Ascent’s approach to freedom and boundaries at the Spark level, inspired by Maria Montessori, is an approach blended with compassion, observation, and clarity. Freedom is experienced through great choice within the prepared environment; boundaries come into introduction and practice via the grace and courtesy lessons which lay a clear foundation for respect for the studio space, respect for each living being, and the larger environment. When introducing a boundary, a guide’s goal is to be concise, clear, consistent, and bring in reason and safety for the whole group in our words and actions. 

Some quick examples to explain the above would be – 

• We use gentle hands to keep ourselves and others safe, 
• We use walking feet in the studio; our hands are for helping, caring, working, and playing 
• I see that you are upset but I can’t let you hit me. 
• I am going to put this material away for now and you can try again tomorrow with gentle hands.  

“The task of the adult then is not to inject or teach discipline, but to offer the child suitable forms by means of which he can individually and socially follow and express the dictates of his inner discipline.” (Joosten, p. 58). 

 

 

 

The bead chain cabinet has visitors on a daily. These colorful-looking chains draw the attention of the learners old and new. The older ones find joy each time they can count further than the previous time, and the younger ones await a lesson earnestly. This visually appealing work requires both manual dexterity and persistence. Like any math or sensorial work, this lesson creates a sensorial impression of bigger concepts in their brain. This material illustrates the squares and cubes of numbers from 1 to 10. The chains sitting on the shelves illustrate the squares of numbers while the hanging chains illustrate the cubes of numbers. This material takes children from the concrete to the abstract.  At the simplest level, it is a counting exercise to practice the order of numbers -that after 39 comes 40, etc.  At the next level, this material illustrates skip counting, counting by ones, twos, threes, etc. all the way up to counting by tens. Towards the end of the Spark program and in the lower elementary, this material serves as indirect preparation for the memorization of the multiplication tables.  This material also illustrates the squares and cubes of these numbers and their relationships with each other. 

 

In the Spark studio, the guides take great care in making and switching out works as the seasons’ change, using Equinoxes and breaks to surprise the learners with new works on the shelf. Through the prepared environment, guides create opportunities for the children to connect with Nature and to observe and absorb the inevitable temporariness and the cyclical nature of Nature and all the beauty it brings with itself.  The hope being that the young learners embrace the greater interrelatedness, and see themselves as a part, as well as, a contributor, to this very harmony that sustains us all. 

An example of a ‘multiple-step experience’ that the guides introduced to the learners included observations of science and art. The learners dyed flowers with food coloring as part of a science experiment.  Once dried for 2-3 days, the flowers were further dried in a flower press for 3 weeks.  As a culmination to this, the learners made their own masterpieces using the dried flowers and were able to take home their framed art.

Another example of a season-based activity is embracing planting and gardening – The learners began planting and sowing herbs, flowers, succulents in the Spark Courtyard. First, the learners checked the pH levels of the soil, after which they prepared the soil for planting.  They shoveled soil for a few days and then planted saplings/seeds.  During this multi-step process, unboxing planters was also on the learners’ plate. They are learning that processes have steps and span over days. Seasons bring important lessons of patience, love for and understanding of Nature, and so much more. 

 

We end this post with quotes from Maria Montessori and pictures from our courtyard and the end of the session project the learners took several weeks to work on. 

 

May the season of Spring bring sprouts and blossoms of peace and harmony to all!

 

“When the children come in contact with Nature, they reveal their strength.”

 

“There must be provision for the child to have contact with nature; to understand and appreciate the order, the harmony and the beauty in nature.”

 

“The greatest gifts we can give our children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence. The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth.”

 

Rituals, processes, and traditions help define a family and community. They make our lives feel meaningful. You can probably remember something in your own life that feels so distinctive you might be able to smell, taste, or see it right now.

In the lives of the children at the Spark Studio, there are a few systems and traditions that the learners look forward to every day/week/season. They bond the learners together as they remember these special events year after year, laughing about funny stories, and wondering what next year may bring. Learners also perform daily and weekly rituals such as the ‘Good Morning Song’ that is sung in English, Spanish, French, and Hindi, and the ‘Gratitude Lunch Song’ that is sung every afternoon followed by “Bon Appetit, enjoy your lunch!” with so much excitement, or having community meetings to discuss studio guardrails and grace and courtesy.

 Maria Montessori knew the importance of the child understanding their place in the universe. She said that the child from 0-6 makes the sense and order of the world around him and placed emphasis on the Tendencies and Sensitive Periods to give us more insight.  She knew the impression that a daily routine or tradition can leave on a child’s heart is very special and said, “The things he sees are not just remembered; they are part of his soul.” The rituals and traditions we begin with young children are more than future memories; they are like seeds that grow into our deepest understanding of ourselves.

 We are sharing a list of some systems and traditions that we have in the Studio. This list will evolve as we will observe the learners and continue to ‘follow the child’.

• Processes 

• • The Inside and outside charts (for in-studio and spark play)
  • Clock book
  • Calendar
  • Helper’s Chart
  • File folders for works and paintings
  • Mindfulness activities (refer to the relevant post here).

• Rituals and Traditions

• • Birthdays- where we rotate around the sun and make wishes
  • Thursday Mindful Walks
  • Friday Movement Day
  • Art and Crafts activities- leaves and bats works during fall; snowflakes and Aurora Borealis works for winter; we decorated our own kites; we wrote our wishes for the new year prior to the new year and added them to the fire during winter solstice celebrations and so many more!
  • Group snack/lunch during Thanksgiving,
  • Discussing the spirit of giving- (this year we made and sent bookmarks to the children at the Dell Hospital, for the guides, our campus neighborhood, and our parents), 

Enjoy some relevant studio pics on this topic below.

 

Spark Play at Ascent is a loose parts-play model that consists of unprescribed parts such as wooden blocks, large tubes, barrels, tires, planks, tarps, scarves, milk crates, wooden stumps, sandpit tools, sandbags, and much more. Landscaping components such as the hills, tunnels, the A-frame, the gaga ball pit, sandpit, water tank, and pumps are used regularly to facilitate play.

Post lunch, the learners head outdoors and start Play which is usually around 12 noon. They choose to play amongst these many areas available to them, often also hopping from one to another, or choosing to stay immersed in one with their group of friends or by themselves. They still follow their inner rhythms, seasons, and calls, just as the self-driven morning work cycle. They get over an hour (about 1.40 hours) of Play every afternoon. 

 A great benefit of Spark Play is that it gives learners daily opportunities to practice building the muscle of cooperative play (shifting out from co-play).  This often breeds conflict as the young heroes practice communicating their ideas and plans, practice sharing, and navigate interpersonal disagreements. At Spark Play, guides continuously model and facilitate conflict resolution with the children who in turn practice using powerful and empowering language repeatedly. 

This post will be followed by Part 2 of the flow to dive deeper and get more insight into this part of the day of the learners. Until then, enjoy the pictures and this quote from Dr. Maria Montessori –

Play is the work of the child.