Biggest Takeaways

My three weeks at Valkenbos Montessori have been such an amazing experience. I loved that I had the opportunity to visit all three levels of classrooms. This really allowed me to see the growth and development of students in a Montessori setting from start to end.

The number one question I was asked was, “What is different from the Dutch school and US schools?” This is kind of a challenging question to answer because I’m not exactly sure if the differences are solely because of the difference in education systems, or because I was in a Montessori school vs. a traditional public school.

However, I’ve learned some amazing methods/strategies I want to take with me to my classroom.

1.     Let children roam around the room more while working. In my classrooms in the US, students work differently than the children in the Montessori school. It’s much more natural for children to move around than be confined to a desk the entire class period. There are times when it’s necessary for students to be at their desks. However, I believe that allowing the student to walk around the room will not only let the student have a mini brain-break, but also let them feel in control of their own work.

2.     Use more tangible materials, especially in Math. Making pictures, diagrams, and models allows the student to strengthen the connection between their work and the lesson. The Montessori materials are amazing! I’ve seen so many children use them for addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Since students are seeing the “work” behind addition, they can see the re-grouping of numbers actually happening. So, instead of memorizing their facts, students actually grasp the idea of number sense early on.

3.     Incorporate more one-on-one time. I’ve seen so much one-on-one time between teacher and student during the past three weeks. I know there is time in the Montessori schedule for teachers to work one-on-one; however, I think this is highly beneficial and important to include in my future classroom. An area where I see this being possible is during stations. While students are in groups, the teacher can pull aside the student and work one-on-one with them according to his/her needs. This is something I would have to work out fundamentally from a classroom management standpoint, but an idea that I think would be best for student growth.

4.     Community-based learning. There are two ideas of community-based learning that I would like to incorporate in my future classroom. The first idea is more of a stretch, as it would only be possible as a school-wide policy. However, I would plan for 15 minutes in the morning for parents to drop off their student to class and check-in on what they are doing in school. This idea would allow for the parents to be more involved and strengthen the relationship between parent-child and parent-teacher. Second, I would like for students in different grades to interact. Since Montessori classrooms have different levels in one class, there is much more of a sense of helping the younger students to learn. I would implement time in my daily schedule for an older grade to come in and help the students for 30 minutes a day. Whether it be in reading, math, etc. I feel like having support from other students will allow for the community of the school to grow.

I am so grateful for this experience. I’ve been able to grow as a teacher, and highly recommend teaching abroad to anyone! It’s such a unique opportunity and something I will always remember.

Goodbye, Holland!