Children, Nutrition, and the China Study - Part 2

Thanks for your great responses to the first part of this series! If you haven't read it yet, please take a moment to do so - it will set the stage for this second post.

Here we go!

For generations, parents have attempted to follow the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for protein and other nutrients when it comes to feeding children. Now the RDA is being replaced by the Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) and recommendations for protein consumption for adults and children have been cut nearly in half. View a complete RNI protein chart here or take a quick gander at these stats for daily protein intake:

1-3 Years...14.5g
4-6 Years...19.7g
7-10 Years...28.3g

For teenagers, RNI protein intake varies from about 42 - 55 grams, depending on gender and age. These small amounts of protein can easily be consumed in a day with thoughtfully prepared meals, but as we discussed in Pt. 1 of this two-part post, the type of protein being consumed is what makes the difference between good and poor health, according to the critically acclaimed 20 year research project, The China Study.

Do Plant Foods Really Contain Protein?

If it make sense to you the eggs have protein but seems weird that broccoli does, you're not alone. We were all raised to believe that only animal foods contain real, valuable protein, though just the reverse is true. Nearly all foods contain some amount of protein, and if The China Study is correct, it is animal foods that cause illness in children but vegetable ones that promote not only disease-resistance but the most vibrant health. The tides have turned, and it is now plant-based protein that scientists, informed doctors and nutritionists are backing as top quality for children and adults. Here are some quick figures on the protein in plant-based foods:

Serving of Chick Peas...16g
Serving of Baked Beans...11.5g
Serving of Tofu...10.3g
Serving of Peanuts...7.3g
Serving of Brown Rice...4.4g
Serving of Broccoli...3.1g
Serving of Potatoes...2.8g

Again, nearly all plants have protein and what this means is that a 12 year old boy whose RNI protein intake should be about 42.1 grams per day can enjoy excellent nutrition if a daily menu looks like this:

Breakfast: A tofu scramble with a side of fried potatoes, whole wheat toast, fruit.

Lunch: Peanut butter and banana sandwich on wheat bread with a side of raw veggies including broccoli and a serving of chickpea dipping sauce (also known as hummus).

Snack: Guacamole and corn chips.

Dinner: A burrito or wrap filled with baked beans, brown rice, hummus, and tasty fixings like tomato, lettuce, etc.

This menu meets and exceeds the RNI and every bit of protein on it has come from a healthy plant source.

Why Do I See Vegetarians Who Look Too Skinny?

With obesity at never-before-seen levels in both children and adults in Western societies, our picture of a healthy human being has become a bit vague. Humans were intended to be slender and muscular, but many people fear switching to a plant-based diet because they see vegetarians who look too thin. Unfortunately, many people who stop eating animal foods don't understand how to eat well. They may be subsisting on
white bread and soda pop and saying they don't eat animal products, and they are certainly incurring a different set of health risks and deficiencies by doing so. To enjoy a healthy, plant-based diet, follow these basic guidelines:

1) Don't eat the same things everyday. Variety is crucial to good nutrition.

2) Cook the majority of your own meals from scratch. Processed foods have little food value.

3) Choose whole grains instead of refined ones. This means brown rice instead of white and wheat bread instead of white.

4) Eat organic foods in order to get full food value. *More on this below!

5) You don't need to count every gram of nutrition you or your children consume. By eating a varied diet, rich in beans, whole grains and fresh veggies, you will not need to worry about malnutrition.

My example, above, shows the traditional 3 meals a day plus a snack, but nutrition experts recommend eating 5-6 small meals a day as being optimal. This means the human body has a slow, steady supply of nutrition to keep it going strong rather than creating troughs of fatigue throughout the day.

The B12 Rule

The one nutrient that families following an all plant-based diet do need to concern themselves with is B12. B12, also called cobalmine, does not come in nature from plants - it comes from bacteria. People eating an animal-based diet get this vitamin from the bacteria in meat and dairy products, but the actual daily requirement of B12 intake is only about 2-3 micrograms a day. It is easy to avoid any danger of deficiency of this important vitamin in a plant-based diet by taking a plant-based B12 supplement. Though vitamin supplements are not the way to proper nutrition, a good, complete B vitamin supplement is a good idea to be totally certain children are getting all the Bs they need!

Organic Foods Vs. Conventional Foods

Once upon a time, all food was organic and everything grown contained its full nutritional value because of the wonderful quality of the soil in which it was grown. Unfortunately, the monoculture and overly-intensive farming practices and chemical fertilizers that began to be employed in agriculture in the 20th century robbed soil of its ability to be healthy. Conventional farmers are dependent upon synthetics and carcinogenic pesticides and herbicides to make plants grow in ruined soils. The end result of these foolhardy, profit-driven practices is supermarkets filled with vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes that lack true food value in addition to being toxic to the human body.

By contrast, good organic farmers take abundant care of their soil. They create diverse habitats so that beneficial insects keep pests in check, and crop rotation and green manures keep the soil filled with the nutrients that create plant foods bursting with essential vitamins and minerals.

Children should be fed only organic foods whenever possible, and again, much of this comes down to being willing to cook from scratch. Though there are now many corporations producing organic processed foods, packaged foods will always have less nutritional value than ones cooked at home.

The other vital reason for feeding children healthy organic foods is that conventional foods may well be genetically altered. GMO foods are not safe for human consumption and have been shown to cause dreadful mutations in animals. Europeans have called American children the world's guinea pigs because of the consumption of Genetically Modified Organisms in conventional foods. No Montessori instructor or parent would knowingly permit children to be used in this way, once they have the facts.

But What If My Kid Hates Vegetables?

My mother tells a story about her childhood loathing for spinach. Her family sat down to dine on limp, canned spinach several times a week. I can't think of a less appetizing dish! Then, as an adult, she tried growing her own spinach because she knew of its nutritional value. Briefly sauteed in a little olive oil and garlic, sprinkled with some fresh ground pepper and salt and contrasted with some crunchy orange carrots, that watery, slimy spinach of childhood became a thing of the past.

Children who are picky eaters will find it hard to resist whatever is prepared to be delicious, and I'd like to share some links to cookbooks that are filled with completely scrumptious, completely plant-based recipes:


Veganomican by Isa Moskowitz - This is basically an encyclopedia of fabulous plant-based (vegan) cooking. Everything from Flannel Hash to Caramel Cupcakes here. This huge cookbook has won rave reviews.


The Vegan Family Cookbook by Brian McCarthy - Plant-based, mouthwatering versions of old favorites like lasagna, mac and 'cheese', pizza, french toast and pumpkin pie. This family-oriented cookbook has been highly-acclaimed and will help those new to plant-based cooking understand how to stock their pantry with healthy staples.


The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak - One of the hardest things for many people who are attempting to avoid the dangers of dairy products is giving up cheese. Try out this cookbook and you'll see how easy it is to get that rich, cheesy taste in foods without paying for it with risks to your health.


Vegan Lunchbox by Jennifer McCann - Even your pickiest little eater will find this book and its recipes impossible to say no to. The lunchbox meals in this unique cookbook are not only full of nutrition, but they are so beautifully made, they appeal to all the senses.

Summing Up

What humans understand about good health and nutrition continues to change the more we study the subject. What we do know now is that the teachings of the past, the teachings of dependence upon animal foods for nutrition, are not serving our children well. Some of the world's strongest athletes, most brilliant scientists and most compassionate humanitarians have stepped forward to advocate a plant-based diet as the very best choice for healthier human beings.

If this is a subject you'd like to learn more about, I suggest reading The China Study and I'll wind up this post with a recommendation of two other books written by author John Robbins. Robbins walked away from the privileges of his life as heir to the Baskin-Robbins ice cream fortune after watching his loved ones being sickened and killed by their traditional Western diet. He couldn't accept an inheritance he considered to have been won at the cost of public health, and his journey toward a life of truly good nutrition and new compassion is a fascinating read. Few people encounter Robbins' writings without it changing their lives for the better, and Montessori instructors who are John Taylor Gatto fans will recognize Robbins' similar, no-nonsense approach to myth-busting:


Diet for A New America - This is John Robbins' first book and it created a tremendous stir in scientific and humanitarian circles when it was published.


The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World - This is his latest book and a wonderful read.

You can also access information immediately by visiting John Robbins' website.

Children, Nutrition, and the China Study - Part 1

*** Note: From this point on, I'll be blogging once a week - posting on Monday. This will give me more time to work on new materials and some other fun things, including a few new freebies - you guys have missed those, based on the emails I get! The freebies won't be on a regular basis - you have to be subscribed to my newsletter to be notified of those. Thanks! ***

Now on to our regularly scheduled post :)

I love browsing through vintage cookbooks. I like the retro illustrations and the funny, helpful advice for what to do when the electricity goes out, someone spills grape juice on the carpet or you find yourself having to balance your bridge club date with serving a formal dinner to 40 select guests. The situational comedy going on in these books is great entertainment and a window on the past.

The recipes are another matter. Suggested family menus not only have people eating meat three times a day, but cheese and butter get slathered onto everything and vegetables tend to be overcooked, come out of a can or are utterly replaced by the miracle of Jell-O! The cookbook authors boast, unashamedly, of the convenience of processed, packaged foods and this legacy of the 1950's is with us yet.

Betty Crocker and the folks at Better Homes & Gardens may hold a special place in our hearts, but I'd like to introduce you to another nutrition expert who may be far more deserving of a spot in our kitchens.

Meet Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study. This is the story of an American farm boy who started his work life at MIT and Virginia Tech as a researcher. His job revolved around promoting better health for US citizens by encouraging them to eat more milk, meat and eggs. Government agencies, medical professionals, scientists, researchers and cookbook authors alike set about convincing the public that a diet based on 'high-quality protein' was the optimum method of eating for glowing health. According to Dr. Campbell, he was proud to believe that Americans had the best diet in the world.

Then Came The China Study

Dr. Campbell became involved in a 20 year study conducted by Cornell University, Oxford University and the Chinese Academy of Preventative Medicine, the goal of which was to survey the diseases and diets of rural China and Taiwan. Researchers worked amongst Chinese adults and children, studying their lifestyles, eating habits and illnesses and amassed more than 8000 significant correlations between foods and diseases.

To quote Dr. Campbell, "I uncovered a dark secret. Children who ate the highest protein diets were the ones most likely to get liver cancer..."

As The China Study's website details:

Although it was heretical to say that protein wasn't healthy, Dr. Campbell started an in-depth study into the role of nutrition, especially protein, in the cause of cancer. The findings? People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease. People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease. These results could not be ignored.

So much for the famous 4 food groups and the complimentary marketing materials we all received as school children courtesy the National Dairy Council. So much for Betty Crocker's Cheeseburgers Supreme.

Critically acclaimed and cited as 'the most comprehensive large study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and the risk of developing disease', The China Study gives authority to what the best doctors, nutritionists and scientists have been telling us for years - that an animal-product-based diet leads to disease while a plant-based one is a far better bet for good health for both children and adults.

3 Important Quotes From This Eye-opening Book:

1)"We know an enormous amount about the links between nutrition and health. But the real science has been buried beneath a clutter of irrelevant or even harmful information - junk science, fad diets and food industry propaganda. I want to change that."

2) "Synthetic chemicals in the environment and in your food, as problematic as they may be, are not the main cause of cancer. The genes that you inherit from your parents are not the most important factors in determining whether you fall prey to any of the ten leading causes of death. The hope that genetic research will eventually lead to drug cures for diseases ignores more powerful solutions that can be employed today. Drugs and surgery don't cure the diseases that kill most Americans."

3) "To make matters worse, we are leading our youth down a path of disease earlier and earlier in their lives. One third of the young people in this country are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. Increasingly, they are falling prey to a form of diabetes that used to be seen only in adults, and these young people now take more prescription drugs than ever before. These issues all come down to three things: breakfast, lunch and dinner."

Why Should This Matter To Us?

As Montessori instructors and parents, we create the environment in which children learn and grow. Children's primary environments, however, are their own physical bodies and if these are neglected or improperly nourished, we cannot expect happy results. Additionally, we are aware that the examples we set as adults become the norms that children will carry with them throughout life. As I see it, we need to think about two aspects of setting a good example.

1) If we don't insist on good nutrition for ourselves and the children we care for, we are promoting a poor idea of self-respect, independence and responsibility. If we value life, it's a duty to educate ourselves about the very best modes of caring for our health if we want children to view this as an important concern.

2) Think about this: when you go to the doctor's office, the pens, calendars, and free samples are all supplied by the drug corporations. Public school Health classes receive free nutritional materials from the Dairy Council and the various meat associations. Fast food chains have managed to insinuate their marketing materials right into children's schools. The bottom line is that special interests are controlling much of the health and nutrition information that gets published and distributed to society.

Dr. Montessori believed that discernment was one of the key abilities children needed to develop, and by teaching children to discern the forces that may be behind the pamphlets, books and ads that encourage them to eat such-and-such food, we are fostering intelligent reasoning. If we refuse to be gullible, no one will be able to make fools of our children for corporate profits.

The China Study is not about a fad diet. It wasn't authored by a celebrity or a spokesperson for McDonald's. It is the result of two decades of intensive study by some of the world's most respected educational institutions. I consider this an important read for parents and educators, and you can peruse an excerpt from the book as a PDF here.

Putting What We Learn Into Practice

If you have considered transitioning your family to a more plant-based diet because, like me, you feel you can't ignore all of the data you have been hearing about the health benefits of doing so, you may have a lot of questions. Isn't protein really important? Do plants really contain protein? How much protein do kids actually need? What about the organic vs. conventional question? Why do I see vegetarians who look too skinny? What about dangerous deficiencies? What if my kids hate vegetables? In Part 2 of this post, I will be addressing common concerns about the plant-based diet and offering suggestions for putting it into practice for the health of your family.

Geocaching for Kids - Fun for the Whole Family

Geocaching is an exciting treasure hunt game that families around the world are playing. It requires a GPS device and a love of adventure. The basic steps to the game are that you visit a site like Geocaching.com, enter your zip code and receive a list of hidden caches in your area. Then, you set out with your family, following coordinates that bring you within a 20 ft. radius of the cache. The cache might be located in the middle of a city, but the majority are in rural areas, forest preserves, and beautiful parks.

Once you reach the destination, everyone begins searching for the hidden geocache. It might be in a tree, under a rock, inside a hollow log. The cache itself may be as tiny as a film canister or as big as a cooler and, when found, may contain a simple log book for you to sign your name in or a store of little treasures.

The rule is - if you take something from the cache, you must leave something in return for the next seeker to find. Good geocachers make every effort to leave the cache site as undisturbed as they found it so that others can enjoy the hunt for the cache.

Geocaching has been around almost since the advent of GPS devices, and has gained in popularity every year. Some families go geocaching every chance they get and have found hundreds of caches over the years. Some even go on geocaching vacations, hunting for caches located at historic monuments all over the world. Your family may take such a shine to this game that you will eventually decide to create a cache of your own for others to find.

How hard is Geocaching?

Most caches will be accompanied by a difficulty rating between 1-5 with 1 representing the easiest caches. This is important data when planning with kids in mind. Pay attention to the rating of the terrain. The hardest caches may be hidden in locations that require miles of hiking over tough terrain. Some can only be reached by rock climbing or even scuba diving! Level 1 and 2 caches will probably be most appropriate for families with young children who aren't prepared to take rigorous hikes in challenging landscapes.

What should you bring on a Geocaching adventure?

• Bottled water


• A simple snack like trail mix


• A first aid kid


• A pen to sign the logbook


• If you plan to take a treasure, be sure to bring one along to trade

Geocache treasures include coins, buttons, badges, small toys or inexpensive jewelry. Some caches might contain books, DVDs or CDs. There is an additional type of cache treasure called a 'trackable item'. These are devices that get moved from cache to cache as people hunt. Some have made international trips and there is apparently a Mister Potato Head that has traveled around the world!

5 benefits of family Geocaching

1) This is an ideal family activity. If you've become concerned that you family's main group activity revolves around watching TV, consider giving geocaching a try. Everyone will have a chance to actively participate in a fun family goal while talking, laughing and playing together.

2) Geocaching provides terrific exercise for the whole family. Even kids with couch potato tendencies can get caught up in the excitement and without even noticing it, will be filling their lungs with fresh air while hiking in search of a cache. Simple searches undertaken at a leisurely pace will benefit your family with good exercise and plenty of sunshine. Bring a picnic and make a day of the game. How about bringing along a camera to record your adventure, or a wildflower or bird guide to increase what your family learns as they walk along?

3) One of the most commonly cited benefits of geocaching is that it introduces families to lovely natural spots they never knew existed before. Devoted geocachers feel that they have acquired valuable intimate knowledge about the places in which they live.

4) Gaining appreciation for state and national parks gives children a good reason to become good stewards of public lands. Because there is a strong emphasis on leaving terrain in good shape for other players, geocaching has the potential to teach children that our wild places need to be protected and cared for so that everyone can enjoy them.

5) Geocaching is about achievement. It teaches children that families can set and achieve goals and have fun in the process. It provides a good opportunity for exploring the powers of dedication and teamwork, and because it comes with the built-in control of the cache, everyone knows when they have succeeded.

Getting started

GPS devices run between about $100-$1000. Geocaching.com has recommendations for good devices. Once you have your GPS, all you have to do is register at the site to get a list of local caches in your area. Pick a destination and get going!

I enjoyed this story about a father who got his overweight son to start hiking because of geocaching. Here's one mom's report about the excitement of geocaching with kids. It seems that children are sometimes the very best at discovering the hidden caches, and I believe that Montessori and homeschool families will quickly see the value in an activity that gets everyone out of doors for a joint-effort exploration of our amazing planet.

5 Practical Suggestions for Montessori Parent Education

When I was teaching, I observed an interesting phenomenon. Many of the parents deliberately chose Montessori for their child over "easier" options, like public school, but after the child began attending, they questioned and doubted everything that makes the Montessori method special. It was as if they wanted the results of Montessori without the "Montessori-ness" that makes us different from traditional schooling.

We, as teachers, considered parent education to be absolutely imperative. Often, as we explained the rationale of certain Montessori activities, we could almost see the light bulb go off over a parents' head. "Ah!" they would say. "Now I get why you [pick one] let the children scrub pumpkins/don't send home work every day/don't use worksheets."

Sometimes it's really just that simple. Tell them why you're doing something the way you are, and they become your supporters rather than challengers. Montessori instructors have a unique opportunity as educators of the parents as well as the children. The worthy goal is that the student will get so much more out of the Montessori experience if it is supported not only in the school, but also in the home.

Here are 5 smart suggestions for ensuring that Montessori parents understand what their children's school career will be like in the Montessori classroom, and how their involvement is crucial.

1. Establish A School Lending Library for Parents

The Montessori Method, Dr. Montessori's original text, should be required reading for all parents considering a Montessori education for their children. This simple book provides a invaluable introduction to the method and will acquaint parents with its history. Beyond this, there are dozens of wonderful books on the subject of Montessori programs, such as The Absorbent Mind, How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way and Montessori from the Start. If the school is able to order copies of Montessori Life magazine and maintain a section of Michael Olaf catalogs, there will be plenty for parents to read.

I would suggest supplementing these pro-Montessori materials with critical studies of the public school system such as John Taylor Gatto's The Underground History of American Education and Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. Books like these will help parents to compare and contrast the options of Montessori and public schools. Interesting DVDs, such as Montessori: The Science behind the Genius would enrich the lending library. Parents should be invited to contribute books and other materials to the library that they find relevant and would like to share with others.

2. Communicate Well With A Useful School Website

A thoughtfully-prepared website can become an invaluable tool for the whole school
community. Teachers can assemble a list of frequently asked questions, culled from their years of experience, and these Q&As can be listed on the website so that parents wanting to learn more about the school's offerings will have countless questioned answered even before their first in-person visit.

The website can outline the general curriculum and be made beautiful and appealing with illustrative photography. The website can provide pertinent contact information for setting up appointments to tour the school and can explain enrollment requirements. Beyond being a terrific resource for new prospective school families, the website can be enlarged to serve all parents.

By incorporating a website forum, the community will have a place to come to learn about important happenings at the school, broach pertinent issues and discuss plans, challenges and strategies with the teachers and other parents in an effective and simple way.

As you might imagine, I think it would be fantastic if the teachers decided to have a blog. This would be a great place to talk about the neat things that are going on in their classrooms, announce field trips or get feedback from parents on new ideas. In today's world, the Internet is the communication tool of choice for so many people and while it can never replace face-to-face meetings, a well-structured website offers additional opportunities for school involvement 24 hours a day.

3. Give Parents a Kid's Eye View of the Classroom

Asking grown-ups to get down on their knees so that their exploration of the classroom is from the perspective of a small child may cause some giggles, but it's an active way for them to tap into how the environment will look and feel to their children. Suddenly, the beautiful sense of order and accessibility becomes apparent. Arrange a sample work period and allow parents to take out floor mats and choose materials that seem interesting to them. Encourage them to ask questions so that you, the instructor, can demonstrate the way in which you will be aiding their children without taking away the responsibility for exploring and accomplishing the work themselves.

4. Provide Parent Education Meetings

This is a great way to reach many parents at one time. Some schools will have the budget to be able to pay for speakers to come and give presentations. But the director, teachers, and even parents can put together short talks that will be of value and interest to parents. Topics like the Normalized Child, Educating for Peace, or Promoting Independence would be great places to start.. The structure can be formal, or as friendly as a potluck supper, depending on the preferred style of the teachers and parents.

5. Don't Omit Discussion of Ethics in Parent-Teacher Meetings

It is clear from reading The Montessori Method that the parents living in Dr. Montessori's original children's houses were generally poorly-educated people, sometimes lacking in basic life skills. Dr. Montessori found it was vital for the resident instructors to provide assistance to these families so that their children would be properly fed, clothed, bathed and taught. This will seldom be the case with modern Montessori parents and, obviously, Montessori teachers no longer live amongst their students' families.

In modern times, no one has the right to tell parents how to raise their children and this may make Montessori instructors feel hesitant about discussing the ethical
values that are the foundation of the method. While it's only right that parents should decide how they will raise their children, if what is taught in the home opposes the important behavioral lessons learned in the classroom, conflicts will result.

For example, a child from a family where intense sibling rivalry is allowed to exist will have difficulty understanding that they are expected not to compare themselves to their classmates at school. Children who are permitted to react to disagreements by yelling, hitting or other hurtful behaviors at home will bring these actions into the classroom, too. Children who are disciplined at home with negative or shaming techniques may not be able to respond to the positive reinforcements that form the structure of discipline at school.

I remember one year, I gave a talk about Children and the Media. I came down quite conservatively for shielding kids from much of what's on television and in the movie theaters. But more than just telling parents what I thought their children should watch or not watch, I talked about why and how violent images affect children negatively. I was nervous when giving the talk, but it was very well received and many parents thanked me later. They want to learn!

Any Ideas?

A little parent education can go a long way towards ensuring a successful school experience for each child. Hopefully there's something new here you can implement at your own school, and I'd love it if you share any ideas that work well for you.

Getting Ready for Earth Day, Montessori-style

Next Tuesday, April 22nd, the northern hemisphere will celebrate Earth Day for the 37th time. Now more than ever, it seems like a great time to talk to kids about the amazing planet that we live on and how we can best use and protect its resources.

If you find yourself experiencing feelings of fear when you hear the experts say that we're about to lose our polar bears and penguins, that frogs are experiencing the most complete mass extinction since the dinosaurs, that every year things are getting just a little bit hotter and we can all expect flood, fire and famine by the end of the 21st century, think about how kids must feel.

Many learned people disagree about the extent to which global warming will affect us in the future. Some think that the current weather and temperature trends we see are part of a cycle that has been repeated many times since the dawn of time. Others are heralding the end of life as we know it if pollution and emissions aren't curtailed. I'm definitely not going to settle that question here, but I do want to share some ways that kids can feel empowered rather than helpless when it comes to the environment.

I know of no better way to turn feelings of helplessness into feelings of purpose than to discover what options are available. The power of choice is one of the benefits that Montessori students depend on, because their preferences for the work that seems best to them are respected. This concept of choice ties in directly with the reality of climate change in that the outcomes will be largely dependent on the choices our species makes.

On an individual basis, each one of us is capable of discovering what the alternatives are to environmental pollution, and once we have that information in hand, we can choose what seems best to us. And, we can make children a part of that. I hope you will get some good ideas from this list of ways children can begin to feel powerful about helping the planet.

• Children can participate in recycling for your home or classroom. They can learn about the different kinds of products that can be recycled, and collect items to be recycled from other classrooms, friends, and family members.


• Older children can learn to recognize and spot the words bio-degradable, post-consumer, recycled, non-toxic and organic. Choosing to purchase products like this is very responsible.


• If your community waste management program supports recycling, children of all
  ages can help sort out the paper, plastic and metal that goes in the appropriate curbside bins.


• Turning off lights, appliances, computers and other electricity users in the school or home cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions.


• Have children take part in replacing those old-fashioned light bulbs with the new compact fluorescent bulbs. For once, the fact that 'everybody's doing it' is a bright idea!


• If you've got the space, plant a tree outside your school or home and talk about how trees cool the planet down in addition to beautifying our world and making habitat for birds and insects.


• Planning your next field trip? Try to find a place you can walk to.


• Make 'doing-it-yourself' a goal for your students. Humans who can cook, sew, clean and garden for themselves hold the power of self-sufficiency in their own hands, decreasing dependency on corporations and agribusiness - major environmental offenders.


• Let children spend as much time as they can in nature. Nothing promotes a sense of stewardship of the earth like a walk in the woods.


• Children can choose the topic of recycling or using "green" earth-friendly products for a research paper or presentation

My list is a short one. Doubtless you can think of other ways to empower children when it comes to caring for the planet. The environmental lessons they learn from you right now are absolutely going to affect the quality of their future. And, if you discover you've got budding environmentalists who are expressing a desire for even more information about climate change and our options, you might like to look for a book at the local library or bookstore called Who Says Kids Can't Fight Global Warming? by Patrick GB Harrison. Based on a true story, this book revolves around some children who organize an environmental club and succeed in reducing vehicle emissions in their community by 30%. Sounds like a good read that will help children to feel positive about the wonderful world we live in.

Other helpful resources:

Earth Day 2008: Crafts, Environmental Games, and Recycling Activities for Kids

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard

Celebrating Earth Day in the Montessori Community

Bringing Montessori to Colombia, South America

This past August, I received an email from a young woman named Ana Torres. Ana and her family (including her husband and parents) work for an organization in Colombia, South America, called Healing Colombia. As Ana explained, Colombia is a country in peril. High rates of violence, conflict, and poverty make it a difficult place for many people to live. Sadly, but typically, children are the ones who suffer the most in these kinds of conditions.

The mission of Healing Colombia is to work with the Colombian government and other charitable organizations to bring education, training programs, and other resources to at-risk youth and other disadvantaged groups in Colombia.

Ana is a Montessori-trained teacher, and has been in the process of setting up two different Montessori schools – one for children of missionaries who live in Colombia, and one for children of single mothers who need reliable, quality care for their children while they work. These are children who probably would otherwise not have a school to attend.

She asked me if I could help by donating materials to her new schools. As my husband said later, she couldn't have known it, but she was really asking the right person. Not only do I love to give Montessori materials to needy causes, but I was in the middle of re-organizing my materials for the new school year, which meant that I could sort through my boxes and bins and give her everything that I didn't need for my own children anymore.

In the end, I filled eight large boxes with things to send to Ana. Included were printed materials (like the Continent Kit Collection!), a cutting board, laminating film, and a laminating machine; puzzles and manipulatives; classroom items like baskets, containers, dustpans, and rugs; math and science materials; and one of my CD-ROMs. In addition, I went to Target when all the school supplies were on sale and went crazy buying glue, crayons, pencils, paper, clipboards, and other great stuff.

I mailed the boxes to Ana, but due to some shipping problems (the boxes were held up by customs and red tape for four months), she didn't receive them until December. For awhile I felt as if she was never going to get them, and we emailed back and forth lamenting the boxes' lack of progress. When Ana finally emailed me that the boxes had arrived, I was so happy and relieved that I cried.

She's been working hard setting up her new classrooms, so I was delighted when she emailed me some fantastic pictures the other day. Take a look at these adorable students (click on each picture for a larger view):

Cards and counters with gemstones in a silk bag, my favorite way to make this work!

One of my printed movable alphabets, and a Binomial Cube I didn't need anymore.

Flag cards from the South America kit, naturally!

Some puzzles for winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Cards with pictures and information about animals - what a cutie!

The beginnings of a lovely classroom.

Once I got involved with the project, I decided it would be the perfect time to focus on South America (and Colombia specifically) in our homeschooling time. It was so much fun for me and my kids to research this beautiful country and learn more about life there. In any sort of geography study, I highly recommend finding a "real life" way for kids to get involved. It makes their studies come alive.

Ana and her family are committed to the people of Colombia. The needs are many, but they are encouraged with the progress they see already. If you'd like to contribute to the work they are doing, you can make a donation here. You'll see several options listed, including the ability to donate through PayPal. Any amount would be appreciated!

Transitioning from Montessori to a Traditional School

When I was teaching, I was asked about the transition from Montessori to traditional school many, many times. Because few regions of the world offer a complete Pre-K-12 Montessori program, transitioning is something the majority of Montessori kids will have to accomplish at some point in their school careers. The good news is, studies suggest that this change can be approached and managed very successfully.

A most interesting recent research project tracked 400 students in Milwaukee. Half the students received only public school education from kindergarten to graduation. The other half attended Montessori schools through 5th grade before transitioning into the public school system. The two groups were carefully matched in terms of gender, ethnicity and family financial status. At the end of the study, which was conducted between 1997-2007, test scores and GPAs were compared.

Perhaps it won't come as a surprise to Montessori advocates that the children who had received Preschool - Grade 5 Montessori education not only outperformed the other student group in math and science test scores, but also graduated with higher GPAs. The conclusion of the study was that early Montessori education had a long-term impact on later public school performance. At the very least, students transitioned excellently on an academic level.

Help! We've Just Left Montessori For Public School

This was the title of an educational forum discussion that I believe accurately sums up how many parents feel about the challenges of transitioning. In this case, a mother in Chicago was extremely committed to making her son's move from one school to the next as smooth as possible. She was very worried about the fact that her son's handwriting and spelling was poor and feared that the different way in which math would be presented in his new classroom would prove a difficult challenge.

Three months later, the mom returned to forum to report that while her son's first report card had contained mostly As and Bs, she was unhappy to see him getting C in language arts. She wondered why, when her son was a good reader, his language skills were so 'weak'. Another parent came along to remind her that a C grade doesn't mean 'weak'; it simply means 'average'. The mother seemed reassured by this. I think it's helpful to remember that grades usually do not show a true picture of the child's abilities, and hopefully Montessori parents will keep this in mind when their child moves to a grade-based system of evaluation.

As the discussion continued and time passed, this parent discovered ways to help her son with new things like homework, got further advice for improving in challenging areas and found that being in good communication with her child's teacher is very important. I thought this discussion was noteworthy because it shows that both the parent and the child go through a transition, and this mother was doing the right thing by getting involved and doing all she could to be of help to her child.

The Academic Transition

The academic challenge is 1/2 of the formula in the transition. Montessori students may either be behind or ahead of their new peers in certain subjects because of the self-guided study they did in their previous school. Concepts will be taught differently, and the student will need to adapt to more traditional teaching methods.

In my experience, even if a Montessori child finds him or herself behind the other students in a certain curricular area, they are able to catch up very easily. Remember, this is a child who has learned how to learn - where to find information on their own if they need it. They are accustomed to research and to tackling new subjects. These skills stand them in very good stead when they move to traditional school.

Homework may be a bit of a shock, if a child hasn't received very much until now. Students must be prepared to put in additional hours of work after the last bell rings for the day. Parents may need to participate in homework time until their children become accustomed to taking responsibility for the task on their own.

A healthy snack at homework time may be helpful in providing the extra bit of energy new traditional school students need to fulfill homework requirements. If children show an inability to complete all the work that is expected of them, setting up a parent-teacher conference to discuss a gradual transition to homework might be a good idea. It isn't in the best interest of any child to give them more duties than they can handle and a good teacher will be willing to listen to special concerns.

The Emotional Transition

No matter the kind of education a child receives, leaving a familiar classroom or school behind can cause some feelings of sadness for students of any age. Montessori children are apt to miss their former instructors and schoolmates as well as the buildings and playgrounds they knew so well. Entering a social system where a pecking order has already been established presents another challenge as the new kid tries to figure out where he fits in. When you add to this the tremendous difference in educational philosophy Montessori students encounter when they walk into their traditional school classrooms, some feelings of stress are predictable.

Teachers and parents can help children by having frequent conversations with them about what they are feeling and experiencing. Parents can encourage kids to feel free to invite a potential new friend home for a play date. This will help them to meet some of their new classmates and their parents. The truth is, of course, that during school hours, children will be fending for themselves in a new environment. It may take awhile for them to be accepted by their fellow students and to make friends.

Here's Some Good News

Psychologists and stellar child advocates like John Taylor Gatto agree that the most important period for mental and emotional development is accomplished by the time a child is nine. Gatto suggests that grades K-3 are optimal for homeschooling children and the same concept applies to Montessori. Children who are allowed to explore and discover themselves amidst the general freedom of a Montessori environment have got powerful tools tucked under their jackets that will assist them when they enter the more rigid structure of traditional school.

Overall, the prognosis looks good for a healthy transition from Montessori to traditional schools, and I have seen many, many children handle the change successfully. That being said, parents need to do their part by carefully investigating schooling options. Many districts offer interesting charter school choices, and some parents will pick a private school. Homeschooling will be the route other families determine to take. Each family will have to make the decision that's best for their child, and be ready to give them some extra support as they make the change.