Did you know that children who participate in music, theatre, art and dance are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement than those who don’t?  It’s true.

In a time when many schools are cutting back on their arts programs, there’s actually a lot more at stake than losing out on the opportunity to be entertained at the annual spring concert.

Study after study has shown that when arts are integrated into the curriculum, students are more motivated to succeed, develop a better memory and have a greater ability to concentrate on the tasks assigned to them.

In addition to the cognitive benefits, children that grow up exposed to the arts are more likely to form deeper emotional and cultural connections that enable them with new ways of seeing the world around them.

Ironically, companies looking to hire the best and the brightest having been touting “creativity” and “out-of-the-box thinking” as two key characteristics that they’re looking for in new hires… And yet, the traditional classroom’s standardized approach to teaching does not reward children that ‘colour outside the lines.’

At EMS, music, art, theatre and dance have a permanent place in our curriculum. We believe that self-expression and creativity have a critical role to play in our students’ overall development, and that activities like the school play help build confidence by teaching perseverance, collaboration, focus and accountability.  It’s hard work that also happens to be fun. The fact that parents get to be entertained by it is simply a bonus.

Interesting articles/videos on the subject:

10 Benefits of Arts Education

Ted Talk Video: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

“There are times when – as an educator – you have to step outside of the box and look for the lessons that simply can’t be taught from a textbook – especially when it’s a beautiful day outside!”

On one particularly lovely Friday afternoon in May, the school hallways and classrooms were quiet and empty. Outside in the schoolyard, it was a completely different story. Ms. Deborah and her teaching staff were giving a lesson… a lesson on how to skip rope.

“Believe it or not, three quarters of these kids have never played with a skipping rope, and yet there is so much that can be learned from this ‘old school’ game.” explains Ms. Deborah.

In addition to the laughter and sweaty noses, it quickly becomes apparent that the benefits of the game go beyond just the
physical (ie. fresh air, exercise, coordination & rhythm); the children are establishing rules, negotiating who goes first, compromising on the number of turns. Leaders begin to emerge. Those who quickly get the hang of it are either helping others, or ‘hogging’ the spotlight. Those who are reluctant to give up their turn are quickly called out by their peers. Without realizing it, these kids are learning the art of compromise, negotiation, and leadership. Skipping isn’t easy peasy. It takes practice, coordination and stamina. Are there are few frustrated tears? Absolutely. But with them come lessons on the importance of perseverance and humility; That it’s okay to be frustrated and that there are ways to recover from it. These teachers are well aware that their student’s lives will be full of challenging moments; moments that require skills that aren’t dependent on their academic knowledge – and that sometimes it’s the ‘unwritten’ lessons that will stay with these kids forever.

A few hugs and many High Fives later, the students and teachers line up to head back inside. The school day is over. Moms and Dads are arriving to find their children sweaty and a little bit grimy. They are also being greeted with huge grins and excited chatter about what they “learned today!”

“It’s afternoons like these that feeds my passion as an educator. 30 years of experience tells me that these children won’t remember that assignment they worked on in the classroom this morning, but they might just remember how they felt that day they skipped the afternoon away.” says Ms. Deborah with a smile, as she turns to wish her departing students and their families a wonderful weekend.

French is one of Canada’s two official languages. Learning French is also part of every province’s school curriculum – and a requirement for many public (and private) sector jobs.

If that’s not enough to convince you that French is a language worth learning, then perhaps these additional tidbits might help:

1. If you speak English, learning French is not only easier to learn, it also makes it easier to learn other languages

With the English language having French and German roots, English-speakers may find that French is somewhat easier to learn than Spanish, for example.  Once you’ve learned French, the other ‘Romance’ languages (i.e. Spanish, Italian, Portuguese) will come more easily.  Why? Because with Latin as their base, these languages share a good proportion of basic vocabulary and a number of similar grammatical forms.

In other words, it will be a lot easier to pick up el español if you can speak French.

2. French is spoken all over the world

French is an official language in 29 countries around the world. An estimated 220 million people worldwide can speak it and according to the 2011 Census, nearly 10 million of those people live in Canada (i.e. about 30% of the Canadian population.)

Outside of Canada and Europe (where French is still taught in school), French remains a growing global language.  Some studies project that by 2050, French will be spoken by over 750 million people, with a predominant presence in Africa – one of the fastest-growing economic areas of the world.

3. It’s good for the brain

Learning a second language is like a workout for your mind. In fact, people who speak more than one language have denser gray matter in their language centers than monolinguals. (In other words, the parts of the brain devoted to memory, reasoning, and planning are larger in those who speak more than one language.)

Countless studies also show that analytical, social and literacy skills are improved when growing up with several languages (i.e. it can have a positive impact on self-esteem.)

4. Opens up more doors (to travel and careers)

Need we say more?

Click here to learn about Ellington Montessori School’s French Program.

“Movement, or physical activity, is thus an essential factor in intellectual growth, which depends upon the impressions received from outside. Through movement we come in contact with external reality, and it is through these contacts that we eventually acquire even abstract ideas.”

Dr. Maria Montessori

Learning does not – and should not – take place solely in the classroom. Mother Nature can be a great teacher and getting kids outside to learn and play is not only good for their bodies, it’s good for their brain.

During a recent skiing lesson, our Head-of-School took advantage of a pause at the top of the hill to teach some of her Lower Elementary students about the light fog that they were seeing and feeling around them.  Not only did the children arrive home with a healthy glow to their cheeks that evening, they were able to tell their parents all about how clouds are formed!

Being an educator is a tough job.  It is a chosen life-long commitment that comes with many ‘how-to’ manuals and unlimited variables.

We want our children to be successful. We want to help them along the path to success in every way that we possibly can.  In order to do that, we may need to take a step back and first ask ourselves:

     How do I define success?

     How do I define success for my child?

As parents – and educators – it’s easy to get caught in the comparison trap; Is Sam ‘behind’ or ‘ahead’ of Jack? Is 3 year-old Jessica doomed because she can’t spell her name?

The journey to ‘success’ (however you define it), is not the same for each child, and it takes brave parents and creative educators to unite as a team to help students discover their individual talents and reach their full potential. (See Related Post: Make it Personal)

Have a look at this interesting article that discusses how self-control – not I.Q. – may in fact be a better predictor of future success. Then ask yourself again:  How do I define success for my child?

Article: Teaching Self-Control Is More Important than Academics

Cursive writing samples by Ellington Montessori students ages 4 to 11

Handwriting is being dropped in public schools in favour of proficiency on a keyboard.  While we agree that proper typing skills are critical, research in psychology and neuroscience tells us that it is simply too early to declare handwriting a relic of the past.

Dr. Stanislas Dehaene, a psychologist at the Collège de France in Paris explains: “When we write, a unique neural circuit is automatically activated… There is a core recognition of the gesture in the written word, a sort of recognition by mental simulation in your brain.”  In other words, handwriting is actually good for the brain.

A 2012 study led by Dr. Karin James at the University of Indiana found that when children drew a letter freehand, they showed increased brain activity in the three areas of the brain that are activated in adults when they read and write. (The brain activity was significantly weaker when the children traced or typed the letter.)

In a separate study conducted by Dr. Virginia Berninger at the University of Washington – typing, printing and cursive writing resulted in distinct and separate brain patterns. When children wrote sentences by hand, they produced more words more quickly and consistently than they did on a keyboard. They also expressed more ideas. For example, when the children were asked to come up with ideas for a story, the ones with better handwriting showed greater neural activation in areas associated with working memory.

Bottom-line: Children not only learn to read more quickly when they first learn to write by hand, but they are also better able to generate ideas and retain information.

And as for cursive writing in particular? Dr. Berninger goes so far as to suggest that cursive writing “may train self-control ability in a way that other modes of writing do not”, and some researchers argue that it may even be a path to treating dyslexia. In other words, it’s not just what we write that matters — but how.

While we believe that proper typing skills are critical, we also believe that learning to write is ever more critical; So why not teach both?

When we ask a 2 year-old child carry their own backpack, are we asking too much? When we tell a 12 year-old to mop up their spill off the floor, are we acting like tyrants?

In today’s world, some of those ‘little things’ that would have been an unspoken expectation a couple of generations ago, have suddenly become serious eyebrow raisers. Some parents may think the teacher is being “mean”. The reality: They’re trying to help the child build a little something called self-efficacy.

In a society that is currently obsessed with self-esteem, many experts (and non-experts) believe that our children are now being over-helped, over-directed and over-protected. Despite our good intentions, we are depriving our children of the chance to strengthen the belief in their own ability to complete tasks and reach their goals – something that is arguably critical to future success.

Julie Lythcott-Haims, the former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford, presented a great TED talk view on the topic a couple of years ago. If you’re looking for ways to help set your child up for success, take a few moments and watch this video.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein

Whether or not Einstein truly spoke these words, the idea that different people learn in different ways is by no means a new idea.

Dr. Howard Gardner, a Professor of Education at Harvard University, presented his Theory of Multiple Intelligences over 30 years ago. In a nutshell, Gardner challenges the standard view of intellect: That a person either is, or is not intelligent, and that intelligence can be adequately measured by IQ tests (something Mr. Einstein would surely disagree with!) Gardner argues that IQ tests typically assess linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence; and that they “were a reasonably good predictor of who would do well in a 20th (note: Not necessarily a 21st) century secular school.” On the other hand, Gardner’s theory proposes that there are at least nine types of intelligences and that each individual has their own unique configuration of intelligences (i.e. capabilities and skills).

In terms of implications for education, Gardner believes that we should teach/mentor/nurture individuals in ways that they can learn (i.e. personalize).

Individualizing education may sound great in theory, but is it realistic?

We happen to think so.  In fact, it’s called the Montessori Method… and it’s been in practice for more than a century.

As Montessori celebrates it’s 110th anniversary, it’s interesting to note that Dr. Montessori’s philosophy on learning is just as powerful and true today, as it was in the early 20th century.  Yes. Times have changed. The demands of the 21st century are different, and so parents (and educators) need to ask themselves: Will the conventional approach to education truly unleash our children’s potential for maximum success in today’s world?  

For those of us who tend to be ‘visually inclined’, here’s a link to a video that does a nice job of summarizing the difference between a Montessori and Conventional education.

As parents, we all want our children to succeed. We want our children to be the best they can be, do well in school, relationships and work.

We also wonder if we are doing ‘it right’.

If our child shows a keen interest in something, we sign them up for lessons. If they demonstrate talent in a particular sport, we get involved. If they have superior knowledge, we get the tested for the gifted program. Right?

Testing is a tricky business. While we support testing, the interpretation of the results and what to do with the information is the critical piece.

Our thoughts? “Genius is what one accomplishes in life, not the score one makes on a test of mental ability.”

Article: What your IQ score doesn’t tell you.

Words you say about another, matter.
Words you use to describe one being, matter.
Words you use to compliment or criticize, matter.
The tone of your voice, matters.
No matter the age, words matter.

Make a difference. Manage your words that matter most, to all that matter most to you!