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August 1980, we were dealing with the fallout of Mount St Helens erupting in May and were getting ready to welcome in Ronald Reagan as our new president after the upcoming November election. What was significant for me in that late August of 1980 was that my Dad was getting ready to head to Washington D.C. I had no idea at the time what was going to come from this sabbatical that he was taking but I can look back now and point this this as the inspiration for The Montessori Network. My Father, Thomas Cavanaugh, a life -long advocate for children, found himself on a transcendent educational journey that year which landed him on a year-long sabbatical training with Ms. Margaret Stevenson at the Washington Montessori Institute. He returned transformed, motivated and intentional! Being described as a “Montessori Pioneer” by the newspapers for starting a public Montessori classroom in the 80’s was powerful to me!  My emotional reactions continued when I watched my older sisters start their careers in Montessori. My nieces and nephews thrived in their Montessori education which positively impacted their lives. And then witnessing the journey my own children are having with their Montessori experience is as inspirational as it gets! I was in awe and felt a calling.
Dad is no longer with us but the spirit of what he began back in 1980 speaks as profoundly as his answer to my question in early May of 1981. He was winding up his sabbatical and the Detroit Tigers had just broken their 10 game losing streak. We were talking on the phone about the Tigers and I switched gears away from sports and asked him a Dad type question that he always asked us, “So where do you think the Montessori thing is going to take us in 5 years?” He said, “Oh, I don’t know but I do know it is going to be a hell of a journey!” Dad, it is a hell of a journey and it continues to be a gift to children around the world. And as you mentioned during that phone call, “I’m not sure where this will take us but I love the process and know I love what the future holds delivering Montessori as a path way to a child’s passion rather than the traditional road.” Using our GPS – Combining our Greatest skills with our Passions will lead us to our highest point of Service Where will Montessori or The Montessori Network be in 5 years? Who the hell knows but I know a journey that includes helping teachers find an easier way to access inspiring professional development from all over the world and a coordinated communications effort to let the world know that Montessori is here IS be a noble path to pursue. I am grateful to dance with inspiration and the gratitude train includes: And yes Dad and of course Mom, the idea about growing so you can give and that feeling of fulfillment IS what it is all about! So I am grateful to you both!
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The sense of fulfillment and gratitude that comes from this journey to create The Montessori Network continues to amaze me. The connection to family that I wrote about in the last blog post certainly contributes a great deal but the opportunity to work with people that have a generous essence is remarkable.
The generosity that is focused on kids and education brings about a sense of community and belonging that comes from sharing common goals. This notion was recently reflected in research conducted by The Neimand Collaborative for the Association of Montessori Internationale where they stated: “A capable individual is the most valued outcome of childhood development for existing and potential Montessori parents. Parents value these attributes and associated benefits for their children from Montessori early childhood education because parents believe they lead to the development of a capable individual (competent, confident, focused, smart, secure, and empowered). Becoming capable matters deeply to Montessori parents and potential Montessori parents because they believe that capability is a step on the path to becoming individuals who will enjoy lives built upon:
Being around like minded people is motivation enough to help them reach children and offer up this great opportunity The inspiration you get from educators and more importantly the energy drives you to want to give just a little bit more. I had this feeling recently during an email idea exchange with some key members of the Montessori Network faithful. Ashley Grob, who is Director of Admissions at the Montessori School and Susie Hyatt who is Head of School at Montessori Radmoor School, were sharing what the offerings would look like on the network’s platform and how the menus could be displayed. Ashley reply was not only insightful into what the potential of the Montessori Network can be but also incredibly thoughtful in that she was focusing on gratitude throughout this process. HI Susie and Tom, I hope you both enjoyed the long weekend! We celebrated my father-n-law's 80th birthday with a big party! So many amazing tributes --he's such an inspiration!... a philosophy professor for more that fifty years as well as a peace activist and holocaust scholar. He is actively meeting with UN ambassadors to engage in Peace initiatives in the Middle East. He embodies love and peace --his life-long commitment to live what he learns /teaches is so beautiful.... I feel lucky to be surrounded by people, both family and friends, who are committed to serving and inspiring others. You both are doing incredible work. Thanks for including me in this conversation. :) I like what you put together in the attached example. I have a couple of thoughts/questions. Currently on the website, Building the Montessori Network, you have three prompts before going into detail about 45 North and who you all are. 1. Saves you time 2. Easy Access 3. Spread the Word For somebody just learning about TMN, I wonder if we can answer these questions more directly: Who, What, Why, How. ? Most of the answers are already on the website, but I'm wondering if people might receive/process the info better with shorter descriptions and the order a little different? ..... Who The Montessori Network is a media platform that combines purpose driven technology with Montessori pedagogy so that Montessori professionals can access quality content and resources to further enhance and support their commitment to children everywhere. What The Montessori Network compiles the best Montessori videos, conferences, podcasts, and blogs in ONE location to support the professional development of teachers, schools and organizations. The Montessori Network provides access to current research on child development, parenting, family systems, neuroscience, and human potential. Montessori organizations and collaborators work together with The Montessori Network to further Montessori efforts and advocacy worldwide. The Montessori Network offers original programming and packages such as: Montessori News show; Multi-media platform kit for schools; Red Table Conversations; Education Round table; Sunday talk show, and more! Why Your time is precious! The Montessori Network consolidates valuable information relating to the Montessori philosophy, child development and human potential so that you can continue teaching and working with families. How The technology to access content on The Montessori Network is simple. Through your membership, you will log in and create a personal profile. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I feel like people will want to know upfront what they are getting -- and then you will have more buy-in. After they know the what, then you can tell them the next great part: why and how. I hope this feedback is helpful! Wishing you both a great week! That is a glimpse of how this journey gives back and how easy kind, caring people make it to be part of something bigger than yourself. We would love to have you join us in this journey by giving us your thoughts or becoming part of our advocacy group! February, 2018- We are fresh off our attendance of the AMI Refresher Course Conference in Phoenix and had great conversations and connections while there! I can’t believe its been over 2 months that we met in Alexandria to present The Montessori Network with the Montessori Leaders Collaborative!
We continue to make progress and of course it is slow at times as we manage those little things called full time jobs! I heard many positives about Trust For Learning and the progress in bringing together AMI, AMS. The Trust For Learning and Montessori Leaders Collaborative hired Neimand Collaborative to conduct extensive research about Montessori. They concluded a year long research project that states everyone wants Montessori education they don’t connect Montessori terminology with what they want! Also, that teachers are the lead point of contact and should be the ambassadors to the parents. Rich Neiman's message to the AMI folks at the closing keynote was fantastic. And Lynne Lawrence pushed everyone to weigh in on how they can help the Bold Goals cause…so timing continues to be right for The Montessori Network! Also, these findings and bold goals will be available when the AMI folks send out info packet following the conference. UPDATES - Summary
At this point we are confident that the concept and idea of TMN is good based on reactions from MLC et al. The relationships we are building are key in this entire process. I’ve mentioned this to everyone that the setup (We run it, Montessori Organizes it) can be discussed and shaped as we see fit. The goal is to help Montessori by giving teachers more tools to help them and establish the coordinated communication effort! The Montessori Network- Update- December 2017 For all of you that have been a part of this journey by supporting the idea, connecting us with other Montessorians or cheering us on, I wanted to give everyone an update after a very successful MACTE conference and meeting with the Montessori Leaders Collaborative in Alexandria, Virginia!
· Connections in the works with: Montessori Administrators Association, MACTE and NAMTA After those calls over the summer we processed the feedback, tweaked and refined the Montessori Network proposal. A few highlights:
Heading into our meeting with the MLC these were our goals:
These are the headlines and takeaways from attending the MACTE conference and the MLC meeting/Q&A/feedback session:
We have been working on the “sizzle reel,” and screen grab examples to help everyone get an idea of what The Montessori Network looks like. Our next steps are:
Our current consideration is how do we get this in front of the schools. Do we make the sizzle reel and explainer elements available to them as a teaser? Possibly send out a survey to some schools and try to determine interest that way after they have viewed the sizzle reel? As I’ve mentioned before these topics are much more enjoyable to discuss in person over spirits of choice but the steps we made over the past few weeks have been significant! Very exciting to say the least with lots more work to be done! Any and all suggestions or feedback is encouraged! Hope everyone has a great holiday! |
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Tom Cavanaugh is one of the driving forces behind the concept of The Montessori Network. Archives
May 2019
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