Forest School Adventures

We have had an enormous amount of fun in our first two weeks of Forest School getting into the natural world—learning, exploring, and adventuring. During the first week, we explored the backyard of the school and developed our daily routines and safety protocols. The children particularly enjoyed playing a hide-and-seek game called Hawks and Mice—getting ever more adventurous (and muddy) with their hiding places as the week went on.

In our second week, we ventured through the back gate and into the natural area behind the school. We used magnifying glasses to look at milkweed and goldenrod plants and watched Monarch butterflies pass by on their journey south; we played a Monarch migration game in which the children ran from a northerly starting point to a warm, southerly wintering site stopping along the way to rest and drink goldenrod nectar; and we explored several new areas including the edge of the marsh and a grassy wooded area filled with ash and maple trees.

Already, after just two weeks, the children are demonstrating greater comfort in the outdoors as they climb up and down a steep hill, encounter living things (like birds, toads, earthworms and dragonflies), navigate off-trail through tall plants and grasses, walk on uneven terrain, and spend time outside in a variety of weather conditions.

On the topic of weather: A particular highlight of the week was a very happy morning spent outside in the pouring rain. We set up the tarp and sat beneath it listening to the loud sound of the rain. Under the tarp, we completed our daily weather report and read stories using a flashlight. Then, with arms outstretched and palms up to feel the water, singing songs about the rain, we made our way through the tall, wet grasses, down the big hill to the fabulous puddles below. The children loved jumping in the puddles! They jumped. They splashed. They giggled. They put their hands in the cold water. They got extremely dirty. What fun!

Check back for more updates about our woodsy adventures.

Discipline and Expectations in a Child Centered Classroom

"Discipline must come through liberty" - Maria Montessori

Introduction

A significant hurdle that most parents or caregivers encounter when trying to understand how a child centered classroom, such as a Montessori classroom, operates is the issue of how to cause a child to undertake the tasks expected of them. This is often termed classroom discipline in mainstream schools. Often in information nights at a school there are a series of good questions that essentially ask how do you cause the children to behave in a particular way. There are a few elements to explore in relation to discipline in a classroom around ranging from the premise of the term to the adjustment process to the distinctions around outcome. Also key to any discussion around discipline is the process by which discipline begins to come from within.

Origin and Premise

While the origin of the word discipline relates to "following" it has come to imply "punishment intended to correct". At this core definition is often really the first place where an educator in a child centered program will begin to pause, clarify the question about discipline and answer the questioner carefully. As parents our experience is typically of wanting an outcome that is apparently in conflict with what your children want. Child centered programs start from the premise that fighting natural responses is going to be an uphill battle and attempt to utilize those responses. Is this a valid position to take or does it lead inevitably to chaos? Our experience in classrooms is that it is surprisingly effective and it appears to be related to the application of a number of processes . The first process is actually careful consideration of the separation of goals versus mechanics. At a basic level it avoids artificial rules and focuses on real priorities. If we use language as an example topic, Montessori teachers are not at all ambivalent about language - they are quite passionate about language development and typically have a strong sense of the stages children usually go through in developing language. (As an aside: Montessori begins with writing along with or before reading similar to the way babies babble and listen for reinforcement to develop spoken language rather than expecting to understand language entirely before expressing). As such Montessori programs end up with very specific goals for children such as understanding the sound produced by various letter combinations. I note this because the "child centered" phrase can evoke the sense that "children do whatever they want" and as a result "they aren't doing important things". The important goals for children really are present in the classroom and are specific. So a teacher in a child centered classroom will ensure that language is developed over time, but, will not insist on attention to language at a specific time.

However, discipline implies the premise that there are negative things to correct: Once we have assured ourselves that we understand the goals for the children how can we minimize being derailed from those goals. A good teacher will understand that it is not minimizing the negative but maximizing the positive that is the best recipe for successful students and a successful classroom. Researchers call this area of study Operant Conditioning and one outcome of the difference between "applying reward on positive behaviour" versus "applying punishment on negative behaviour" is that applying punishment on negative behaviour tends to reduce experimentation. At this point most child centered programs have already taken a different tack to the discipline premise and they advocate to encouraging an appropriate natural response rather than seeking conformance. For Montessori, this connects back to specific goals through the concept of "Prepared Environment". Prepared Environment essentially means that taking the goals for the student in one hand and the natural responses in the other the teacher brings those into alignment by creating a physical and social environment that makes the goals a natural outcome. As parents though, this is really abstract, but most parents experience this in some form, often a good example is when success is achieved in toilet training children. No matter the method or various approaches success usually arrives when it becomes easier or more comfortable or more satisfying or more rewarding for the child to use the toilet than to use a diaper. This can happen without ever criticizing or rushing a child, but just by creating that environment where it is better to be independent. This connects back to our reading example, the teacher can begin create stimulating activities (such as tracing letters or layout basic words with materials in the classroom) and give children the natural excitement and an opportunity to feel the sense of accomplishment of communicating. In this environment you "get to use the letters" rather than "have to memorize the 'e'". The result is that in very many situations the whole premise of disciplining to ensure a desired outcome is entirely avoided.

Adjustment and Feedback rather than "By the Book"

So if we have goals and a typical response to the environment and a well researched method for preparing an environment where the goals are a "natural consequence" could we just respond to the students from a script? Not entirely, beyond the judgement needed to understand when a particular student is ready for the next step in a series of activities we all recognize there is a lot of variation in the social approach and personalities of individuals. My own children have very different responses to noise and at Birthday parties one will tend to find a quiet space and withdraw and the other will engage and get very silly. Again the art here for a successful teacher is to have an adjustment process or feedback loop where they have an opportunity to try try things that draw children out or calm them down and time to observe the consequences so that they can continually adjust their feedback and the whole environment to help children come into their own skin and be able to engage in the classroom positively. This feedback loop also extends to the materials themselves. If you read writings originally from Maria Montessori or from later researchers with an eye towards this "action, observation, adjustment" process you will find it played an important part in identifying principles and it is expected that Montessori teachers will apply the same process. Initially many people in Montessori consider it very inflexible (and in fact some people administer a classroom inflexibly). The most extreme and exciting example I am aware of for a feedback loop that adjusted the program in a Montessori class involved a young child that was entirely disinterested in the natural blocks and textures of materials in the classroom. He was proceeding through the materials, but, the teacher in the classroom felt the environment was not truly taking sparking his natural inquisition because it was often a struggle to help him find work that he was interested in and would complete without support. However, he loved Motorcycles. He would jump to the window at every throaty Harley or whine of a racing bike. The solution of course was to bring a motorcycle into the classroom where he and all the children could accomplish the ultimate learning goals but themed around the bike itself with language and other lessons using parts of the bike as part of the lesson. In this way we further add to the situations which can be addressed without the traditional "discipline" approach.

Its also interesting to contrast the observation and feedback mechanism that is effective in keeping children engaged and acting appropriately with the nominal zero tolerance style rigid rule sets. This rigidity is facing a research backlash. Without responding in an individualized manner teachers create a distorted environment and incentives.

Outcome

At this point in a conversation between someone new to Montessori and an old hand there will be a pause. Both individuals will be mulling over the fact that while the above approaches are surely very successful most times, what happens when they aren't? This is where common sense needs to prevail. I mentioned earlier that "application of punishment" has a side effect that is undesirable in preparing for a future in our modern complicated world and that side effect is that in discouraged experimentation. In some situations experimentation is unsafe. Montessori classes are typically very flexible in terms of motion, children are moving around and selecting work independent of the actions of other children. However, children clearly can't leave the school or climb on chairs or hurt other children or engage in other unsafe actions. Once we have done all we can to discourage that outcome, it is pragmatic to ensure that dangerous behaviours don't continue by physically guiding children away or reprimanding by strongly expressing that it is not acceptable. In order to be respectful to the children and to ensure that the behaviour is not just repeated when an authority figure is not present this should be coupled with an explanation of the danger. As proud as practitioners of child centered approaches are of the ability to inspire children to accomplish great things and to show respect it is important to acknowledge that safety and respect for other children are not optional.

Self Discipline

The development of "discipline from within" is another key outcome of a child centered classroom. In this I can not speak better than the words of Maria Montessori, from "The Montessori Method":

Discipline must come through liberty. Here is a great principle which is difficult for followers of common-school methods to understand. How shall one obtain discipline in a class of free children? Certainly in our system, we have a concept of discipline very different from that commonly accepted.

If discipline is founded upon liberty, consider an individual disciplined only when he has been rendered as artificially silent as a mute and as immovable as a paralytic. He is an individual annihilated, not disciplined.

We call an individual disciplined when he is master of himself, and can, therefore, regulated his own conduct when it shall be necessary to follow some rule of life. Such a concept of active discipline is not easy either to comprehend or to apply. But certainly it contains a great educational principle, very different from the old-time absolute and undiscussed coercion to immobility.

While there has been a change in the concept of "undiscussed and absolute" deference to authority in the time since Maria wrote this the concept of discipline as liberty continues to be enigmatic and profound. And of course distinct from chaos and anarchy.


Conclusion

Implicit in this discussion is what range of behaviours should we even be targeting? There are some easy answers like respect and there are some easy things to avoid like personal danger. But, fifty years ago the world was a very different place and fifty years from now, in our children's lifetime, it will be different again. Encouraging children who all think the same and are all capable of the same specific skills does not seem like a good way to prepare them for a changing world without a crystal ball to predict what they will need. Instead, educators need to continue to focus on universal skills, creativity and a love of learning. In light of this we should never lose sight of inspiring self discipline and independence while considering classroom discipline.

Launch and Licensing Process

Echo is launching with a small group of children in September. Our basic classrooms are setup and our staff will be in the school beginning September 7th so we'd love you to come and visit. Check it out at Echo Montessori

After our inaugural month we will be expanding for October. When final construction is complete at the end of September Echo will finalize licensing for 15 children age 2.5 years to 6 years and 5 children age 18 months to 36 months (some spots are still available). This phased start is going to be an effective way to launch the school, but, was in fact not the original plan. Much of the adjustment from the original plan is attributable the relationship between the licensing process and the preparing the space (including municipal approval).

While the most complicated elements are related to the building itself, the licensing process is a detailed and thorough process administered (currently) by the Ministry of Youth and Children Services. This process is scheduled to move to the Ministry of Education. To get a sense of the depth of detail associated with licensing, I have attached the ~50 page licensing process. If you are starting a daycare or curious as to the process Echo has been working through check out this checklist.