How Do Students Do After Montessori?
One of the questions we are most frequently asked when families are touring our school is, “How do the students do once they leave Montessori?” A recent research study by AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) reveals that Montessori students who transition to traditional settings score higher in Mathematics and Science than students with no Montessori background. For students who have attended a Montessori program for three to eleven years, significantly higher scores are noted. If you have further questions regarding our students’ performance, please reach out to us.
Praise and Intrinsic Motivation
All parents want their children to be independent, self-reliant, and have the opportunity to be creative. In an effort to support the child, parents often say “good job” for the simplest successes. However, praising interferes with natural learning and come become a form of control. Children learn their actions are celebrated and can begin to perform for adults versus interacting with them.
Here are a few findings about children who are over-praised:
• Praised children do not perform as well as intrinsically motivated children
• Praised children produce lower test results
• Praised children become dependent on others
• Praised children become less successful at tasks
Studies have shown that children’s motivation, creativity, social interactions, and overall cognitive functioning are negatively affected by extrinsic rewards and false praise. Children know when they deserve the praise or recognition for a job well done – they also understand when do not deserve it. Many times children will stop performing or begin acting out because they feel there is no standard they must reach.
Instead, encourage your child. Encouragement is powerful self-esteem boosting tool. Focus on:
Effort – “What a great effort you made today!”
Improvement – “Wow, you did five more sit-ups today.”
Contribution and Involvement – “Your team worked well together today. I saw you work together with Johnny on that play that scored.”
Confidence – “I can see how proud you are.”
As a parent, it is difficult to know the fine line between appropriate praise and encouragement. Instead of praise, find opportunities to intrinsically motivate your child. Be specific on what you are complimenting about to your child. For example, instead of saying “Great job on that picture!”, say “I really like how you took your time to color in the lines.” Instead of saying “Good work!”, say ”It looks like you really tried to use your best handwriting on this piece of work.”
So remember… we should encourage and display gratitude instead of praising the smallest tasks. Your children will thank you for it later in life!
For more information on this topic, please read “Five Reasons to Stop Saying ‘Good Job’” by Alfie Kohn, a leading author and speaker on education, parenting, and human behavior.
What’s In Store for Summer Camp at Foothills: Spanish
Looking for a relaxed and meaningful environment for your child to spend some of their hot days of summer? Let them immerse themselves in the cool space of Summer Camp at Foothills Montessori School, where learning and fun intersect. Give them the opportunity to sharpen academic skills in a relaxed and creative way!
To kick off the summer program, Spanish camp comes knocking giving your child the chance to be more fluid in conversational Spanish. Newcomers to the language, as well as fluent speakers, will benefit from the Montessori approach to learning Spanish by utilizing a range of Montessori materials to explore the grammar backbone of the language. A key component of learning a second language is to hear it spoken in context of conversations; your child will have this chance by the songs, videos and games that will be brought to the classroom. They will walk away with a more refined understanding of the language knowing how to express every day greetings, describe the weather, and translate numbers, colors and class room objects.
A second Spanish camp is offered to travel to various Spanish speaking countries in the world. Each day will introduce a different country and give your child the chance to feast their eyes, ears and taste buds on the wonderful artistic, historical and food cuisines of the countries studied. Guest speakers will bring in artifacts and share real life experiences about the country studied. The week will close out with a live Mariachi group from a local High School performing for the class.
Look for more highlights from our summer camp curriculum in upcoming posts!