8th Annual Treasure Valley Montessori Conference

We strive to provide outstanding Montessori workshops that are informative, innovative and up to date with the most current research. We also strive to make the workshops applicable in the daily Montessori classroom.

The Treasure Valley Montessori Conference is sponsored by four local schools that want to reach out to the community. These schools share the following goals:

• To provide opportunities for the community to learn more about Montessori education
• To offer professional resources to Montessori and early childhood educators
• To expose parents to Montessori philosophy
• To help unify Montessori schools in the Northwest and learn from each other
   

In addition to this conference providing excellent information for your work in the classroom, your attendance will count towards most city licensing requirements. The conference offers Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) Professional credits and/or could be used towards Idaho STARS hours.

Eagle Montessori, Montessori Academy, Parkcenter Montessori and Rosehill Montessori are proud to sponsor the 8th Annual Treasure Valley Montessori Conference. Thank you for your interest and ongoing support.

While this conference is for teachers, we welcome parents who are eager to learn more about Montessori education. In addition to the two day workshop, this year we are pleased to be able to offer two very special Parent Workshops with information presented from JoAnn Deak, see her bio below, this workshop is open to all parents. We hope that you will join us and bring friends and family.

The 2010 Treasure Valley Montessori Conference will once again be an exciting one. We have some really special presenters this year. Check back soon and we will have more bios, the course descriptions and other information.

For any questions please contact, Amanda Neill at Eagle Montessori, (208) 938-0100

This year’s conference features two national presenters. In addition to these two presenters we will also feature a couple of local presenters, check back for more information on the local presenters as we solidify plans.  

JoAnn Deak, Ph.D.

Biography from www.deakgroup.com

JoAnn Deak, Ph.D., has spent more than twenty years as an educator and psychologist, helping children develop into confident and competent adults. The latter half of that period has focused on working with parents and teachers in their roles as guides for children. On her website is a quote that best describes her perspective on her work: "Every interaction a child has, during the course of a day, influences the adult that child will become."

Parents and educators from schools in the United States and abroad, as well as organizations such as the National Association of Independent Schools, International Schools Association of Africa, etc., have heralded Dr. Deak's ability to demystify complex issues of child development, learning, identify formation and brain research. Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia and The Shelter of Each Other has called Dr. Deak "an earnest idealist and a rigorous researcher... a good combination of head and heart." Michael Thompson, author of Raising Cain and Best Friends, Worst Enemies, has said that her writing "offers parents humor, understanding, parenting philosophy, and well founded words of wisdom."

Dr. Deak began her career as a teacher. She soon learned the complexity of dealing with the many brain and motivational patterns represented by the diverse students in her classes. This led to her work at Kent State University, one of only three universities in the United States to have a specialty in Preventive Psychology. Her doctoral work focused on how to assess those environmental, school and family patterns that lead to the healthy development of children and, conversely, those patterns that cause issues, problems and disabilities.

After several years in private practice, Dr. Deak began consulting with schools in Ohio. In the 1980's she worked with the Laurel School as a consulting psychologist, where she participated in a six-year study with Harvard and a team of researchers led by Carol Gilligan. Following that study, Dr. Deak joined Laurel School as the Director of the Lower School and Director of the Middle School. She also was the founding Director of Early Childhood. She left Laurel in 1999 to expand her consulting role with parents, schools and other organizations nationwide and internationally.

Dr. Deak has been an advisor to Outward Bound, a past chair of the National Committee for Girls and Women in Independent Schools, on the advisory board of New Moon Magazine, the Seattle Girls' School, Bromley Brook School, Lendl Montessori School, Power Play and Girls Can Do. She consults with organizations and schools across the in the United States. Most recently she has worked with international education associations and parent groups in Australia, Borneo, Canada, England, Ethiopia, France, India, Kenya, the Philippines, Nepal, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. She has been awarded the 2003 Woman of Achievement Award by the National Coalition of Girls' Schools and was given the first Female Educator of the Year Award 2002 by Orchard House School. She has been named the Visiting Scholar in New Zealand in 2004, the Visiting Scholar for The Red Oak School for 2004/2005 and the Resident Scholar for the Gardner Carney Leadership Institute in Colorado Springs for 2006/2007/2008.

Dr Deak has written two books:

How Girls Thrive, published by the National Association of Independent Schools. 1998

Girls Will Be Girls: Raising Confident and Courageous Daughters, Hyperion. 2002

Co-edited one book:

The Book of Hopes and Dreams

Contributed to two books:

What I Wish You Knew: Letters from Our Daughters' Lives, and Expert Advice on Staying Connected. American Girl. 2001

Instructor's Guide to Managing Adolescents in the Field. Outward Bound. 2003

Has written numerous articles and is working on her next book:
The Brain Matters: A Middle of the Road Guide for Parenting and Teaching.
 

Meg Fedorowicz

Biography adapted from www.meadowmontessori.org

Meg Fedorowicz, has taught at Meadow Montessori School in Monroe, Michigan since its inception 25 years ago Meg now divides her teaching time Meadow Montessori and the MECA Teacher Training Center, where her students are aspiring young early childhood teachers. Meg is a lecturer in geography, history, and the sciences, and has trained teachers for OMB – the Brazilian Montessori organization in Brazil. She has lectured across the country at AMS national conferences, and has traveled to Cuba with a group of Montessori educators to give presentations on the Montessori Method .

Meg feels strongly that we need to start teaching physical science at younger ages, and consequently, she has written a book for teachers of young children. Meg’s physical science curriculum for 3-6 year olds, places an emphasis on experiments and demonstrations. The book was published in 2009 and is available through the Montessori Services Catalogue.

Meg recently coordinated an interactive display that was presented at the National AMS convention. It is titled Presenting the Cosmos to the Young Child, and Celma Perry, with Meg Fedorowicz, has written a companion booklet. These are available through the MECA website: www.MontessoriECA.org.

Meg completed her 3-6 training at MECA (Montessori Education Centers, Associated) in Chicago, IL; 9-12 training at MMTEC in Rochester Hills, MI.; received her BA in Studio Art at Oakland University; and her Masters Degree in Teacher Education at Siena Heights University, Adrian MI.

She and her husband, Fred, have three daughters. Anya and Elizabeth are MMS alums; Anya is currently the directress of Junior West, and Rosemary is in the middle school at MMS.
 

Norman Weinstein

Norman Weinstein is the author of many books including: two books about popular music, a book about Getrude Stein, and many collections of poetry. He currently writes about architecture for several national publication and teaches Humanities at the College of Western Idaho. His writing expertise will provide for a rich elementary writing workshop.

Dylan & Maria Anderson

Dylan was born and raised in Idaho fishing and exploring the outdoors. Later on, he moved to Arizona where he got a B.S. in Parks and Recreation with an emphasis in outdoor leadership at Northern Arizona University. Part of his outdoor experience led him to take a course in Wilderness First Responder which sparked an interest in Emergency care. He is currently a Firefighter/Paramedic at Meridian Fire Department. His outdoor teaching experience include Newfound Harbor Marine Institute, Florida Keys, Camp du Nord, Minnesota, Navy's Outdoor Summer Programs for dependents, San Diego.

Maria was born and raised in Puerto Rico also fishing and exploring the outdoors, in a different environment. She moved to Boston to obtain a B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University. After completing her degree, she took a year to teach English in Japan. There, she found a passion for education. Looking for other teaching opportunities, she worked at Newfound Harbor Marine Institute. Other of her outdoor teaching experiences include Seacamp San Diego and Navy's Outdoor Summer Programs for dependents. At these camps she met Montessori students and teachers. She saw an apparent difference in the student's thirst for learning and relationship between the teacher and student. She is currently a Montessori teacher at Montessori Academy in the Elementary 1 classroom.

Hotel Information

The best place to find and reserve a hotel is near the airport or Micron. For more information on hotels please contact Amanda Neill, (208) 938-0100.

Cost

$160 for both Thursday and Friday
$100 for one day, either Thursday or Friday 

This year we would also like to introduce half day rates! 
$50 for half day, this rate does not include a catered lunch
$60 for half day, this rate does include the catered lunch

Lunch

Each day our lunch break will be from 12pm-1pm. We are pleased and excited to be offering a delicious healthy lunch from Open Table, www.opentableboise.com. The lunch will be vegetarian friendly, please let us know if you have other dietary concerns.
 

Registration Information

While we can not offer online registration we will have a downloadable registration available shortly. Please contact Amanda Neill with any questions.

Each year we are pleased to welcome local and national vendors to our conference. If you are a vendor interested in having a table at our conference please contact Amanda Neill, (208) 938-0100. 

Cancellation Policy: 
Requests for refunds must be made by Sept. 24, 2010. A $25 cancellation fee will be taken out of your refund check. Please direct all questions and refund requests to Amanda Neill with Eagle Montessori (208) 938-0100 or amanda@boisemontessori.com.
 

Sponsor

This year we are pleased to have Treasure Valley Family Magazine sponsor the Annual Treasure Valley Montessori Conference. We look to Treasure Valley Family Magazine as a great local parent and education resource. Check out their website, www.treasurevalleyfamily.com. 

Vendors

www.montessoriservices.com
A resource for Preparing the Child’s Environment!


www.childrens-store.com 
A great store for fun educational games, toys and more!


www.rdbooks.com
A great independent local bookstore, with new ideas arriving daily!


www.duniamarketplace.com
Shop for fair traded handmade items including home decor, musical instruments, consumable, jewelry and accessories. A selection of fairly traded goods from Asia, Africa and the Americas. Dunia Marketplace also carries local items handmade by local non-profit groups & organizations. 
 

www.myersmusicstudio.com
Music Together of Treasure Valley will have available a wide variety of musical instruments perfect for use in the classroom. They will also provide information and a sneak peek of the materials used in the Montessori compatible core curriculum music program.

Thank you for your interest, we hope to see you at this years Treasure Valley Montessori Conference.

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Wednesday October 6th 2010

9:00am- 11:00am
Mothers Workshop

Dr. JoAnn Deak will discuss the important role of the Mother in the development of the child's gender identity, social skills, self - esteem and intelligence. Dr. Deak will also address current brain research and touch upon learning differences in boys and girls.

6:00pm- 8:00pm
Fathers Workshop

Dr. JoAnn Deak will discuss the the specific research clearly pointing to the important role of the Father in the development of a child's gender identity, social skills, self-esteem and intelligence. In addition Dr. Deak will also address current brain research and touch upon learning differences in boys and girls.

Thursday October 7th 2010

Dr. Deak will present all day. Her two workshops naturally blend together and one would be best served by attending both the morning and the afternoon sessions, however, half day sessions are available.

8:30am - 12:00pm
Current Brain Research: How it Informs Teachers & Parents

The last five years has provided an onslaught of knowledge about the functioning of the human brain. This work has confirmed some long standing theories and totally disproved others. Because of the significant steps in scanning techniques that can image a brain while it is working, more than ever before, we can make more informed and accurate recommendations for anyone involved in working humans. This workshop will provide a comprehensive understanding of how to understand and work with the approximately 100 billion neurons that form an individual's brain, without being intimidating or overwhelming!
 

1:00pm - 4:00pm 
A combination of two of Dr. Deak's most popular topics. 
Beyond Learning Styles: Diagnosing Types of Learners
Males & Females: Significant Differences

Taking information presented in the first half of the day, Dr. Deak will look at the different learning style inventories, personality tests and ways of looking at multiple intelligences. Dr. Deak will address a way of combining the brain research by looking at how an individual brain works, and combining that with pedagogic techniques in the classroom that will fit most learners. Taking this information, she will then discuss the differences between males and females and how our bodies are more alike than different from the neck down anatomically. However, once the brain is asked to work, brain imaging shows that female and male brains are wired quite differently. These differences lead to a variation in the way females and males approach almost everything: from learning to loving, from communicating to consoling. All this information will then be related back to the child and the classroom! 
 

Friday October 8th 2010

8:30am - 12:00pm

1. Integrating Language with the Cultural Subjects
Presenter: Meg Fedorowicz

In the 3-6 year old Montessori classroom language is not a mehtod but a study of human development. We are aiding the child's development as we "follow the child." Language is one of the most remarkable things we humans do; when we teach children the alphabet we give them a precious gift. The development of reading and writing is directly tied to the development of speech and thought. The child needs information and experience to perceive and think about in order to read and write. In other words, in order to talk you have to have something to say. Meg will discuss how to look around your classroom, share cultural stories with the children and listen to the children's stories. As teachers it is important that a rich cultural area and print immersed environment be created. Meg will take specific areas of the Montessori classroom cultural areas: geography, history, biology and physics and give examples of work that can be generated from this cross integration of language and the cultural areas. This workshop will allow you to see the work in your classroom from a fresh perspective and give you extensions you can easily integrated into your own classroom.

2. Creative Writing with Cultural Adventures Across Europe and Africa
Presenter: Norm Weinstein

This workshop for the elementary teacher will offer a range of innovative tools and strategies for teaching creative writing to students, all within the context of studying European and African geography, art and music. Topics will include metaphors, surrealistic and collage writing experiments, and poetry. Also central will be an emphasis on how creative writing across cultures can integrate hand, heart, and head for teachers and parents as well as students.

1:00pm - 4:00pm

1. Beyond Sink and Float
Presenter: Meg Fedorowicz

Just as the world can be described in terms of "land, air or water" when speaking of geography; and "living or not living" or "plant, animal or mineral" when spekaing of biology; physicists speak of the world in terms of "matter of energy". It is kind of pleasurable to be able to divide the world up so neatly. Reality, of course, isn't quite that simple, with its many overlapping and integrated areas, but matter and energy is a good place to begin and preschool is a good place to begin it.

Why begin in preschool? Just as we do with every other subject area, we begin naming reality, even in physics during the preoperational time of 3-6 years old. We don't explain why things happen; we do not go into long-winded explanations of the causes of physical phenomena, but we do name scientific tools ("This is a tuning fork"). We do show and describe to young children what happens ("When I strike the tuning fork, I hear a tone") and we describe properties ("loud/soft" or "high/low"). Children are introduced to the three states of matter: solids, liquids and gases through seceral fun activities such as freezing juice - a liquid - to make popsicles - a solid. They are then taken through a series of attractive and fun activities for each of the types of energy: light, heat, sound, magnetic, chemical, mechanical, and electrical energies. Everthing needed is readliy available in your kitchen or your local hardware store. An added benefit is that the children learn how to read from the "recipe card" format of the activities. Many hard to reach children have cracked the code of reading through the use of the "experiment cards".

2. Bringing Outdoor Education into the Montessori Classroom
Presenters: Dylan & Maria Anderson

Elementary outdoor and experiential education add another level of understanding for students. In this workshop the focus will be on various interactive games. These activities will be a starting point to expand our elementary curriculum by including more team-building cooperative games in cultural lessons. The class will also detail how to debrief after playing these games, a crucial concept to experiential education. Games will help children work on interpersonal skills and social development concepts through decision-making, cooperation, and communication.
 

Regional Conferences

Our conference is held annually, in addition to our Annual Montessori Conference we are pleased to inform you that the Utah Montessori Council hosts workshops and conferences throughout the year that you may be interested in attending. 

On September 18th 9am-3:30pm Dr. Jane Nelson, author of Positve Discipline, will present in Park City, Utah. Dr. Nelson will present her workshop, Positive Discipline for Developing Capable People. 

Learn proven, effective non-punitive strategies to help children, develop self-discipline, responsiblity, cooperation, problem-solving skills, and feelings of competence, confidence, and capability.

$40 per person for UMC members and their families, $50 for non-members.

Utah Montessori Council's Annual Conference will feature Dr. Paul Epstein. Dr. Epstein will present in Riverton Utah on January 28th and 29th.
 
For more information about the Utah Montessori Council or these workshops please contact Duna Strachan at duna@soaringwings.org or check out their website, www.utahmontessori.org.