Past Events

FALL WORKSHOP BY VIRGINIA POWELL

Saturday, November 14, 2015, 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM

Download Fall Workshop Flyer for more information


SPRING WORKSHOP BY SANFORD JONES

Date: Saturday, April 16, 2016

Place: Norwood Fontbonne Academy, Chestnut Hill, PA

8:00 am ~ 12:00 pm

Presenter:  Sanford Jones

Topic: Music and Montessori

Sanford Jones’s Workshop SessionsMinolta DSC

Sanford Jones is known internationally as a Montessori educator, lecturer and composer.  He has made significant contributions to the Montessori movement, including the founding and directing of four schools on the East Coast.  He was the founding president of the North American Montessori Teachers’ Association, and he is a former Executive Director of the Association Montessori Internationale-USA.

MUSIC AND MOVEMENT WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
Sanford Jones, Presenter

This workshop is designed to help both Montessori classroom teachers and music and movement specialists to implement a comprehensive and developmentally-based program of music and movement. The exercises and games are appropriate for children in pre-school and kindergarten levels. Today, more than ever before, with the increased emphasis on technology, music and movement are vital ingredients not only to the wholeness of the developing child, but to the very preservation of culture, through poetry, music and movement.

  • Listening: ear-training activities to awaken the faculty of active listening and music appreciation, including the Montessori Bells, sensorial lessons through notation presentations; music appreciation lessons
  • Movement: the experience and language of movement: parts of the body, locomotor steps, and creative movement games
  • Singing: the development of the singing voice: breathing, posture, focus, diction, dramatic expression
  • Percussion Instruments: using percussion band instruments for rhythmic accompaniment and understanding of rhythmic structure
  • Notation: the path to reading conventional notation on the treble staff, starting with simplified notation using the bells, moving into the work with the green boards and box of accessories, on to the notation patterns on the white boards, culminating with reading simple melodies.

This workshop is designed to give the participants many ways to include music and movement every day in the classroom, either with the whole class, small groups, or individuals. Participants are asked to wear comfortable clothing for ease of movement. Songbooks and CDs of children’s music and movement games will be available for purchase, but are not essential to the facilitation of the ideas presented in the workshop.


MIND, MUSIC AND NEURO

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Dr. Anna Baumgaertel, Developmental Pediatrician
Katherine Aregood-Crusi, Voice and Singing Instructor

Saturday, October 18, 2014
8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
At Norwood-Fontbonne Academy
Fontbonne Commons
8900 Norwood Avenue
Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania 19118

The Montessori Teachers Association of Pennsylvania, Inc. was incorporated in Spring, 2011. The basic purposes of this organization are to:

  • Provide opportunities for continuing education and insight into the various aspects of Montessori theory and practices.
  • Promote growth in awareness of developments in education as a whole.
  • Provide a means to exchange ideas and information.
  • Create new services for the Montessori community.
  • Provide community education and outreach concerning Montessori education.

Board of Directors

Executive Committee

Joan Raiti, President
Mary Furey, Vice President
Mary Furey, Treasurer
Joann Falciani, Associate Membership Secretary
Jillian Bickel, Communications Secretary

Board-at-Large

Diane Force, Montessori Heads Group Liaison

PROGRAM

8:00 – 8:30 Registration & Breakfast, Coffee and morning refreshments

8:30 – 10:00 Katherine Aregood-Crusi

10:00 – 10:15 Break

10:15 – 11:45 Dr. Anna Baumgaertel

11:45 – 12:00 Closing Remarks

“Education is a natural process carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment.”

Maria Montessori

MUSIC AND THE BRAIN

Katherine Aregood-Crusi

katherineIn cultures where music is an integral part of daily life, young children learn the language of music in the same way they learn their spoken tongue. They unconsciously absorb the language of music as they interact musically with others on a daily basis.

Current brain research has shown a link between music and brain development. In music, one goal should be that children are able to enjoy singing. This means that they need to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to feel comfortable and successful in singing with others. To accomplish this, they need to be familiar with music that others enjoy singing.

This workshop will give Montessori educators a multi-step approach on how to teach singing in the classroom. Educators will also develop teaching and musical skills to enable them to feel more confident and comfortable when singing with children. The workshop will include a brief explanation of children’s voices, practical experience and a question and answer period after each step.

Katherine Aregood-Crusi, a Reading native, graduated from The University of Akron with a Masters of Music in Vocal Performance. While there, Ms. Crusi was a frequent soloist in the Akron-Canton area in Opera and Oratorio as well as a multiple winner in the National Association of Teachers of Singing State and Regional competitions.

Since graduation, Ms. Crusi has been highly sought after as a Concert, Recital and Church soloist in Eastern Pennsylvania Concert Performances. Ms. Crusi has performed more the 40 recitals in the Reading area, held the position of first Soprano soloist/section leader for the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill and recently appeared as soloist for both the Swedish-American Museum Singers Christmas Concert in Philadelphia and the Welsh Guild of Philadelphia at the Arch Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.

Ms. Crusi maintains a private vocal studio in Ambler.

Challenging Children are Challenged Children; Considering the Conundrum

Dr. Anna Baumgaertel

anna“She’ll be a great woman, but it will be hell getting there!”

Who are the challenging children, what are the challenges, and who is challenged?

What are the early red flags we need to heed, where can we build bridges, pave the way, make short-cuts, or just slow down and be patient?

Children are part of an intimate system in which physiology (physical health), family and social environments are in a constant, dynamic balancing act. I will discuss some of the biological and neurodevelopmental factors, such as diet and sleep, and differences in temperament, language, sensory processing, and motor development, and how they affect emotions and behavior within their social environment.

This will be a discussion rather than a lecture, so questions and comments will be welcome.

Anna Baumgaertel is a Developmental-Behavioral pediatrician who entered private practice at “The Bridge” in Narberth PA in 2008 after serving in the Division of Child Development and Rehabilitation at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and holding a clinical faculty position in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to that she served as an attending and faculty member in the Child Development Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.. Dr. Baumgaertel received her medical degree from the Free University in West Berlin and completed her postgraduate training in Pediatrics and Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics in Berlin and in Brooklyn NY. She first practiced general pediatrics in Brooklyn, but has been practicing exclusively developmental-behavioral pediatrics for 22 years. Dr. B. is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics. She sees children from infancy through adolescence for the entire range of developmental problems. Her focus is on Autism and ADHD, with special interest in anticipatory guidance, early diagnosis, and integrative approaches to developmental disorders. She is also very interested in how developmental differences and emotions