Primary Program Staff

Favorite Montessori Moment: My favorite Montessori moment happened when I was teaching music to a toddler group. I had brought a selection of instruments and juggling scarves for the children to use. I had a grand lesson planned: each child would start by playing a steady beat on maracas, then we would express rhythms through movement with scarves. This was quickly turned aside when one student approached the plastic bucket of maracas and rather than pick one out to play, he dumped the contents on to the floor and proceeded to wear the bucket like a helmet. He danced around the room to the music balancing the bucket on his head. I broke out laughing. At WMS, creativity will express itself as it wants. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to embrace it, nurture it, and watch it grow.

Favorite Montessori Moment: During my time at WMS, the thing that has touched me the most is the way children are respectful and caring with each other; I’ve learned that empathy and compassion are sentiments that Montessorians truly take to heart. I also love the feeling of community that we cultivate in the school. This allows teachers, students, parents and staff to engage and cooperate toward the success of the children.

Favorite Montessori Moment: My favorite Montessori moment is when a child realizes that he is a member of a community and that he has a part in its peaceful state. He shows respect for both the living and nonliving things in his environment, taking care to observe and to move purposefully.

Favorite Montessori Moment: Every September, we begin the school year learning about Monarch butterflies. We observe caterpillars inside and outside in our certified Monarch Way Station. Within weeks, the caterpillars have gone through metamorphosis. This coincides with the timing of the children in our classroom learning the rules and routines, and forming a close-knit classroom community. In essence, the butterflies are learning to open and close their wings and ready to take flight, just as the children are building trust with the teachers and classmates and are separating from their parents. They are ready to take flight and begin their journey toward independence.

Favorite Montessori Moment: My favorite Montessori moments happen frequently throughout each day. What makes Montessori so special and unique is the opportunity for older students to help teach younger students in the same class. The wide variety of ages - especially as it relates to being in PE class - can sometimes be challenging in certain lessons. When I look around the gymnasium and catch a glimpse of a 6-year-old student helping to teach a 4-year-old student how to throw, catch, jump or skip, it truly is something special. Through a Montessori education, students really learn how to be positive leaders and understand the value in helping each other out.

Favorite Montessori Moment: Choosing a favorite or most special "Montessori Moment" is challenging for me. I have been with WMS for more than 20 years and cannot picture myself ever teaching in any other school. From the first day I walked into WMS to this very day, every day is special here, because everyone is respected, everyone is appreciated, everyone is allowed and encouraged to learn and try, and everyone is allowed to be exactly who they are. Can you think of a more wonderful place to learn and teach?

Favorite Montessori Moment: One of the most special moments for me in the Montessori classroom is during a child's "Birth & Life" (birthday) celebration. Each child gets so excited to "walk around the sun" with his or her parents watching and sharing moments of their lives with their school community. I always ask each child from the classroom to share one wish he or she has for the birthday child. As we go around the circle I am always so proud of what each child has to say about the birthday child. When I first became a parent, one of the milestones I most looked forward to sharing with my own children was "walking around the sun." While my own children no longer attend Montessori school, each year we take those steps around the sun.

Favorite Montessori Moment: After I picked up my daughter from her Toddler classroom, we decided to take advantage of the weather and go for a walk in the woods here at WMS. As I was asking her about her day, she stopped me in my tracks and said, "Mommy, that was a woodpecker! Did you hear it?" We both stopped walking, looked up at the colorful canopy and waited to hear its "tock, tock, tock, tock, tock" once more. At this moment, I felt certain that my daughter was being nurtured in a school/classroom that mirrors my own love for nature. To a toddler, the woods is a big place with a lot of small details. I was blown away that she could pick up on the small detail of a small sound from a small creature in this small moment. To find curiosity in nature is the best gift of all.

Favorite Montessori Moment: For me, the graduation ceremonies that take place each year are certainly one of the most powerful events that take place at WMS. I’ve watched those sixth-graders grow up, proud to have been one of their teachers and amazed by the confidence, competence and sense of responsibility emanating from them. I know that what they learned here, academically and otherwise, will take them far, benefiting so many others along the way.