Global Studies - A Special Education at Brooklyn Heights Montessori School

Montessori Life, Summer 2004 by Foran, Molly

The commitment to global understanding is a hallmark of Montcssori education. At Brooklyn Heights Montessori School, students from preschool through eighth grade not only research, but experience and "live out" global cultures in age-appropriate, hands-on ways. In March, the school was honored with a National Association of Independent Schools "Leading Edge" Award for Curriculum Innovation, in recognition of a particular program within the school, The Little Room. Funded by the New York State Department of Education, The Little Room serves 37 children with special learning needs in preschool through second grade. Little Room Big Kids, the K-2 classroom serving the oldest children in The Little Room program, has developed a curricular unit on Egypt as one way to introduce global understanding to this very special group of learners.

Little Room Big Kids at Brooklyn Heights Montessori School utilizes a modified Montessori environment tailored specifically to the needs and learning styles of 10 children with special learning needs. Children in The Little Room present with difficulties in language and other areas, including emotional and social health, which may impact their ability to learn in a typical fashion and/or to relate and socialize in the classroom and other environments. In addition to classroom activities, the children in The Little Room also receive speech and language, occupational, and physical therapies as well as psychological counseling services.

While the program's goal is to help children become mainstrcamcd into other school settings, the beauty of The Little Room is its integration into Brooklyn Heights Montessori School's separate preschool through eighth grade Montessori program. Even the physical classrooms are integrated-on the building's first floor, Little Room Big Kids are nestled between two Montcssori preschool classrooms, and on another floor, a Montessori preschool classroom is situated among three Little Room preschool classrooms.

With the inspiration of the Montcssori view of the interconnection of all cultures and peoples, the Big Kids curriculum has been developed to introduce global concepts in ways directly related to the particular learning needs of the children in the program. By incorporating the school's overall mission to promote diversity and understanding, the Big Kids curriculum provides not only a view into other cultures but a view into these students' own place in the school and in the world.

One global focus of the Little Room Big Kids curriculum is a unit on Ancient Egypt, which was conceived and developed by Big Kids teachers Kaisa EIo and Myra Hushansky, with assistance from student teacher Sabrina Fazzino. During the 4 weeks that Egypt is studied, the topics and content of the unit literally take over the environment as activities resulting from teacher-directed activities (necessary in this special education setting) generalize into other areas of the room, even extending into play. Witnessing this internalization and general ization of the new knowledge is one of the signs of a successful unit, as Little Room children's difficulties often cause fragmented learning. By the end of the month, the culminating project-a diorama of life in Ancient Egypt, including the great pyramids, mummies, a desert floor, the Nile, boats, Egyptian homes, and camels-is the centerpiece of the classroom.

While this final display is certainly impressive, the path of study is long and deliberate, emphasizing visually rich, hands-on, socially-guided activities to key into the needs of the students. One of the first experiences is for students to meet in small groups of three or four for art-related discussions and hands-on opportunities. These small groups are particularly important because they are, essentially, social opportunities, and the level of discussion they foster is a particular challenge for the students.

In the art groups, students are exposed to Ancient Egyptian art through postcard pictures, large photos, pictures from reference books, and small replicas of Egyptian artwork. In these groups, students are asked to describe what they see and notice while viewing each piece of artwork. These language exercises, designed to draw out challenging language and help create new vocabulary, are especially important for students in Little Room Big Kids. As they look at the Egyptian art, students are encouraged to describe colors and shapes they notice, to discuss the various designs and patterns they see, to predict the meaning behind Egyptian symbols, to guess what the artwork could have been used for, and to determine if the artwork is detailed or plain. Discussions also evolve into the history of the pieces: "How we can tell that this is ancient?" and "How might this have looked before the heat of the sun and the wetness of the rain had worn its surface?" Focus is also placed on the techniques the Egyptians used in creating their artwork, and the children discuss how elaborate designs were carved in stone.