News From the Regions
An invitation to all members and friends of CIM
You are welcome to send information and updates about your school, teacher education program, association, conferences, events, etc. Send reports to Rittchell Yau via email at rittch...@netzero.com anytime. Or, you can snail mail them to her at 416 N. Beringer Circle, Urbana, IL 61802. Photographs are welcome.
Region I: Mexico
A Remembrance of Catto Hanrath
Alicia Medrano, a CIM Representative for Mexico, sent the following remembrance of Cato
By Olga Dantus.
“You do not educate a teacher, you transform a teacher.”
Dr. Maria Montessori
It is strange to write a few words to render homage to that person who taught us how wrong it is to turn somebody into an idol.
Cato Hanrath, “Nan,” as we used to call her. She came to shake the educational world in Mexico. At the same time, she shook some of us too. She appeared in 1971 at a tiny office in Masaryk to interview those of us who wanted to learn a different methodology in order to teach in our schools. The great surprise was that what actually changed was our way of seeing life and consequently of seeing a child and our way of relating to new generations. What changed was our vision of education, of the role of the school, and above all, of the role of the adult as educator. In her marvelous sessions on Dynamics, there was never a set program to follow. We would always start with a Great Silence, as if nobody knew where to start. Several hours later, we could not stop talking or quiet our minds that had been moved one more time. Once again our ideas would fall back into place, searching for a sense of existence. Many a time those ideas would disappear giving room to thousands of questions.
She never offered an opinion. Seldom would she give an answer to a question. She would question everything, even that what seemed unimportant. She made us think about each word we expressed. We learned that at the age of 90 one can still continue the transformation of the Human Being through the quest of our consciousness. She proved this by giving us her example. She stopped educating the day she died since up until then she continued giving lessons.
I will never forget my first session on movement, or the rest of the sessions on group dynamics that followed on the weekends. I will never forget her home, books, music, and how she enjoyed a good wine, a delicious meal, and nature, as well as her strength, the absolute congruence in her way of life, but above all her deep look of an old soul that knows something and that will help us help ourselves to discover our paths.
She passed away in March 2007. She said good-bye her own way: she had everything taken care of beforehand, she left in peace. She rested from physical pain at the age of almost 100, leaving behind her a lot of work to accomplish.
Thank you, Nan, and hopefully, in some other place, in another universe, we may see each other again.
Region II: USA
AMS Heads of Schools Retreat 2008
The American Montessori Society (AMS) will hold a Head of Schools Retreat January 18-20, 2008 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico at the Marival Resort and Suites. Amanda Troten-Bloom, co-author of The Power of Appreciative Inquiry, will facilitate the sessions. The retreat is open to all heads of schools and all who are interested in school leadership. Contact AMS for more information. Website: www.amshq.org. Mail: Park Ave. New York, NY 10010-6102. Phone: 212-358-1250. Fax: 212-358-1256.
Region III: Caribbean
Puerto Rico
Delia R. Pérez provided a report about Montessori Centenary celebrations in Puerto Rico and information about the The Centro de Adiestramiento Montessori.
Centennary Events
Puerto Rico is also celebrating 100 years of Montessori. The First Forum on Montessori Education was held in March thanks to the initiative and efforts of guides, parents, and students from the Estancia Montessori School. University professors and guides from different schools or environments participated as presenters. Parents, university students and guides from various schools and different Montessori associations attended. I would call it The Great Montessori Gathering. Congratulations to coordinator Alicia M. Landivar.
Casa Montessori del Niño, owned and directed by Graciela Mercado, devoted its Field Day to the Montessori Centenary. Field Day is a family day in which everyone participates on teams consisting of students from preschool to sixth grade, along with teachers, parents, grandparents and alumni. It began with a grand parade of all the students, in which each group represented one area of the Montessori environment: Practical Life, Sensorial, Math and Language.
We continued celebrating the Centenary with a mathematics workshop on April 21 at the Coquí Montessori School in Cupey, organized by Mrs. Sra. Amparo Santana of Ambiente Montessori. Resource teachers were Ana Denizard and Delia L. Pérez. They both are teachers at Casa Montessori del Niño and also instructors at the Centro de Adiestramiento Montessori para Maestros (Montessori Teacher Education Center).
The Centro de Adiestramiento Montessori
The Centro de Adiestramiento Montessori para Maestros (CAMM) has been offering preschool or Children’s House teacher education for several years. The course is offered on the campus of Casa Montessori del Niño, Carr. 844, Km. 2.3, Cupey Bajo, San Juan. Classes are held two evenings a week (by group consensus). Directors and faculty of the Centro are Ana Denizard, Delia L. Pérez Rodríguez and Graciela Mercado.
The two primary objectives of CAMM are to offer preparation leading to certification as a Montessori teacher/guide or as an assistant at the preschool level and to contribute to the expansion of the Montessori method in Puerto Rico. The teacher preparation course design includes:
• Montessori philosophy, educational theories and child development
• Use of materials: Practical Life, Sensorial, Mathematics, Language and Cultural Studies
• Techniques of observation, classroom management, and discipline
• Internship: One semester of practice in a Montessori environment.
Requirements for certification as a Montessori guide/teacher are a BA from an accredited university (Degree in education not required) and completion of assignments and special projects, manuals in each area, internship, a final Project, CAMM attendance and academic requirements, and a comprehensive examination. Requirements for certification as an assistant are a BA or high school certificate and completion of parts I and II of the course and their respective assignments.
For more information, contact Ana Denizard: 787-605-2885, Delia L. Pérez: 787-604-7892, Casa Montessori del Niño: 787-761-0880 or email: CAMM...@yahoo.com
Region IV: Central America
Costa Rica
Marcela Hío Soto presented an article on the development of Montessori education in Costa Rica as part of the celebration and commemoration of the Montessori Centenary and the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Montessori Nursery School in Costa Rica. Ms. Hio is President of the Asociación Montessori Costarricense and CIM Representative for Region IV. The full report, titled Educación y Paz: Un Legado de Solidaridad y Esperanza (Peace and education: A Legacy of Solidarity and Hope), is available now in Spanish and English through CIM, or directly from Marcela Hío Soto at a...@cariari.ucr.ac.cr.
CIM will publish portions of the report in this and upcoming editions of El Boletín.Two sections are included in this edition. The first section introduces the reader to María Isabel Carvajal (Carmen Lyra) and provides some historical context to the introduction of Montessori practice in Costa Rica. The second section is a timeline highlighting some persons and organizations presented in the full report.
Peace and Education:
A Legacy of Solidarity and Hope
By Marcela Hío Soto
President, Montessori Association of Costa Rica
2007
In Costa Rica We Too Are Celebrating the Centenary
María Montessori left us a legacy of solidarity and hope which has brought together people of many races and ages. On this centenary the Costa Rican Montessorians are joining the celebrations.
Carmen Lyra and Montessori Pedagogy
María Isabel Carvajal, better known as Carmen Lyra, graduated as an elementary teacher at age 16 (1904). Her pedagogical work was immense: she worked as an elementary teacher from 1904 to 1920 and for 28 years participated in the educational work of the state due to her wish to support children. Carmen Lyra was proposing not only to promote early childhood education, but also to improve the quality of life of families, children and Costa Rican women.
In 1921 she received a scholarship to Europe, where she studied Montessori’s scientific pedagogy and returned to her country as a preschool teacher, working in this profession from 1926 to 1933. She founded the Montessori Nursery School, which was approved as an institution in “La Gaceta Nacional” on Thursday, May 9, 1924 (Diario de Costa Rica, 1924).
Her search and her commitment to the society of Costa Rica led to her interest in the work that María Montessori was carrying out on the other side of the world, in Italy. Carmen Lyra, like María Montessori, proposed a change in the type of education that should be offered to children. Both lived during a historic moment of great social, economic and cultural change, which required a change in the level and quality of life of individuals.
Their situation as women with very similar lives and ideas about the condition of very poor families made them observers, fighters and tireless leaders. It is important to note that they were both functioning in a patriarchal society, which elevated the status of men over that of women.
Education in Costa Rica (An Opportunity for Women)
Initially the field of education was only for men and was imparted by men. Women were trained only for domestic and religious duties. Literacy was not considered necessary for women and there was no place for them in public life.
At the same time women’s organizations and committees sought to bring about change and gain recognition in different fields, as is the case with the proposal presented in 1923 by the Pan-American League, published in the Repertorio Americano. Its points included:
Better economic and social conditions for women, greater participation of women in social services, and among its principal objectives were: a mothers’ organization, homes for children of working mothers, regulation of child labor, public kindergartens, protection for women, employment agencies, as well as, more moral, political and international rights.
Women’s voices were becoming heard; the education and the help they were able to obtain on the family level, like child care and education for their children, was to their benefit and led to their personal development. According to the 1927 Census, of a total of 314 teachers in the country, 147 were women. This put them in the category of professionals and offered them an opportunity to choose better salaries and inclusion in public life.
The cover to the book Montessori: Manual Practico Dei Metodo
Centenary Celebrations
This year sees many celebrations around the world for the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first Casa Dei Bambini in San Lorenzo, Rome. If you would like information about centenary events in your school or organization included in the CIM newsletter, send your announcements or reports for El Boletín to rittch...@netzero.com . Photos are welcome!
Volunteer
We have the following opportunities for volunteers who would like to get involved in CIM and programs throughout Latin America:
• Help update the CIM Resource List
• Work on a website
• Join the membership committee to help with outreach to both existing and potential members
• Assist with editing and translating the newsletter
• Participate in a school to school pen pal program
• Volunteer with programs in Latin America for three months to a year
Sound interesting?
For information about opportunities outside the USA, contact Elena Young, CIM Coordinator, by phone at 56-2-242-4278 or by email at eyo...@vtr.net .
For information about opportunities in the United States, contact Rittchell Yau, Region II Coordinator, by phone at 217-649-8525 or by email at rittch...@netzero.com .
Have You Moved?
A reminder to notify us when you move. Please send your name, old address, new address, new telephone number and new email address. Mail us a change of address card, or send updates to rittch...@netzero.com.
Corrections
Did we get it right?
If not, let us know and we will run a correction in the next edition of the newsletter.
Resource & Contact Updates
Please let us know about new sources and resources that will be of interest to the Montessori community.
Address Update
Updated electronic contact information for Asociación Qosqo Maki, Peru
Livia Tapia, Executive Director
Website: www.qosqo-maki.org
Email qosqom...@qosqo-maki.org
