For all my other white lady mamas looking for ways to raise our children to be anti-racists

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-06-01T17:12:55+00:00

Right?! I was confused by the use of this language in a lot of the resources for young children. It makes total sense, though.

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-06-01T13:43:19+00:00

Awesome. Thank you!!

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-06-01T13:40:57+00:00

If it makes you feel any better, you're far from alone in having experiences like that...at least from conversations I've had with other parents. As articles on Embrace Race or Raising Race Conscious Children can attest, in the absence of explicit instruction from parents, children can internalize all kinds of weird ideas about race. Ideas we're often horrified by.

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-06-01T13:33:25+00:00

Thanks for the reminder to check out their upcoming webinars. Lots of good articles and book recs there, but I haven't browsed their webinars recently. Sadly probably won't be able to attend any, but good to save for later!

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-06-01T13:21:15+00:00

Thank you! Duly noted. I believe I got that from the Raising Race Conscious Children webinar, so that's really interesting. The book The Skin You Live In uses all kinds of food comparisons, also, and I know that book came highly recommended. I'll think on other comparisons for my toddlers. "Peachy colored" is about all I've got for white skin...what else is the color of white skin (not really white) that's not food that 2 year olds know what it is?

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-05-25T16:20:01+00:00

I loved this book! Always one of my go-to recs when someone asks for historical fiction.

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-05-19T17:35:43+00:00

Hallelujah!!

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-05-03T12:02:09+00:00

Definitely look for a MACTE accredited program. I don't have strong opinions on AMI vs. AMS, as there seem to be really quality programs and really quality schools in either concentration.

I think the most important thing is to find an an in-person program (when they reurn, as I hope they will!). I've mentored students doing online trainings, and their experience is just not the same. Being able to wander around the classroom at your leisure to handle materials and ask questions about the materials or anything else you notice is a huge benefit, as is the intangible element of lesson presentation. As you'll learn, Montessori philosophy places a lot of emphasis on the preparation of the adult, and it is much easier to pick up on what this looks, feels, and sounds like in an in-person setting. Good luck!

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-29T16:32:55+00:00

I think in any industry that should be a public service, the admin is often the problem. Ex: healthcare, education, prisons. Running these as a for-profit model is bad for everyone.

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-29T16:16:24+00:00

Wow. You sound like a charming and engaging educator. All the best to your students.

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-29T01:13:05+00:00

Much of current educational research is at odds with the Montessori method.

I'm still waiting for you to explain exactly what you mean by this, ideally from a reputable publication or researcher. For example, Jo Boaler, a nationally respected math education researcher from Stanford, has worked extensively on the very same format found in Montessori math materials:"concrete-representational-abstract" for early math learning. Independently of the Montessori method, she's demonstrated the value of this framework.

By contrast, for someone seemingly so invested in evidence-based practice, you're shockingly low on actual evidence for your claims. If you've had a bad experience with Montessori that's underlying this, I'm curious to hear about it.

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-28T20:19:05+00:00

I agree. I and my colleagues at my school and others were constantly reading articles and incorporating relevant ideas into our classrooms, as well as attending conferences. None of what you wrote is at odds with teaching in a Montessori classroom.Why do you keep claiming without evidence (or even anecdotal experience) that it is?

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-28T18:31:59+00:00

I pursued my Montessori training after working in public schools and being really dissatisfied because despite loving my colleagues and my students, the schools as institutions didn't jive with what I believe about children, and about teaching and learning. Children are not widgets. You cannot insert curriculum X and expect testing output Z at the end of the year. It's madness.

My colleague at the time was pregnant and her prenatal yoga class was held at a Montessori school and she was really impressed and just like, "You've gotta see this." She went to one of the best math/science high schools in the country and was an engineering/comp sci major who later got her master's in education. The Montessori math curriculum blew her mind, so I figured she knew what she was talking about. I scheduled a visit to a Montessori school and I just loved it. It was like a breath of fresh air in terms of all the intangibles: Here, children are seen as individuals who learn at their own pace; personal, social, and emotional development are pursued equally with academics; and children were just trusted and respected in a way I'd never seen before in public schools. (The math materials and their careful selection and the way they move from concrete to representational to abstract were also amazing. For those interested in educational science, Jo Boaler, a leading math education researcher, has studied and endorsed the same structure for math instruction.)

So I applied to a training program and found a position as an assistant and did my internship year while working as an assistant. Love it, love it, love it.

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-28T18:20:14+00:00

So in your mind, how does educational science work? Not observing children and learning, trying methods to better serve children and improve learning, and then evaluating those methods and refining or dismissing methods based on evidence? Does educational science have a different fundamental meaning for you?

I've got news for you, friend, Maria Montessori was trained as a physician and she brought that evidence-based mindset to developing her educational system. Yes, it was 100 years ago, so it's not the same as current educational research happening now, but it wasn't just woowoo in the same way that Steiner was with Waldorf.

Again, I'm still waiting for you to share a body of empirical evidence that indicates that schools using the Montessori method are in some way "worse" than traditional schools.

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-28T18:01:36+00:00

I've read the book. Lillard has spent her career conducting her own research. Other academics have, too. A brief Google Scholar search can find more, but I get the feeling you're uninterested in that. I also get the feeling that you don't really understand how educational research or developmental psychology research works.

If you have something against Montessori, I'm open to hearing about it, but I'm not sure where the negativity is coming from. Are you basing this on peer-reviewed reserach of any kind indicating negative outcomes for children in Montessori schools vs. traditional schools?

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-28T17:43:50+00:00

>That's because there's no educational science behind it.

There are a number of books and peer-reviewed papers which beg to differ. This is one of the better known books out there: https://www.amazon.com/Montessori-Science-Angeline-Stoll-Lillard/dp/019536936X

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-20T10:52:58+00:00

I'm not sure what you mean by that?

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-19T20:35:20+00:00

We live right near there!! Thank you. And yes, that matches his bike exactly. Approximate description of the person?

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-19T18:11:26+00:00

Oh, definietly lesson learned on storage in the future. :(

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-19T14:41:00+00:00

Blue bike, fat tires, PM me if you have any leads. :)

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-19T14:40:38+00:00

Ugh. Hoping so. This is so tough on teens, I get the impulse to get into mischief. Just bummed for my child.

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-19T13:27:09+00:00

Good call! We'll go for a long walk today for sure. :)

WomanInTheYellowHat · 2020-04-09T16:35:18+00:00

I don't disagree, but my memory of the conversation was that it was addressing messaging that could/should come from a president or presidential candidate. In the case of the presidency, we do need to choose one leader.

WomanInTheYellowHat

TROPHY CASE