Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Reminder: Adolescent Parent Ed Night on Feb. 2

  • Join us on February 2 from 6:30-8:30 PM as we engage in a Paideian Seminar based on a Montessori reading, guided by A3 English instructor Andrea Christensen Zdenek. Meet at GRS in the Upper Seminar Room.

  • Come ready to read, reflect, discuss!  Leave with a richer understanding of Montessori’s adolescent philosophy and the seminars that form the foundation our work with your students.

  • (Text and reading time provided during the event.)

  • A key component of our adolescent program is the seminar. The Seminar is a dedicated discussion where the facilitator (guide) plays a moderating role, optimizing the intellectual engagement of the student through the art of questioning.  Seminar discussions occur once a week in the A1 and are integrated into English, Social Studies, Math and Science. In their earliest iteration they are very adult-guided. Increasingly the control of the discussion and questions are handed over to students until, in the A3, students craft the questions and facilitate the discussion while the guide observes, takes notes, and provides feedback on the discussion, with minimal guidance and redirection. Essential in this practice are the skills of grace and courtesy that includes the use of a talking stick, listening with respect and managing one’s own behavior. Academic skills include crafting interpretive questions, referencing the text, understanding the difference between facts, opinions and interpretations, and of course engaging deeply in conversation on an intellectual text.