Stephanie Pelly – Peace Educator

We believe that music is profoundly important as a tool you can use to help children grasp whatever it is you are teaching them.  If you were a participant in the “Building Classroom Community and Character Through Music” workshop at AMS in Orlando, Florida, we think you also believe this is true.

As promised, below you will find resources that were presented in the workshop.

Building Classroom Community and Character Through Music – Resources Handout

Building Classroom Community – Notes for participants
For those who are interested, here are presenter notes which contain an outline of what was presented at the workshop.  In addition the presentation was recorded and is available through AMS.

Books and Music - click here to see all the books and music we offer
A number of songs and chants which were performed during the workshop are also available on our books and CD.  The Notes For Particpants above lists where you  may find particular songs.  All song lyrics for songs contained on CDs  are available by download on the page of each product.

Affirmation Courage Crossing

Fanga
http://dreamaworldedu.org/professional-development/classroom-resources/ 

Affirmation Activity from 

Young Masters: Heart of A Lion
From Young Masters Little Wisdom Curriciulum
Thia curriculum is a free download and was created to support the Young Masters Little Wisdom Books and Music for use in circle time activities.

All Montessori teachers and administrators are invited to join Bunny Hull a Grammy®-Award winning songwriter for this workshop that integrates music, rhythms, and interactive games for students ages 3 – 9. You’ll learn upbeat songs, creative art projects, and lessons that enhance language development and build social and emotional skills by focusing on universal themes such as friendship, courage, and gratitude. You’ll leave with new tools for using music to create a joyful learning environment and build classroom community, and you’ll see how music can be a key element in character education and peace education programs.

 There are currently ninety participants signed up for this workshop, so sign up now while there is still room available. 

 Bunny Hull is a Grammy®-Award winning songwriter and the founder and executive director of Dream A World Education, Inc., an arts education, character education, and life skills program used in public schools in Los Angeles. She has worked with children since 1994 after a career in the music industry as a vocalist, songwriter, and producer.

Stephanie Pelly is a peace educator and consultant to Montessori and public schools. She has worked at Naudain Academy Montessori School in Voorhees, NJ, for 14 years as an assistant teacher, camp counselor, and after care teacher.

The program began with the class saying the Young Masters Pledge together.  ”I promise to use my gifts everyday, in everyway, for I am a Young Master. PEACE!” “By now the children have learned they do indeed have gifts to share with the world, ” said Ms. Stephanie, “and that’s why they’re Young Masters.”

After the pledge, the children listened to Ms. Stephanie, the program facilitator as she read Young Masters:  This Little Light.  ”In this storybook, the children learn the many ways love is shared with people, animals and the earth.”  The story was followed by an activity to demonstrate the power of love.  The activity is called A DROP OF LOVE. In a glass bowl filled with water, Ms. Stephanie  placed a small earth globe.  One at a time, each child took a turn and using an eye dropper filled with colored water placed a drop of love around the globe.  As they shared something they love about themselves, others or the world around them they all saw how the love they had to give helped color the world with love.   “One drop of love makes a difference in the world,” said Ms. Stephanie.  Each child had a turn as ideas like “I love my family and friends, I love my teachers, I love my dog, I love flowers and I love music,” were expressed.

After completing the activity the children created “heartprints”, this was an art project to share with someone they love.  As  they listened to music from the Young Masters:  This Little Light CD, each child decorated four “heartprints” and added their own very special thumbprint to make the shape of a heart.  As they placed their thumbprints on the hearts Ms. Stephanie told them “there is no one in the whole world that has a thumbprint like you and there’s no one in the world exactly like you.  You are unique! And the way you give your love is unique.”   On the reverse side of the “heartprint” children wrote messages like “I love you” or “I love playing with you.” Some children wrote words like “kindness” and “share.”  The children were asked to share their love by giving a “heartprint” away to a classmate, family member, teacher or neighbor. “Sharing love is making someone else feel special,” said Ms. Stephanie, “that’s how you shine your light. That’s what Butaan, Phylos and EEtha talk about in the book.”  “I love hearing the children sing along with the CD while they’re creating,” said Ms. Stephanie. “Music adds so much to a learning experience…music makes learning joyful.”

As their time together came all too quickly to an end, the students repeated the Young Masters pledge one last time and were encouraged to try making heartprints out of clay at home to share with friends or family members.

“Young Masters…learning to make the world a better place.  I love my work,” said Ms. Stephanie. Stay tuned for the next adventure in learning with the Young Masters Little Wisdom Discovery program.

If you’re interested in finding out more about how you can use this program in your school.

Stephanie Pelly is a peace educator and co-creator of the Young Masters Little Wisdom Discovery Program for children and teaches this program and others in and around New Jersey.

Click here to make a difference in the lives of children 4-8 in your world.

Curriculum is still available for free.

Naudain Academy is a Montessori school in Voorhees, New Jersey.

After they completed the group project, Stephanie talked about the creative writing and arts project in their Young Masters’ journals.  The children were asked to create and draw their very own cartoon character.  “Create your very own character,” said Stephanie, “like the illustrator Kye Fleming created Phylos, Butaan and EEtha in the Young Master books or like the characters you see on television or in other story books.”

Once the children designed the image of their character they were asked to create a story about their character.  You could see their wheels turning as Naudain Academy students searched their minds for creative ideas and inspiration.  Children were also asked to name their character.  Some children said, they would come up with a name first and then draw the character…ah the beauty of the creative process.  There are a million ways to create and no set path to a creative end.  Stephanie couldn’t wait to see their creative ideas.

Before the class was over, a couple children asked if they could share their creative art projects from their “at-home” work the week before.  Stephanie was fascinated by their imagination and creativity.  Some children used the same materials, one of those was tin foil, but each created a unique idea.  One girl made an ocean scene with tin foil and candy while another boy used a paper towel roll and tin foil to make a jousting sword.

All in all, a perfect way to honor earth day, by recycling materials and using creativity to make something!  And after all – look at Mother Earth – is she not the epitome of creativity?

They closed with the Young Master’s pledge.  A reminder that each Young Master has gifts share with the world and makes a promise to use those gifts.

Next the Young Masters of Naudain Academy have one more book to read before the school year comes to an end – Young Masters, This Little Light!  How perfect to conclude with love.  The love that is their’s to take into the summer and shine their light into the world as the Young Masters they are.   Every child is born to change the world in a way that only they can.

See you next time.

www.naudainacademy.com

If you’d like to find out how you can use the the Young Masters Discovery Program.  Click here and download your “free” curriculum.

In the story Heart Of A Lion, which introduces EEtha as a new character in the series, Phylos is afraid to cross the river.  He has his reasons, but friends EEtha and Butaan offer their support and encourage Phylos to believe in himself, after all there’s a first time for everything.  The children loved that Phylos faced his fear and tried something new.  They also learned, in the most simple way, that it’s our perceptions that sometimes create our fears. Phylos thought the water would be over his head, but in reality it was only ankle deep.  He ultimately discovered his fears were unfounded.

“Sometimes our fears,” said Stephanie,”keep us safe.  If the water had been very deep perhaps Phylos would have needed to learn how to swim first.  So fears are not bad to have, they can warn us that there is something we need to know.  And sometimes we can learn to have courage and face our fears.  Have you ever been afraid of the dark?” asked Stephanie.  ”Maybe we take little steps to over come our fears like, turn off the bright light and sleep with a night light and then take another step to turn off the night light and sleep with a flashlight next to the bed. And before we know it we don’t need a light at all, because we realize there was really nothing to be afraid of.”

“Have you ever been afraid of anything?” asked Stephanie.  One girl shared she was afraid of heights.  Stephanie suggested climbing a little higher every day and to ask a teacher or parent to stand next to her when she climbs for extra support.  She really liked that idea. “It’s good to ask for help and little by little we can face our fears,” said Stephanie.

For the lesson Stephanie rolled out a mat.  She asked the children to pretend it was water, a river like the one Phylos was crossing.  She then placed “paper rocks” on the mat with words written on them that said “I believe in myself, “I can do it,” “I am brave,”  ”I can ask for and receive help.”  One at a time the children in the class crossed the river and as they stepped on the rocks they read the empowering statements out loud with confidence.  ”Great job,” said Stephanie.

Today, once the lesson was finished they listened to the songs on the Young Masters:  Heart Of A Lion accompanying CD. Hey Young Masters and The Heart Is Very Smart are two of their favorites.  Each lesson the children love concluding by singing Thank You For Being Here.

Thank you for being here to read about how Naudain Academy is changing the world.  If you’re interested in using the Young Masters Little Wisdom Discovery Program at your Montessori school.  It’s free for a limited time by clicking here.

Stay tuned for more adventures in learning .

Dream A World® celebrates a successful week as they exhibited their award-winning books and music, including the Young Masters Little Wisdom Discovery Curriculum created by Hull and Stephanie Pelly, a Montessori specialist in New Jersey.  The curriculum and books are used in Montessori schools.  This exceptional character education, values and life skills program, also used in public schools, is based on the Little Wisdom books and music and teaches children they’re born with gifts to share with the world – these gifts are called the secrets of the heart.  Hull and Pelly provided a pathway of understanding about programs methods and goals as they shared links to parent involvement and building classroom community.

Executive Director of AMS, Richard Ungerer thanks Bunny Hull, Founder and Executive Director of Dream A World

This week the books and curriculum were purchased by Montessori Schools from around the world including it’s adoption by Ambassador Schools – Montessori in Saudi Arabia and a Montessori school in Shanghai, China, where there are plans to translate the curriculum for use in additional schools.  Dream A World® is making a deep mark in the world of children’s education with this program and the Secrets of the Heart Arts Residency curriculum currently a huge success in Los Angeles area schools.   “I am deeply touched by the commitment of these incredible Montessori educators I connected with in San Francisco and heartened by their reception and comments about our work,” said Hull.  The Young Masters Little Wisdom movement is on the rise!

content and principle.  We use a consistent format for our order of activities, very similar to your listing, but shortened to handle each week’s actual time available for lessons.  I provide a monthly summary with an adult contemplation to help teachers prepare both in consciousness and spiritual practice as well as referencing the page numbers and activities to be covered.  Sometimes, we find and additional story related to the theme that we add on a 3^rd or 4^th Sunday.  February’s theme is “Be Courageous in Faith” utilizing “Heart of a Lion” and Courage as the Secret of the Heart.

I have found the Young Master’s Little Wisdom Series Books, CDs and curriculum inspiring, not only for the children but for the adults using it.  It has deepened everyone’s practice and understanding of principle in fun ways. It has encouraged our children to put their learning into practice in their daily lives and to share these ideas with friends and family.  Everyone especially loves the music!  As the Manager for Youth & Family Ministries at Center For Spiritual Living, Seattle and as a musician, educational consultant and curriculum writer, I find this series an excellent addition to our enriching programs.  I would highly recommend these books and CDs to parents and for spiritual centers like ours to use the curriculum in their programs, adapting them as needed to their particular population , resources and time guidelines.  For us, the six units provided six months of curriculum basics.

Deanna Freeman, RScP is Manager of Youth & Family Ministries, Center for Spiritual Living – Seattle.  Here she talks about how this center has incorporated the Young Masters Little Wisdom Curriculum to enhance the spiritual growth of the over 100 children per week they serve.

Visit Center For Spiritual Living Seattle by clicking here and find out how Rev. Kathianne Lewis, Senior Minister and Spiritual Leader of CSL Seattle, Deanna Freeman and their incredible team work together to make a difference in the world.