a plan to earn money for going out trips Donate gently used toys and clothes to a shelter Collect canned good items from other family members and take to a food bank Finally, here is a link to a PDF of a handout from a past workshop for parents of learners ages 6-9, with activities listed by level. Feel free to browse this for ideas as well! #ParentEducation #Montessori

So much has been happening in April and May, we thought we would share some of the highlights: In late April, the Pergola in the Back 4 Acres behind the school was completed by the "Building Group" of the Islands 12-14 year old learners. This was another of the projects completed as a part of the Great Exhibitions. Our whole school will use this for many years to come. Thank you Islands! A new tree was planted in the Early Education playground. The tree is a Deborah Norway Maple. The leaves come out almost black then turn green. In the fall the large leaves will turn golden before falling. A big thank you to everyone that made the this planting possible including Faith Stout, Allen Franz, Emily Ross, and Ben Traughber, along with the Islands teens who volunteered to plant the (very heavy) tree and planning for daily watering. Finally, here is a preview trailer for Mulan, Jr, which is being performed by 9-12 year old learners as a part of the Gemstones' Exhibitions tonight and tomorrow night at 6pm. #ProjectBasedLearning #CommunityMontessori

Two teens at Community Montessori had an idea. After meeting with learners at our school and in other community schools, the group created a catalyst for a shared, community, public art project entitled Stronger Together. The conversation began after the time when the Parkland school incident took place and the teens involved decided that our local community in Southern Indiana should take action. Here is a slideshow of the beginning of the project at Community Montessori, and leaving on the trailer to begin its travels: Teens from Southern Indiana schools, including Community Montessori, New Albany High School, Floyd Central High School, Providence High School, Jeffersonville High School, Silver Creek High School, Clarksville High School and Rock Creek Community Academy have committed to participate over the next several weeks as the sculpture travels from school to school. Learners at each school will be invited to add string on the heart sculpture to make a public statement of support symbolizing unity and honoring the lives lost to school violence. Here is the project arriving at Floyd Central High School, leaving Floyd Central, and arriving at Jeffersonville High School: The project is intended to emphasize that from Columbine to Parkland to Southern Indiana, and all over the world, the one thing all of us have in common is LOVE! As a community and as teenagers, this project is meant to demonstrate that we can stand together against any kind of school violence. The project also hopes to encourage all people to vow to stay connected with one another and treat all people with love and kindness. Our school and community holds the memories of those affected by school violence close to our hearts. The teens would like to thank artist Joe Autry, a parent at Community Montessori who worked with the teens and created the metal heart used as the base for the project, Melissa Merida and the New Albany Library who will be assisting with the display of the project when it is completed, as well as all of the schools who plan to participate over the next several weeks as the sculpture travels from school to school. UPDATE JULY 2018: The video of the Dedication event on Friday, May 18th 2018 is now live on Youtube: #CommunityMontessori #Art

In late March, the Islands Teens hosted a "Great Exhibition" of projects created during a six month period. ​Learners presented results from five group projects. The first group presented their process and data from the launch of a weather balloon on March 14th which visited a height of approximately 31,863 meters on its flight. The second group “cut the ribbon” on a teen designed and constructed outdoor learning pergola on the school’s property. The third group showcased collaborative quilt displaying their progress with mastering sewing and textiles. A fourth group performed a theatrical presentation planned, created, and performed by the teens. Last but not least, the fifth group premiered a learner created short film. A perspective of this fantastic event was covered by the News and Tribune in a story on March 23rd linked here. Shared here is is the short science fiction film, "Citizens of the Universe", that was written, directed, and performed through a collaborative effort of learners ages 12-14 a.k.a. "The Islands Film Group", and viewed during this Exhibition. #ProjectBasedLearning #Montessori

If all the difficulties during the turbulent metamorphosis of adolescence could be reduced down to one essential question, I think it would be, “Who am I?” Related to this essential question are others, such as, “What do I value the most in life?” and, “Why am I here?” The curriculum of any adolescent program, then, ought to serve the superseding purpose of helping teens formulate answers to this question and all of its relatives. Of course, in many important ways, answers to these questions are deeply personal and therefore subjective. There is not one right and factual answer. Furthermore, the answers are fluid, ideally, because while some aspects of personality persist throughout time, others evolve as we learn more and have more experiences. In another way, though, there is a scientific and objective answer to the question that applies to all ages, cultures, nationalities, ethnicities and races - an answer that applies to anyone from anywhere at any time history: a member of the human race. Sure, this may seem obvious at first, but we are inclined to forget or ignore it all too easily. For most of our species’ existence, we operated as isolated tribes competing with other tribes for resources and, ultimately, survival. As a result, natural selection hardwired our brains for tribalism, leaving us hampered by what E.O. Wilson calls the “Paleolithic Curse: genetic adaptations that worked very well for millions of years of hunter-gatherer existence but are increasingly a hindrance in a globally urban and technoscientific society” (The Meaning of Human Existence 176). This is why, even though most educated people today accept the fact that we all belong to one human family on one shared planet, we don’t act like it. It is why we are susceptible to xenophobia, racism, nationalism, and even religious tribalism, despite the fact that we are an extraordinarily intelligent species with an abundance of facts at our disposal that overwhelmingly demonstrate the myopic and self-destructive reality of such Paleolithic mentalities. Montessori often marvels at the incongruity of humanity’s brilliance and ignorance. In one speech, she observes that, “[Man] is more intelligent now, but the feelings that should accompany this increase in intelligence are still missing, and they cannot stir within him because his way of life is wrong. He is overcome with hatred and does not obey the laws of nature. Nobler feelings - awareness of the unity of all living beings, for instance - are very slowly appearing in him (Education and Peace 97). This observation begs the question: how do we accelerate the actualization of these “nobler feelings,” particularly for those young people metamorphosing physically but also emotionally and psychologically in their final plane of development before adulthood? There is no simple fix, but one accelerant is a comprehensive curriculum that can help them answer the question, “Who am I?” We need a methodology rooted in scientific facts yet spreading out to all other fields of study in order to help us reach up to our highest potential as a species that possesses “enough intelligence, goodwill, generosity, and enterprise to turn Earth into a paradise both for ourselves and for the biosphere that gave us birth” (Wilson 176). A fragmented approach to learning that emphasizes content at the expense of context results in a disorienting learning experience at best, and one devoid of meaning at worst. This traditional approach, prominent since the 19th century, leaves adolescents on their own, by and large, in their quest for answers to their biggest questions. Montessori’s cosmic theory, which informs the pedagogy and curriculum of Cosmic Education in elementary, ameliorates this problem by connecting “all the items of culture...as different aspects of the knowledge of the world and the cosmos. Astronomy, geography, geology, biology, physics, chemistry are but details of one whole. It is their relation to one another that urges interest from a centre towards its ramifications. There is besides this the other part which concerns directing the consciousness towards humanity” (Basic Ideas of Montessori’s Educational Theory 131). Presenting the whole universe story stokes the flames of imagination and piques curiosity about all subjects, as everything the child learns adds more detail to the story. Furthermore, humanity emerges from this cosmic narrative “as a sacred being of creation and as the greatest marvel of nature” (Ibid. 131). Thus, from a very young age, the Montessori learner becomes sensitized to the “unity of all living beings.” Pictured: Kyle is given an elementary level Cosmic lesson by a learner, and then shares teen version. The elementary years in Montessori lay the groundwork for profound revelations in adolescence, but the problem is that the Cosmic Curriculum does not extend into the third plane. Compounding the problem is that our content-heavy educational paradigm dumps information on teenagers without helping them assemble it into any kind of meaningful story, and if we’re not careful, that information dump can quickly suffocate the flames of imagination that once illuminated the world for the child. Fortunately, a history professor named David Christian recognized this problem and developed a course called Big History. The details of the course are less important than the fact that the overarching objective, at least from a pedagogical standpoint, aligns closely with that of Cosmic Education. According to Christian, Big History is, “the attempt to understand, in a unified, interdisciplinary way, the history of Cosmos, Earth, Life, and Humanity” (International Big History Association). Rather than five Great Lessons, Big History demarcates the universe story with eight Threshold Moments of increasing complexity, the last three of which concentrate on the human story. Just as Montessori intended, this approach nests humanity within the larger context of the planet and the universe, and it sets up a magnificent stage upon which the story of humanity finds its proper setting. For the past five years, our Teens Program has been using the Big History conceptual toolkit to link up all the content required by the state of Indiana into one cohesive narrative that aims, above all else, to help our teens answer their most burning question: “Who am I?” Our highest aim is that our graduates “feel the pride and privilege of belonging to humanity” because this is the only way to break the Paleolithic Curse and move our species forward into a more fulfilling, safe, and prosperous future. Sure, aiming for good test scores would be much easier, but Montessori emboldens us with her mission, which is nothing short of “...the true salvation of humanity and civilization” (Education and Peace 28). And sure, it would be easy to surrender to cynicism and say humanity is a hopeless cause, but Montessori teaches us to see ourselves anew, as marvels of creation united as one organism on a very special planet teeming with life in an otherwise unremarkable solar system in an average galaxy among billions in a universe of infinite mystery and wonder. For the adolescent, and for all of us, that should give more than enough room to respond to the question, “Who am I?” with an answer that includes all of us: “I am a proud and privileged member of the human race." #ParentEducation #Montessori

In this post, watch an edited version of the flight recording from the "CMS Obscura" a weather balloon launched on March 14th, 2018 by teen learners ages 12-14 in the Islands at Community Montessori School in New Albany, IN. Visit this link to read a related blog post on the "Great Exhibition" of this and other projects. #ProjectBasedLearning #Montessori

ASSIST Teens led a discussion and viewing of "More than Sad" a documentary produced by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The Foundation has graciously allowed us to post the link to the documentary here. The Foundation also recommended this page as a resource for families that would like more information or support around this topic. When you visit the link, click the section "For parents having conversations with young adults." You can also view the Community Montessori discussion about the video by viewing our YouTube playlist of the night's discussion - both introduction and conclusion. #ParentEducation #Montessori

Please find here the recording of this year's 2018 State of the School Address held on Tuesday, February 6th. #PIPWorkshop #ParentEducation

Here is an update from Diamond Studio (learners ages 9-12) on their reef tank project! #ProjectBasedLearning #ReefTank

Natalie Schelling gave an informative presentation on Montessori theory - and the role of the adult or parent in Montessori Education. View the entire playlist on YouTube here. Download the slides from the presentation here. #ParentEducation #Montessori

On Tuesday, December 5th, Teens from A.S.S.I.S.T. led a workshop with Hannegan Roseberry about mental health and how to best support your teen. There was an informative discussion of societal stigma and how it can get in the way of getting help when it's needed. View the full playlist on YouTube here. Download a copy of the PowerPoint presentation to accompany the video here. Resources: Counseling and Therapy Services in Southern Indiana and Louisville Article: Why It's Tough To Be a Youth in Indiana

(Image: Mark Manson, 2017) I woke up one grey Saturday morning with a brain full of disappointment and a general annoyance about everything. I knew that I had a ton of work to catch up on, bills to pay that I knew were late and about 4 more days until payday, all of the dirty laundry, about 34 emails waiting for a response, and to top it all off the sound of one of my beloved and mischievous cats knocking over all of the objects on the kitchen table to signal me that his food bowl was empty. I rolled over and like most of us, picked up my phone and began chipping away at a mountain of Facebook, Instagram, and email notifications. As I laid there scrolling through my news feed, a message notification popped up from one of my dearest companions. It was a slam poem titled “Complainers” by Rudy Francisco. I had just told this person a few nights ago two very important facts about myself, facts you the reader should also know moving forward: I can’t stand it when people complain. I really love poetry. Curious and excited, I started watching the video and got slapped in the heart with a serious dose of perspective with the following excerpt: Read the rest of the article in a PDF by clicking here.