Appreciation Day at SEGI.

SEGI college released yet another exciting event this month.

Calling all early childhood professionals to SEGi College for an adventure in creativity.

On Saturday 25 July, we have put together a fun filled day of workshops and events, specially designed to help you support children’s learning through creative ways. Treat yourself to this whole day celebration, organised in appreciation of Early Childhood Professionals.

Our esteemed speakers  are :
Ms Puspa Sivan, Founder and Director of Parent-Teacher-Child Learning School International, who has 32 years of experience in early childhood training, administration and working with parents, infants, preschoolers and children with special needs in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the region. Puspa was awarded the prestigious ‘Academic Teaching Award’ for best teaching practices by Ngee Ann Polytecnic, Singapore She is currently the Consultant for World Bank on an early childhood project in Indonesia. Puspa’s session will help participants to become creative teachers, who are  more proactive in using the valuable resources within our rich immediate environment to touch the hearts and engage the minds of young children.
Mr Victor Tan, who has over 30 years of involvement in music education and development of children. Victor has been active in parental workshops, teacher training programmes and music camps for children of different ages. Victor’s sessions will feature both familiar and new songs. Experience how music and movement can help children learn about quantity, develop a sense of direction, improve language skills and foster total character building.
Mr Tan Keng Sun, the founder of GENIOart ,as well as the developer and designer for the AV+S ( Audio Visual+Sensory ) programme for children. Keng Sun’s sessions seek to reawaken participants to the true essence of art in the early years. Participants will appreciate their role in bringing forth the artist in every child.
Dr Diana Lea Baranovich, who has over 24 years of experience as a classroom teacher, school psychologist, fine-arts curriculum specialist, diagnostician and trainer. She is currently a full time Senior Lecturer, Research Supervisor, and Student Teacher Supervisor at Universiti Malaya in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling.Diana’s sessions will have participants playing with sand, water and other authentic materials from nature, building castles in the sky, dungeons down below and dwellings on earth. This will lead naturally to an exploration of language and literature, science and social studies.

60sec video.

Remember a few months ago, job seekers around the world posted a one-minute video of why they should be hired as a caretaker for an island in Australia and gained popularity in all the social medias? Using the same concept, Montessori Foundation (USA) produced a video to promote Montessori education to the public. The short digital image was supposed to give a very short intro to Montessori.

• Do your children honestly love school?
• Are they eager and excited about learning?
• Are they getting the individual learning and challenged to do the best?

These are the questions I ask myself everyday as I enter and leave the school. Everyday,  I hope that a child has fulfilled the inner desire to learn something on that day. If not, I need to find a way to induce that need in the child by sowing the seed of curiosity, by planting some knowledge and by learning about the child through the carer or the child himself/herself. It is not easy to cater to every individual child’s educational need, but it is topmost essential.

International Montessori Convention 2009

I opened my email inbox today and read this exciting and appealing news from Carolyn:

This is the last call for participants for the above not to be missed event.

I just had a meeting with the event organizer and was told that so far they have managed to attract around 300 participants. Participants are not only coming from Malaysia but also from the around the region including India, Philippines, Japan etc. It will be nice to exchange ideas on how Montessori is practiced in other countries.

Pls find below details on the speakers taken from the conference website. Do note that there are two additional speakers from Netherlands and Australia. Their information will be posted on the conference website by early next week.

Malaysia
	Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Yahaya Ibrahim Pro-Chancellor of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris Dr Yahaya is the Pro-Chancellor of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, a premier university for education programmes in Malaysia. He has devoted 50 years of his life to private and public education regionally and internationally, and has contributed greatly to the development of early childhood education and tertiary education.
USA
	Lee Havis Director of International Montessori Society, USA He is the founder of International Montessori Society based in the United States of America. Lee is a well-known personality in the Montessori arena and has also authored several books that are used widely by Montessori practitioners. Currently, Lee is also the Director of International Montessori Accreditation Council and International Montessori Trust.
Canada
	Janice Mayhew President of Montessori Worldwide, Canada Janice has both a BA (Hons.) and a M.Ed. degree as well as an advanced qualification in Montessori. She has been involved in Montessori education since 1974 and she conducts workshops and teacher education courses regularly. She is also the Teacher Education Director for LMS Montessori Teacher Ed Programme in Canada and is currently the President of Montessori Worldwide, Canada.
Singapore
	Thomas Chong Fellow of Stanford University, USA Thomas is a Fellow of Stanford University and is trained in education, psychology and curriculum development. He had served on the boards of international schools and kindergartens and is currently a member of the REACH Policy Workgroup on Education and Human Capital Excellence, Singapore. Being a curriculum developer he is not new to the field of Montessori education.
Malaysia
	Aisha Abdullah President of Montessori Association of Malaysia Aisha is a qualified Montessori practitioner who also holds a degree in law from the United Kingdom. She has also authored a book on Montessori and she is a person who fully support the rights of the child to play and echoes Dr Maria Montessori’s call to “heal the world” through our children and aim for peace in education. Aisha is also the founder of the Children’s Playhouse Group and is currently the President of Montessori Association of Malaysia.
Malaysia
	Ng Sau Pheng President of Malaysian Child Resource Institute Ng, fondly known as Mrs Liew, is an education consultant and trainer in early childhood education and care. She has been conducting numerous workshops, seminars and trainings for preshool teachers and parents including the first Training of Montessori Trainers Course in Malaysia. Mrs Liew is a qualified Montessori practitioner who also holds a masters degree in English Linguistics from the United Kingdom.

If you wish to participate in the conference at the special discounted rate for SEGi at RM312, pls contact me urgently. Attached is the registration form. The closing date for registration and payment is Tuesday 26 May 2009.

Please be reminded as well that Mr Lee Havis will be at SEGi College on 2 June for a one hour lecture from 530-630pm. Again, kindly contact me to confirm your participation in the event as well as places are limited.

SEGi mail currently has problems going out to Yahoo and Hotmail. Do help us to share this piece of good news to your friends, colleagues and anyone else whom you think would enjoy finding out more about the Montessori method.

Act NOW to attend both talks. I’m sure you won’t lose a thing!

2 announcements.

Breaking a couple of news related to Steiner’s educational teaching method:

News 1- PART TIME COURSE FOR WALDORF EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER TRAINING IN BANGKOK. Click on the link for more information and contact the person directly.

News 2- BIODYNAMIC TALKS. Click on the link and act immediately for seats.

*Thanks Lee Ean (owner of Kampung Kasih Childcare Centre) for the feeds above .

Weikart Talk 2

The essence of Dr. Weikart’s research project is the coherence of teaching and curriculum theory together with the practice to develop the child’s abilities in active learning. This approach is accompanied by the partnership between teachers, researchers, administrators and parents.

The High/Scope approach is a cognitively-oriented curriculum, based on Jean Piaget’s child development theory, which highlights a child’s active learning through experience and handling materials. It also reflects another psychologist’s theory that of Vygotsky, on his view of scaffolding/mentoring and adult intervention in improving a child’s learning process.

A peek to the program:

a) Wheel of Learning- The child is the centre of the wheel and 58 key experiences for a child’s self-initiated activity.

b) The 4 outer sections of the wheel, symbolizing a network of support for the child:

– Assessment of children, adult team roles, planning

– Learning experience, including materials, presentation, areas of activity

– Daily routine, plan-do-review-reflection cycle, small/large group times

– Adult-child interaction

c) Materials: Visual signposts (drawings of equipment and photos or tools and toys), with the objective of increasing a child’s autonomy and self-confidence.

The plan-do-review-reflection cycle of daily lesson had been adapted into the classroom in the school I was teaching in London. Children were informed about the learning objective for the day, their feedback of what they wanted to learn was recorded and their reflection at the end of the lessons was again written. They were also encouraged to ask and rectify learning problems. However, this teaching style is only applicable for children 5/6 years old onwards. Hiccups also occurred as each individual learns at a different pace and has different interest at different time. But this plan does give a structure for the child to follow each day.

For further details about High/Scope course, visit the UK website at www.high-scope.org.uk.

Early Childhood Career Fair – 7 March 2009

I received this email from Carolyn last week, and this post is targeted to educators:

… do inform them of our up and coming Early Childhood Career Fair on 7 Mar 10-5pm at SEGi Subang Jaya. We have invited several nurseries and kindergartens to come in for a recruitment drive. So this will be a good opportunity to meet the employers if they wish to seek employment in the early years education. So do ask them to come armed with their best CVs.

Another interesting event held in conjunction with the Career Fair is the talk by Puspa Sivan on the responsibilities and accountabilities of the early childhood professional. ..She is really passionate over early childhood issues and she has worked with us on several projects. Puspa’s talk  is free, from 3.30pm to 5pm on 7 March as well at SEGi Subang. Would help interested persons register for the talk so that adequate refreshments can be provided.

Last minute pep talk.

As the new term of the new school year in Malaysia begins this week, I’m pretty sure that teachers nationwide are gearing up for the new students and children they’d be meeting and educating this year. Wishing for a last minute motivation before marching into the battle this week, I would like to share this piece of advice from Marc Seldin, a contributor of Montessori Leadership Online. His voice resonated with an opinion I shared with a friend about the need to communicate with teachers and vice versa.

Montessori schools should work towards integrating into the lifestyle of the parents. Schools should make every effort to:

• communicate to parents that they are not merely dropping off their children to have the teachers present lessons all day
• ensure that parents know they are really part of a school community that supports them and their children in every way possible, in and out of the classroom
• communicate from the admissions process and forward that, in choosing to be part of your Montessori schools, they have entered into a meaningful relationship with people who care and who share similar values.

This also means that your parents have a lot more emotionally invested with your schools than with their dry cleaner, obviously! Heads of schools intuitively know this.

I personally and truly believe in the healthy dialogue between parents and teachers every day when they drop the child and pick them up. Practise brief and amicable dialogue with parents and the more you will get to know about the child and his/her family.

Happy educating 2009!

Montessori Model United Nations

“Avoiding war is the work of politics; establishing peace is the work of education.” ~ Maria Montessori.

Montessori elementary students can now participate in an international extra-curricular activity, in parallel to their ongoing classroom activities as well as experiencing and gaining the skills needed to excel in the international political or non-political arena. The venue is a model United Nations and the related subjects involved are history, geography, language and public relations. What a better place for a debate participants to take place, next to competitions and more competitions.

I find this partnership between North American Montessori organisations and United Nations enlightening and remarkable. Can this charming learning experience be replicated for kindergarten children?

Prevention is always the cure.

My condolences to the family of 15-year-old Tyler Cassidy who was shot dead by Australian police force in an attempt to deter the boy who was threatening the police with two large knives and appeared agitated. An inquiry was made by the Victorian Criminal Justice Coalition, members of legal, academic and community service groups, to call for other solutions on dealing with emotionally disturbed people. Apparently, the police has used capsicum spray and fired a warning shot before resorting to shooting Tyler, as he was violently threatening the police team members.

Is it possible to blow a sleeping drug, something like a dart (that is being used by vet to put wild animals in a drowsy situation), when facing people with irrational and violent behaviour? If there is something that works for the wild animals, I doubt there isn’t a way to immobilize people with chronic psychopathological symptoms, like the case with Tyler.

Young Writer

The story about 12 year old Victoria Siaw Wei Yah writing 8 children stories which were published at the beginning of this year hit the news two days ago. Her story is certainly an inspiration for budding young writers who want their voices and muses to be heard and read.

I also applaud the effort taken by the publisher, Future Text Publications Sdn Bhd, for giving Victoria a good start at such a young age. (I’m curious about who is the illustrator of all her stories.) More publishers should scout around the country to publish children stories written by children themselves, as I believe there are more Victorias waiting to be discovered just around the corner. How about having a X-Factor/American Idol alike programme for this talented people?