Hardwired for Success

 by John Long, Head of School

“Brains are built over time,” says Jack Shonkoff, Director of Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child. “They also don’t come fully wired.” 

1500 Montessori teachers gasped in unison while watching a videotape of two nerve cells growing together after repeated ‘firing”, forging a new strand and strengthening an existing pathway in the brain. Speaking to an Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) conference, Houston neuroscientist Bruce Perry, M.D., PhD. (director of The Child Trauma Academy) affirmed Dr. Montessori’s observation that children construct themselves from their experiences.

Construct themselves?

When I first read Montessori’s observation thirty years ago, I assumed she was speaking metaphorically, offering a precursor to the core principal of contemporary “constructivist education”: that through active engagement and hands-on learning a child “constructs” his own understanding of the world.

I agree with that observation, but there is more. It is not just knowledge that the learner constructs; each of us literally constructs our own brain during childhood. We actually, physically construct our organ of learning during the years of childhood and adolescence. The brain is molded by experience. Unlike a computer, the human brain is not fully wired when it comes out of the box; while the full complement of nerve cells is in place, the connections between them are “wired” during the first years of life—a process that isn’t fully completed until age 24.

“What science now tells us is that very early in life there are ‘sensitive periods,’ fixed windows of opportunity when certain parts of the brain are being wired for certain skills, such as associating sounds with objects or putting words together. Once that sensitive period passes, the circuit is formed and can’t be rewired.

“’As new circuits are being built, if they’re building on earlier circuits that were wired properly, they work really well,’ Shonkoff says. ‘If they’re building on earlier circuits that weren’t wired properly, it’s a harder job for the brain to adjust. There are greater energy demands on the brain. It’s a bigger cost to the brain to try to develop adaptive behavior and adaptive skills by overcoming and getting around faulty circuits.’”

Dr. Montessori intuited what modern neuroscientists have proven. The brain is quite malleable during the first years of life, enabling the young human to adapt to his culture and environment. Dr. Perry described how “patterned, repetitive practice” shapes the network of neurons in the brain. Neuron pathways that are used frequently, grow together and increase in size to handle more information. Neurons not used are “pruned”. We actually have a greater number of neurons in the brain during infancy than at any other time of life—but the network of connections between those neurons is not well developed. During this time of self-construction we pave the main highways and let grass grow over the seldom used footpaths. Perry emphasized that this process is active in the acquisition of physical skills, cognitive skills and social skills.

In other words, the same mechanism that takes us from tentative exploration to fluent competence in walking or catching a ball, also operates when we are learning basic cognitive skills like subtraction, or more complex problem-solving skills like building a robotic car for an engineering competition. We learn to put one foot in front of the other without thinking, and we learn to borrow from the next column when we need to. These are specific skills that call upon a particular set of neurons in the brain every time we need to perform those actions. 

On a more global level, our experiences in school shape our attitudes: our attitude toward learning and our approach to life itself. Our experiences shape our brain toward being comfortable—or uncomfortable—with the ambiguities inherent to invention, creativity and exploration; attitudes that are literally hardwired into our brains by our experiences.

Patterned, repetitive practice hardwires our brains for social interaction, too. Social intelligence and emotional intelligence are largely learned behaviors and they are not learned through preaching and exhortation, but through doing. We learn to cooperate by working with others over and over. In the same way we learn to value the input of others, to celebrate diversity, to understand the emotional responses of others, and to understand our responsibility to the group. Actions that practice these skills over and over again hardwire our brains. These social and emotional skills then become as automatic as walking. 

Education blogger David Warlick writes, “How many leaders are we losing when we teach children to be taught instead of teaching them to teach?” His question reiterates that school is not just about what we learn; more importantly the way in which we learn shapes who we become. 

“Montessori kids are good at doing things.” Pediatric neuropsychologist Stephen Hughes was speaking to a friend who is a guide for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and who works with adolescents in the Boundary Waters Wilderness of northern Minnesota. Thinking about himself as an adolescent, and thinking about his friend leading groups of adolescents on wilderness expeditions, he ironically asked, “Who are the good kids?” She didn’t take it as a joke, but instead reflected for a moment and replied, “The Montessori kids. They’re good at doing things. When I ask adolescents from traditional middle schools to do something, I have to ask them again; then I have to remind them; then I have to nag them. When I ask the Montessori kids to do something, they do it. Joyfully. They do it well. Then they figure out a better way to do it, and then they embellish it. Montessori kids are good at doing things.” Dr. Hughes was so struck by that answer, he enrolled his young daughter in a Montessori school. And so did most of his colleagues in his department at the University of Minnesota.

Why are Montessori kids good at doing things? Why are they joyfully industrious? Why do they take ownership of a task, embellishing on the result? Why do they take responsibility and initiative? Why do they work together with such easy cooperation? Why do they have such a positive rapport with the adult leaders? Because this has been their experience in the Montessori classroom beginning at the age of 2 or 3—and it has been built into their brains.

The way we learn shapes who we become. Our brains are literally hardwired by our experiences, embedding not only information, but even more significantly, outlook, attitudes and behavior. Montessori kids are hardwired for a lifetime of success.

Why is it so important to continue my child in the kindergarten year at a Montessori school?

Why is it so important to continue my child in the kindergarten year at a Montessori school?  In the Montessori environment, the child is presented with endless opportunities to develop all his/her senses and his motor skills with the aid of self-correcting materials in a prepared setting. During the third year a child can not only work with these materials in more depth, thus gaining more insights from them, but, using this base, can move into the academic areas.

Next, having learned from older children, shared with his peers, and helped those younger than him self, he has the opportunity to assume leadership within his class. Having established critical learning habits – concentration, self-discipline, and a sense of order, persistence in completing a task, creative self-expression and a love for learning – the child can have these behaviors reinforced in a supportive exciting environment.

All preparations for later academic work and for social and emotional development, which have been so carefully nurtured in the three and four-year-old child are reinforced in the kindergarten year. As one parent put it, “Everything my child had learned up to then seemed to fall into place, and he was ready to meet other challenges once he had this foundation.”

Won’t it be easier for my child to make the adjustment to public or private school at the kindergarten level rather than at first grade level?  In most traditional kindergartens, the primary emphasis is on developing social skills with some preliminary work in cognitive readiness. In a Montessori environment, the emphasis is on individual growth, which allows for cognitive development based on a firm foundation of sensory and motor skill training, which makes the transition into academic work so much easier for the child. This transition occurs naturally during the third year in a Montessori environment, and it occurs without stress, pressure, or praise. At this point, a child who is ready will begin reading and working with math materials in addition to other activities. Few conventional kindergartens are geared to do this or have children who have been prepared for such work, and so it is not introduced until first grade

Montessori and Reggio Emilia

MONTESSORI

Proven Method of Education created by Maria Montessori. 

Believes in Children’s Natural Intelligence, involving rational, empirical and spiritual aspects.

Three year range per class in order to promote adult-child continuity and close peer relationships. 

Teacher is an unobtrusive director

Individual and Group lessons. 

Self correcting materialsInner discipline through natural, logical consequences      

Uninterrupted work periods. 

Enhanced Curriculum.

Focused instruction in reading and writing with scope and sequence and clear cut domains that result in children reading before the age of 6.

Emphasis on individuality. 

Studies directly shows effectiveness of Montessori method in respect to reading, literacy, mathematics and motivation  

REGGIO EMILIA

Is not a model in the strict sense but an approach to learning that can be fit to different settings; methods include both traditional and innovative.

Focuses on each child in relation to others and seeks to activate relationships between children       Can be used with either single age or mixed age groups

Teacher takes on the roles of partner, nurturer, and guide with children  

Group lessons with individual instruction at "teachable moments" 

Discovery-oriented in a more open-ended way than Montessori education.       

Self-regulation promoted through interaction with peers under teacher guidance.       

Teachers and children interact frequently.       

Curriculum is guided by teachers planning to build upon children’s interests.       

Emergent literacy as children record and manipulate ideas; all areas of curriculum.

Emphasis on individuality in the context of the group

American research on many components of  the Reggio approach, such as the project method, demonstrate effectiveness , but there are no large research studies of child outcomes available.

First Keyboard Lessons

Today we had our first one to one Keyboard lessons for our pre-primary children. Ms. Yanina was truly impressed with our children and we enjoyed her visit.

Did you know this about Maria Montessori?

• Erik Erikson had Montessori training and taught in a small private school in Vienna with Peter Blos in the late l920.s. It was organized for the education of the children of Dorothy Tiffany Burlingham who was in analysis with Sigmund Freud. A student of that school describes his happy memories of it in our ERIKERIKSON: A LIFE.S WORK. The school had strong influences of Dewey as well, using the project method.
• Maria Montessori was a generation older than Piaget and Vygotsky. She was born in l870 and they in l896. Both men knew her work and commented upon it.Piaget was the President of the Swiss Montessori Association for several years.Vygotsky included mention of Montessori in an interesting paper on early literacy written in l930.
• It can be accessed at: http://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/works/mind/ch08.htm. In it he commends Montessori for having children learn letters kinetically andhaving them write before reading but he criticizes the content of their messages. He felt the children were sending formal declarations of congratulations instead of the more personal messages he felt more vital. It is not clear from the article how much he actually observed of Montessori education but there were schools in Russia during his lifetime. Montessori's role as a constructivist is just now being recognized.  

Our Webcam installation has been finalized

We have just finished the installation of our Webcam system for our school. Please call us to get your password and be able to access and see your child from any computer.

Baby Bon Appetit will be catering our meals for the upcoming school year 2008-2009

Baby Bon Appétit is based in South Florida, delivering a all natural and oganic mea to many happy families and schools. Currently, Baby Bon Appétit's School Lunch Plan is responsible for nourishing the tummies of students at several premier private schools in South Florida with its pediatrician-endorsed meals. This, along with their reliable service, assures parents that their children are receiving only the best of the best. And don't we all deserve to treat our bodies well while enjoying it, too?

Our School is a Full Member of the American Montessori Society

Our school is now fully accredited to the American Montessori Society as a full member school for children ages 3 months to 6 years of age.

New Location - Registration Now Open!

Village Montessori Day School is proud to announce that we have moved into a beautiful new space in Coral Gables. Our Address is: 1414 SW 22 ST Miami, FL 33145 Even better news is that registration is now open! Call us at (305) 858-9199 to find out how to register your infant, toddler or preschooler at Village Montessori!

We Have a New Website!

We are proud to announce that we have a new website for our school! With the help of Transio - Miami's Leading Web Development Company, we now have a beautiful new website where parents can write to us, find our programs and calendar, and in the future, even more!