A child, more than anyone else, is a spontaneous observer of nature.
~ Maria Montessori
The students at our Believe in Me orphanage school in Qingyang recently got to participate in planting trees. What a fantastic hands-on learning experience for them! Read more
Every two years, and sometimes more often thanks to generous donors who believe in the power of education, LWB sends a training team to China. This teacher training team collaborates with teachers in our Believe in Me (BIM) Schools about how to better meet the needs of students with a variety of abilities and challenges. It’s an incredible time of working together on behalf of students.
Instead of meeting at a central location as in years past, this year the workshop trainers from the USA will split into three groups. Read more.
We are so excited to be opening our eighth Believe in Me school in Liupanshui, Guizhou. This school will open in October after the new teachers attend Montessori training in Beijing. These teachers also recently spent a full week at our Believe in Me Jinjiang School learning from some of our veteran teachers and seeing how a Believe in Me school should be run. We are proud of our schools and know the Jinjiang teachers were excited to be able to share their knowledge with their new colleagues. Read more.
Today’s guest blogger is Marta Navaza, the coordinator of LWB’s Believe in Me Shanxi school.
I remember how worried I was when I received the first reports on LWB’s newest Believe in Me school in Shanxi. There was little Lola, with not even a single “confident” mark on the abilities checklist; or Iker, who at seven years of age could hardly say his own name. It was heartbreaking for me. I thought that the school’s teachers, even if they were enthusiastic and well trained in the Montessori Method, really had a tough job ahead of them. Read more.
This summer, Tommy and the students at our Believe in Me Jingzhou School enjoyed an outing to an amusement park and Kentucky Fried Chicken to celebrate all of their hard work. When we saw these photos of Tommy enjoying himself to the fullest on the carousel, we knew we had to share his fun with our readers!
According to his recent school report, Tommy has been improving a great deal in the classroom. His favorite subject at this time is math, specifically the Montessori “spindle box” activity. Tommy is a willing participant in class discussion and exercises and plays very well with his classmates. His teachers describe him as lively and optimistic.
Read more.
Two teachers from Changzhi SWI in Shanxi province, Qin Ya Feng and Fu Ni Na, had Montessori teacher training in Beijing from July 1 through July 11. We enjoyed reading the report they recently submitted and wanted to share some translated excerpts with our readers:
During the 10 days of training, we found the Montessori teaching enviroment and activities to be brand new and very attractive. This new teaching method brings a lot of joy and fun to the kids as well as real freedom and independence. Montessori’s teaching goal is to respect the kids and their needs. We learned that the kids are the main operators of the activities in Montessori education. The ultimate goal is to make the kids develop healthily and happily. Even the order in which the teaching materials are put in the cabinets are well organized so that the kids can form good habits and choose their materials freely according to their different ages.
Read more.
