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Young Masters Little Wisdom Discovery Program at Montessori Children’s House – Moorestown, New Jersey

The Friendship Seed – Teaching the art of friendship to five year olds

Moorsetown, New Jersey – Stephanie Pelly implemented the Young Masters Little Wisdom Discovery Program for twenty eager young students at the Montessori Children’s House in Moorsetown yesterday.  The program, a special addition to this quarter, began April 5th and will run through May 17th.  Each Tuesday, Stephanie brings one “Secret Of The Heart” to students through story, song and creative interactive workshop.  The first “Secret Of The Heart” was friendship.  It all began when children took the Young Masters Pledge and talked about what a gift was – not the kind of gift you buy in a store, but the kind that you carry inside your heart.  The gift of friendship.  They listened to the story, The Friendship Seed and found out, not only how you make a friend – but how you keep a friend.  They talked about the qualities of friendship and wrote them on their big flower poster, they discovered some of the things we all hold in common and learned how we’re all connected.  The paper friendship chains they exchanged was an example of that connection they got to take home with them.  It was a great day for these children as they learned what it really means to connect with someone – what it means to be a friend.  After all what would the world be without friendship and what would life be without the good friends make along the way.

Montessori teachers:  You can download this curriculum for FREE!  Young Masters Little Wisdom Curriculum for Montessori

Click here to watch a little video of the day’s activities.  Young Masters Discovery Program – The Friendship Seed

Flower poster to learn about friendship.

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Naudain Academy, a Montessori School, uses the Young Masters Little Wisdom Discovery Program to teach friendship.

What is a Young Master?  Someone born with gifts.  A Young Master is YOU.  This is what each and every child in the extension program at Naudain Academy is learning.  They are indeed Young Masters.  This week they continued to explore friendship as they reviewed  the Secret of The Heart they are focusing on for the first month.  They began as always.

“Let’s stand and say the Young Masters Pledge,” said Stephanie Pelly, the program’s director.  Proudly they stood with peace sign over their hearts and said  the pledge with and without the CD.   “I promise to use my gifts every day, in every way, for I am a Young Master.  The children already remember the pledge and state it with great enthusiasm.” said Stephanie. “With each meeting they understand a little more, what it means.”

They reviewed the book they read at their first meeting.  Many children recalled not only the title of the book  The Friendship Seed, but  were also able to share the author’s name, Bunny Hull and the illustrator Kye Fleming.  They discussed the names of the characters in the story and she then asked them if they could remember, “what was the Friendship Seed that was shared in the story…who can tell me?” she asked.  Together the children cheered – a smile.

They talked about how plants and flowers grow transition from a tiny seed and  how a friendship can grow from one single smile.  They talked about how it’s important to take care of our friendships, to nurture them and they explored how to do that.  Together the class created a “friendship flower.” On each petal they wrote an idea that could help their friendships grow in school.  They could “be kind”, one child said,  “and say kind words.” Another child said, “I could help a friend or cheer a them up if they were sad.”  They  talked about how they could “include others,” or “share with a friend.”  “What about unkind words,” asked Stephanie. ” Those are like weeds that don’t help friendships grow,” they all agreed. “We don’t want those in our garden!”

Stephanie then invited one child at a time to come to the front of the classroom and hold a “friendship flower”, this was a beautiful red rose that she had brought to class.  Each child said something they liked about their friend, until everyone had a turn.  This activity made each child feel that what they had to say was indeed important and valued. They were showing kindness to their friend.

The children were given an activity sheet to take away so they could complete their own friendship flower at home and discuss it with their families. The Young Masters Journals were introduced for the  first time.   The children were excited about receiving their new books which will allow them to track their journey of discovery as they learn how to use the Secrets of the Heart.

Before the program ended they listened to new songs from the Friendship Seed CD and sang THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE in English and Swahili, which they learned was the language of Kenya.  Finally they listened to Hey Young Masters and played air guitar as began to learn the words. “The music is one more important way the children begin to grasp the very important concepts they’re learning,” said Stephanie.

It was good day at Naudain today as the children moved one step closer to learning what powerful little beings they are and how their creativity as Young Masters can create a world of friendship, for them and for the world they live in.  They’re learning they make a difference.  Stay tuned for the next adventure as the children of Naudain Academy continue their quest to the Secrets of the Heart.

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Young Masters Little Wisdom Discovery Program Continues at Naudain Academy, a Montessori School

Voohees, New Jersey –  It was a rainy day and the children were ready for some indoor fun.  The theme of imagination continued on their favorite day, the day Stephanie comes to conduct the Young Masters Little Wisdom Discovery program .  As always Stephanie Pelly began with the Young Masters Pledge.  “I promise to use my gifts everyday, in every way, for I am a Young Master.”  As they reviewed what they had learned during the last class, the children remembered that their Magic Eye was –  inside their mind.  Stephanie asked, “when can you use your imagination?” “On a rainy day like this,” one little boy answered, “or when I’m laying in bed, driving in a car, at school or with my brother, sister or friend – anytime.” 

Today they played imagination games, beginning with The Magic Circle. One child at a time came up to the front of a classroom and began using their imagination to create something in the hula hoop.  One girl pretended the hula hoop was a mirror and she held it up to look at herself and strated to brush her hair.  Classmates took turns guessing what she was doing.  Another child pretended The Magic Circle was a garden of beautiful flowers.  One by one she picked a flower and brought it up to her nose to smell its fragrance.  Another young boy imagined he was typing on a computer. Even Stephanie took a turn, making a big snowball and throwing it at one of the children.  Lots of fun!

The second game they played was Magic Ball.  Stephanie used her imagination as she pretended to pull a magic ball out of her pocket.  She bounced it and tossed it in the air.  Finally, she called someone’s name and threw to them.  Using their imagination they caught the ball with both hands and passed it to a friend next to them.  The imaginary ball moved around the circle being rolled, tossed and thrown across the room even like a pitcher does in a baseball game.  Sometimes the ball grew really really big and sometime the magic ball became very small.  The children got a chance to stretch their power of imagination.

The last group activity for the day was story time.  Everyone worked together to create a story.  Stephanie began by holding up a microphone.  “Once upon a time,” she said.  The next child held the mic and continued, “There was a little boy.”  The story unfolded with each child speaking into the microphone to add their new idea.  It went something like this:  “A little boy was watching tv… and then he saw something on the news… he got scared and then went into his bedroom… and began dreaming…he dreamed about a door that was opening… and then he heard someone calling his name…he woke up only… to later hear his alarm clock ringing… he was just dreaming.”  The children cooperated by taking turns and their story was told.  “We all have a story to tell,” said Stephanie.

The program ended today by singing Thank You For Being Here and then they quietly laid their heads down to listen to some soft, gentle music.  This was one more opportunity to use their imaginations.

Stay tuned for our next Young Master LIttle Wisdom Discovery adventure.  See you next time!

Visit Naudain Academy  at www.naudainacademy.com/