Do You See?

Join Angie and her friend, Chuck, to explore the language of Latin! Angie and Chuck go over some Latin self-study tips, basic vocabulary, and grammar. Most importantly, they explain why a knowledge of Latin would be relevant for a modern English-speaker. This week's homework: help your kids understand that the modern English language is derived from many different, older languages.

This week's episode is all about frustration tolerance. It turns out-- a higher frustration tolerance leads to a more easeful life! Angie and Alisha discuss strategies for talking about frustration with children and practices for everyone to build a higher frustration tolerance.

This week we are continuing to talk about how computer science education is being implemented at MW Montessori. We are joined by Scott Robison to talk about his python elective class that is offered to MW Montessori middle schoolers. Scott, Angie, and Alisha discuss the history and applications of the python coding language.

This week we are joined by Alden Thorpe, computer science specialist at MW Montessori Academy, to talk about the benefits of studying computer science at all grade levels.

Join Angie and Alisha as they talk about strategies for raising independent and self-confident children. The material from this episode is based on the book, Raising Independent, Self‑Confident Kids: Nine Essential Skills by Donald A. Moses and Wendy Moss.

Join us for the comeback episode of Do You See?! In this episode you will hear what Mountain West Montessori have been up to since the pandemic started and how they are adapting to better serve their students and staff. The homework for this episode is to have a conversation with your family about strategies for determining truth.

This episode was written and recorded by the students in our Costa Rica Travel Club. These students are going on an educational eco-tourism trip to Costa Rica in April, and created this episode to ask for donations toward their trip. They have been diligently fundraising to be able to go! If you are able to support them, send an email to podcast@mwmacademy.org with your name and phone number as well as the amount you would like to donate, and we will contact you. Donations can go to the whole club in general or be designated to a specific student. We appreciate your support!

Episode 32: A Lasting PeaceIn this episode, Ms. Angie, Ms. Alisha, and special guest Dr. Lois Bobo discuss Montessori peace education in two parts: (1) the teaching of conflict resolutions skills and (2) the instilling of values inherent in long-term respect for each other while still disagreeing. Book recommendations: Education and Peace by Maria Montessori, Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children by Thich Nhat Hanh, Children Who Are Not Yet Peaceful by Donna Bryant Goertz, You Can’t Say You Can’t Play by Vivian Gussin Paley

In this episode, Ms. Angie and Ms. Alisha acknowledge the importance of friendships to children and discuss how to handle friendship trouble in a way that communicates capability and allows children to develop resilience by struggling with the bumps in the road while relying on the firm foundation of family routine and love.Book recommendations: Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Montgomery, Real Friends by Shannon Hale, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson

In this episode, Ms. Angie, Ms. Alisha, and Ms. Laura discuss gratitude and how practicing gratitude can increase resilience. Ms. Angie introduces a gratitude exercise that can rewire our brains to decrease our innate negativity bias and train ourselves to scan for positives and appreciate the beauty in life. Book recommendations: El Deafo by Cece Bell, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl, An Awesome Book of Thanks by Dallas Clayton, The Thank You Book by Mo Willems, The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt

In this episode, Ms. Angie and Ms. Melissa talk about our school guidelines for bringing infants to work, and Ms. Melissa shares her experience in bringing her baby, Rosie, to school with her for the past few months. We explore the procedures and guidelines that make this family-friendly option work and discuss the benefits to our students of having an adorable baby at school.

In this short solo episode, Ms. Angie offers enlightenment on just what Title I funding is, where it comes from, and what it is used for at our school. She also reviews MWMA’s Parent & Family Engagement policy and the Parent Compact. If you have ever wondered what Title I means, this episode is for you!

In this episode, Ms. Angie and her special guest, her son Cambell, discuss high school. Cambell talks about his experiences at Bingham High and gives his tips for having a heart-to-heart conversation with your teenager without offending them. He talks about having a part-time job while in high school, and, in a stunning moment, admits that his parents may be a bit wiser than he is, having lived longer. Recommended book(s): The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson, How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish (warning: from the 80’s), Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne, and All Joy & No Fun by Jennifer Senior

In this episode, Ms. Angie and Ms. Alisha discuss gamification in education. Ms. Alisha spills the beans about her classroom theme next year, and shares her expertise about how to incorporate student academic work into a framework that correlates with curriculum, increases motivation and engagement, and fosters both friendly competition and collaboration among students.

In this episode, Ms. Angie, Ms. Alisha, and Ms. Sandee discuss power struggles—what they are, why they happen, and how to avoid them. Parenting tips abound in this useful discussion, which might reframe your perspective on strong-willed children and help them turn this trait to their advantage.

In this episode, Ms. Angie and Ms. Alisha explore the fascinating topic of sleep. How much sleep do we need? What is the importance of dream sleep? Do insects sleep? Why does good “sleep hygiene” look like? You may be surprised to learn that getting adequate quality sleep is one of the biggest things you can do for your health. “The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life.”

In this episode, Ms. Angie and Ms. Kari explain the Montessori Great Lessons. What exactly are they? Why do we have them? How are they presented? They are part of an authentic Montessori curriculum and are designed to inspire children and ignite their imagination and curiosity. From these Great Lessons come all of the subjects that we study—science, history, language, math and the cultural threads that tie them all together.

In this episode, Ms. Angie, Ms. Alisha, and Ms. Olena discuss mathematical anxiety—is this a real thing? How does it happen? What does it look like? How can we recognize and alleviate it at home and in the classroom? If you’ve ever had your heart race when asked to calculate something, or your child is avoiding or failing math, better give this episode a listen!

In this episode, Ms. Angie and Ms. Alisha introduce “memory palaces” and the human talent for spatial memory, as elucidated by Sherlock Holmes and Simonides, the ancient Greek poet who left the banquet only to have the building crash down behind him. We also demonstrate how to perform this feat to increase your own memory powers (by memorizing the middle school camp packing list), and explore the correlation between memory and intelligence.

In this episode, Ms. Angie, Ms. Alisha, and Coach Austin delve into the nitty-gritty details regarding childhood nutrition and the brain. Spoiler alert: kids can learn when they eat healthy food. Find out everything you ever wanted to know about omega-3 fatty acids and where to find them, including the long list of foods most kids hate and the one item that most kids will eat!