Montessori Center School Creates Positive Kids with Positive Forces

Montessori Center School Creates Positive Kids With Positive Forces, originally published in Santa Barbara Independent on November 19, 2020.

Montessori Center School Creates Positive Kids With Positive Forces, originally published in Santa Barbara Independent on November 19, 2020.

Developing Well-Rounded Students with Time-Tested Techniques

Dr. Maria Montessori would be 150 years old this year, but her teaching methods have managed to stay relevant for more than a century. Here are a few reasons why Montessori continues to be prized by so many of today’s parents.

Development of a Lifelong Love of Learning
“Children are encouraged to develop a love of learning for their whole lives,” said Melanie Jacobs, head of school at Montessori Center School. “We try to hook into their motivations and interests so that their learning is guided by that and they’re wanting to
learn from inside. I think that’s how self-motivation is formed. We want it to be a lifelong love of learning, so that they’ll be inspired to continue to learn throughout their whole lives.”

The Importance of Independence
“We also focus on independence and self-sufficiency and resilience, which this year especially, I think is actually very important,” said Jacobs. One of the Montessori
sayings is “Never do for a child what they can do for themselves.” “We certainly guide a child that needs help, but then we step back and allow them to do as much of it as they can so that they become advocates in their own learning, especially as they get older. There is a lot of creative thinking and thinking out of the box, and there’s also a lot of collaboration with their classmates, which I think is really important right now because in their future work endeavors, collaboration is a big part of how companies encourage their employees to work.”

The Peace Curriculum
Strategies vary depending on the level of the children, but there’s a peace shelf or a peace corner in every Montessori classroom. “It basically helps children to learn conflict resolution skills really early, so even in our 3- to 6-year-old classrooms, you might see something like a talking stick or a love light,” said Jacobs, who has been with the school for 27 years and is in her fifth year as head of school. These tools are used to talk out conflicts and to
learn to listen to what the other person is saying, “and then together they try to find some sort of compromise to solve their conflict. When they’re younger they need more guidance, but then as they get older into the elementary grades, a lot of the time they’re really able to work out what the problem is on their own.”

Respect and Appreciation for Differences
A big Montessori theme is to encourage a lot of respect for and curiosity about other cultures. “In today’s world, I think that’s very relevant,” Jacobs said. “Families are encouraged to share their culture in our community, and then it allows the children to
sort of see the commonalities across all of the races and cultures for better understanding and respect.”

SB Independent Cover, Schools of Thought, November 19, 2020.

SB Independent Cover, Schools of Thought, November 19, 2020.

Originally published in the Santa Barbara Independent on November 19, 2020. To read the section as it appeared in print, please click here.

 

Santa Barbara Spotlight: Local Photographer/Teacher Judy Duchesne-Peckham Shines a Light on One of Afghanistan’s Bright Spots

A welcome sight, girls returning home from school, Kabul, photo by Judy Duchesne-Peckham

A welcome sight, girls returning home from school, Kabul, photo by Judy Duchesne-Peckham

Though she had traveled extensively around the world, when Judy Duchesne-Peckham first traveled to Afghanistan in 2003, she was amazed at what she saw. “Seriously, it was like being in another planet. … I’ve been to a lot of poor places and I photographed in Vietnam and I kept thinking how can this be different,” says Duchesne-Peckham, taking a short break from her work as a photography and French teacher at San Marcos High School.

 

“I had never been to a country that was currently at war before and it was very different. I had just never seen so much suffering and trauma in people’s faces,” she says. “But I had never met such a generous and sweet and loving group of people. They were so hospitable.”

 

Original residents at House of Flowers, photo by Judy Duchesne-Peckham

Original residents at House of Flowers, photo by Judy Duchesne-Peckham

Throughout her multiple trips to Afghanistan, Duchesne-Peckham documented much despair, but also found many images of hope, particularly in a small Montessori-based orphanage school called The House of Flowers, founded by Dr. Mostafa Vaziri and Allison Lide, both of whom contribute essays in the book, along with family therapist Casi Kushel and educators Dr. Inayatullah Majaddiddi, Amanullah Nasrat and Faheem Abrahimi.

 

It’s this positive light in country of darkness, which Duchesne-Peckham has chosen to spotlight in her new book, Healing Afghanistan: Hope for the Children, a high quality, coffee table photo and essay collection containing the faces and stories of “a small number of people and children who represent the dazzling spirit of this country.” She is donating 100% of the profits from book sales to The House of Flowers orphanage.

 

The contrast between what she describes as “the prevailing despair in the large government orphanages and the beginning of hope in one small Montessori-based ophanage/school” is what really struck Duchesne-Peckham, who describes her work as documentary photography.

 

Zacki welcoming visitors to House of Flowers, photo by Judy Duchesne-Peckham

Zacki welcoming visitors to House of Flowers, photo by Judy Duchesne-Peckham

 

“I always teach my students lessons about what an amazing impact documentary photography has had on the world and how people need to see it. It’s not always easy to see it, but they need to know and a picture is worth a thousand words as they say, so you want your photography to have an impact on people,” she says.

 

Her work has already had an impact on donations to the school, and she’s just getting started.

 

“(The House of Flowers) was beautiful and quiet and peaceful. I just fell in love with the kids. If they had let me take them home I probably would have been an instant mother of about seven children. … Everything was just well cared for. All of the kids had jobs to do. They cleaned up and they prepared the meals they roll the tablecloth off the floor and sweep the crumbs up afterward and recite poems by Rumi,” says Duchesne-Peckham. “They are learning English they were learning Farsi and their letters. It was fabulous. I just want to do what I can to help.”

 

Duchesne-Peckham will sign and discuss Healing Afghanistan: Hope for the Children on Thursday, January 9, at 7:30 p.m. at Granada Books, 1224 State St. For more information about The House of Flowers and its parent nonprofit MEPO (Medical, Education and Peace Organization) visit mepoonline.org.

Originally published in Santa Barbara SEASONS on January 8, 2014.