July/August 2005

The SAMA Executive Committee wants all its activities at monthly meetings to be as transparent as is possible and to this end each National Newsletter will be published in the fortnight after each meeting. The newsletter will highlight some of the topics discussed or decisions taken at the meeting. Your comments and participation are sincerely welcomed.

July's meeting took the form of a telephone conference call and was attended by all Exco members except Bukelwa Selema, Su Cunningham, Joanne Schimper and Heidi van Staden who tendered their apologies. In spite of the many items up for discussion, the members present were well prepared and absent members sent written responses to the items they were responsible for.

Listed hereunder are some of the important issues discussed:

Membership
Following a recent cleanup of the databases it was reported that the number of membership renewals had increased but that members whose annual subscription had lapsed were taking their time to renew. Regional Representatives were asked to contact the members in their region and remind them to submit their renewal application and fees for the coming year.

The category of Student Membership is intended for non-working Montessori students but since there were now so many 'Students' on the database, from now on Student membership would be valid for one year only following which the renewal would have to be for Full Individual membership at the relevant fee.

SAMA Institutional Membership statistics
The total number of Montessori schools in SA who confirmed that their schools had mixed age groups per environment, more than 50% Montessori qualified directresses and a fair representation of equipment was 178. There are approximately 89 schools who bear the Montessori name but who could not confirm the three requirements.

The membership spread by region is as follows:

Gauteng North (Pretoria and north)	27 schools    (37% are members)
Gauteng South (Johannesburg and south)	64 schools    (25% are members)
KwaZulu Natal	33 schools    (21% are members)
Eastern Cape	09 schools    (78% are members)
Western Cape	43 schools    (63% are members)
Namibia	02 schools    (50% are members)
Total:	178 schools

As can be seen from the above, by far the most schools in SA are in the Gauteng region BUT this region has the lowest schools membership? – If you have any light to shed on this quandary, please let me know by sending e-mail to jlm@iafrica.com

Perhaps the "about-to-be-newly-appointed-regional-representative-for-Gauteng-South" will be of great help in bringing across the many benefits there are to be gained from SAMA membership.

Schools that do not conform to the three basic requirements are welcome to join SAMA as Associate members.

SAMA Conference 2006
Planning for the conference is slowly taking shape and Joanne Schimper is appealing to all members to help her to find a suitable venue in the Johannesburg/Pretoria area that will accommodate about 300 delegates for a 2-day conference. In addition, if you know of any outstanding speakers who you think can deliver an interesting or highly informative paper at the conference please let her know. Joanne can be contacted on 082 486 2076

SAMA Fundraising Activities
To realize the mandate that SAMA members have given to the Exco, funds are needed. SAMA's running cost for communication is by far the largest portion of total costs. This includes costs for setting up and hosting the website, telephone and travel costs for Exco members to get to the quarterly face to face meetings, costs of communicating with the public etc.

Up to now, besides the generous donations from Exco members themselves, membership fees cover this cost.

If SAMA is to embark on its national advertising campaign to raise the public level of awareness of Montessori in SA so we can all benefit, additional funding is required. Plans include advertising and editorial in national and local magazines and newspapers, attendance at expos, guidance for parents in choosing a school for their child and then there is also the Annual General Conference which should attract not only Montessorians but also the many members of the public who are interested in education and the future of the nation.

Two fundraising activities have been planned, one ongoing and one for this year only...

(1) The Child Levy
At the AGM in May this year it was agreed that all Institutional Member Schools would contribute an amount of between R3 and R5 per child, per month to SAMA to cover the costs of its activities. This amount can be recovered from parents through voluntary donations, through fundraising events or through simply including this SMALL amount in the fees of each child. As of 2006 this levy is compulsory for all members but if you are able to start contributions right now please contact Marita Basson on 072 995 8727 for more details. The sooner we have the funds, the sooner we can start.

(2) T-Shirts
SAMA is about to have adult and child sized Montessori T-shirts printed for sale at all schools. Further details will be available shortly.

Grievance Procedure
From time to time SAMA receives complaints from the public against the Montessori school their child attends. Although it is good that parents (and schools) know that they have some 'authority' to turn to, SAMA is really not geared towards (or wants to) get involved with parent/school disputes. To assist with this a Grievance Procedure and Policies document has been created. It is available now and will be posted on the website, but until this is up and running, if you have an unhappy parent, please direct them to SAMA's Tina-Lynn on 082 574 7050 for a copy of the Grievance Procedure. Please rest assured that SAMA encourages dialogue between the parent and the school and until such dialogue can be proven, SAMA will not get involved in any disputes – after all, SAMA is a quality and upliftment body and not a policing, punitive one!

Legals and Things
A few months ago a principal of a school called me about an incident that had happened at their school. A three-year old child decided to take a swig at the metal polishing fluid (Silvo or Brasso) in the Practical Life Area. Not sparing a minute the distressed directress made the child spit the fluid out and rushed to the nearest hospital with the child where it had to have its stomach pumped out since metal polish contains highly poisonous substances that can cause severe injury and possibly death. The parents were highly upset and could have taken legal action. So what to do?

My mother tells me there is an old "boereraad" for cleaning brass, copper and silver. This consists of a paste of salt and lemon juice rubbed onto the metal and then buffed with a clean cloth – if any reader has an alternative to this which does not contain any poisonous substance (and is perhaps a bit more effective), please let me know by return of mail so that I can include the recipe in the next edition of this newsletter.

In the meanwhile Marita Basson has asked her school attorney to draw up a proforma indemnity form which indemnifies the school against accidents in the Practical Life area – after all, this area can be quite a dangerous place. If you are a SAMA member and would like a copy of this document, please let Marita or Tina-Lynn know – (there may be a nominal fee for it).

My school recently took out membership with an organization called COFESA that deals with legal and labour contracts and matters especially for pre-schools. I received a very large manual of every conceivable contract and document my school could ever need, a promise of hotline assistance with labour and other legal matters and a bill of R2100. Although this amount is probably worth it if one has a sizeable school, small schools may not be able to afford it or ever use many of the services offered. I have met with their director who has promised to structure an affordable deal for SAMA members and will let you know the details as soon as these are at hand.

Principals Conference held in Cape Town in July
Marita Basson and Lynn Viljoen of Village Montessori attended this international principal's conference and had only praises for its content and organization. Attached is a write up Marita did for your information. I was sorry to have missed it. If Montessori is to be seen in the forefront of education, it is imperative that it has good representation at all possible important gatherings of this nature. See Attachment 1 below

Mathematics Literacy Training Course held in July
Heidi van Staden attended this course and has a lot of very interesting information to share with all SAMA members. She has promised to prepare a notice for the next newsletter.

Report Back on Progress with Recommended Curriculum
Sam Streak has compiled a report of her work on the Montessori Curriculum, which is attached. We trust you will find it of interest and welcome your comments. See Attachment 2 below

SAMA Website Progress
We have had a few setbacks with launching this site mainly to do with the health of the programmer and my underestimation of the amount of work involved. It seems that we are back on track with a final meeting set for the 18th August. After this there will be a two-week period for quality assurance and training and then it should go live.
My sincere apologies for the delay.

In concluding, the SAMA National Executive Committee is there to implement the wishes of the members. If there are activities you think ought to be considered that are not being catered for or reflected in the activities above, please let me know.
Jenny Miller • SAMA President • 082 602 4427 • email: jlm@iafrica.com



Attachment 1

ICP 2005
Cape Town
July 2005

Dear fellow Montessorians

Wish you were here in Cape Town: certainly for the exceptional weather, the beauty of the surroundings, the four star accommodation, but especially for the International Confederation of Principals' 2005 Conference.

I wish you were here to experience the Opening Ceremony which brought tears to the eyes of nearly 2 000 principals from all over the world. Watching children singing and dancing with exuberance was an excellent reminder that we actually serve these children – not their parents, the government or our own egos, but these children whom we are guiding on their way to adulthood.

Coming into contact with so many people from so many countries and being presented with so much international knowledge and research, has made me acutely aware of how we sometimes isolate ourselves, striving only to survive till the next holiday instead of opening ourselves up for new experiences, new knowledge, new challenges, and new friends and contacts. Don't say "Oh, but I only just have a small school" – 85% of schools in Ireland (and South Africa) have only a couple of teachers! The presentation on 'The future of small schools' opened our eyes to the variety of ways small schools can, not only survive, but actually prosper. We can, however, only do this if we reach out and make contact with other people: 'we are people through other people', as the theme for the Conference aptly states.

Attending the Conference has once more made me aware of how critical our role as leaders in our schools is – a fact that we often lose sight of as we get bogged down under our management responsibilities. How can we, our staff, children, parents and communities prosper if we do not have a clear vision of where we are going, why we are going there and how we are going to achieve it? How can we be effective leaders if we do not educate ourselves on the role and nature of leadership? Judging from feedback from many of you and your staff members over the past few years, it is obvious that many of you feel overwhelmed by this responsibility. Have you thought about what is going to happen when you can no longer run your school, for whatever reason? Are you just going to close it down or have you planned your leadership succession? Education is so serious and responsible a task that we cannot view it as purely a short-term opportunity that serves our own needs, be it a school for our own children or a convenient job for ourselves.

Running a school with vision will also mean that we will take care of ourselves responsibly and diligently – what do we have to give if we are remnants of what we once were? We need to be emotionally and physically healthy, for we are the people who determine the culture in our schools and this has an effect on every single child, staff member and parent in our schools.

I will take up fifty more pages if I have to give you feedback on the excellent papers that have been delivered so far, but fortunately these will all be put on the ICP website shortly. I urge you to log on to the www.icp2005.org or www.icp2005.com websites in a few weeks and have a look for yourself. Unfortunately the 2007 Conference will be in New Zealand, which will rule out going there for many people.

The Conference organizers have, as an extra, arranged many tours for the delegates, mainly with a historical connection. This has reminded me again that we, as Montessorians, also have a long and proud history and tradition and that we should run our schools in such a fashion that we can be proud of ourselves. We need to go to meetings with principals of the best and biggest independent and government schools and hold our heads high in the knowledge that we have schools that are, at least, just as good as theirs. Only then will we not be made of as a sub-standard alternative method of education, only then will we get the recognition from the public and government that this wonderful method of education deserves, but not until we are willing to take on this huge responsibility will this come about...

To all of you, feel passionate about what you do, inspire your staff and children and demand from everybody involved in Montessori education the quality that will set us apart!

Regards
Marita Basson

Attachment 2

Report Back on Progress with Recommended Curriculum
Following the advice of Michael Dorer, we are now referring to the 'Core Curriculum' as the 'Recommended Curriculum'.

At the Annual General Conference, I gave a brief background and history into the compilation of this document, on behalf of a SAMA committee. Initially the urgency to compile this document was based on a meeting attended by May Selkirk and Bukelwa Selema with UMALUSI. They had said that it was imperative that a Montessori curriculum be submitted to, and approved by the Department of Education, to ensure future accreditation and recognition.

A core of 5-6 experienced Montessorians – mainly on a primary education level – began working on this document in October 2004. A first draft was created and given to approximately 10 other experienced Montessorians in April 2005 to give input, experience and criticism. The intention was then to workshop the document around the country with SAMA members at SIG meetings, and make a submission to the Department of Education.

I attended a meeting hosted by Umalusi in April. They told us that the government only recognised their own curriculum, The Revised National Curriculum Statement and this was the only approved curriculum. What other organisations – such as Montessori, Christian, Islam, and others – would need to do was have ready their learning programmes. This would reflect HOW one implemented the RNCS. Bukelwa Selema had also received similar information at other meetings attended.

On 4th June 2005, a meeting was held with Ginger Bester of the Gauteng Department of Education to ascertain to whom we could submit our Recommended Curriculum. Ginger informed us that the above information (as received from UMALUSI) was accurate and there was no one at the Department of Education who would look at another curriculum. Government Policy is that the only approved and recognised curriculum is the RNCS.

Initially this was quite a shock – months of hard work felt like they had been futile. However, we have since realised that the Recommended Curriculum will become an invaluable document for the Montessori community, and an incredible reference and guide for practising directresses.

Where are we now?

We are still in the process of creating a final draft that incorporates Montessori Education from 3-6, 6-9 and 9-12. We anticipate this being completed before the end of 2005. Once this is complete our intention is still to workshop it with SAMA members at SIG meetings in the early part of 2006. The full document will then become available to SAMA Institutional members, in Adobe format on CD.

Sam Streak


Attachment 3

An interesting article...
When Fingers Do The Working:
Fine Motor and Graphomotor Facility or Futility

As part of their natural quest for motor mastery, children develop increasing control over the purposeful movements of their fingers. Through all sorts of art, writing, and handiwork, they strive to create products that bring forth praise and respect from their peers as well as adults. Two distinct pathways involved in motor mastery are fine motor function and graphomotor function. Graphomotor function is the motor pathway involved in creating written output, while fine motor function includes just about everything else fingers implement.

Fine Motor Function and Dysfunction
Children vary widely in the success they achieve with fine motor output. Most fine motor activity calls for the interpretation of visual information that guides the fingers; such eye: hand coordination that is used to thread a needle, fix the wheel on a skateboard, play videogames, and tie shoelaces. Some tasks require very rapid use of visual information, while others allow substantial time for processing the spatial inputs. Some fine motor pursuits demand significant memory, such as remembering how to use a computer, how to open a combination lock, how to use a particular tool, or how to play a specific melody on the viola.

Students with fine motor dysfunctions may have trouble with a range of pursuits that demand dexterity, such as coordinating their eyes with their finger movements, or getting their finger muscles operating with sufficient speed and precision. In some instances, there are gaps in a student's motor memory, or a child may have problems with motor planning (picturing or thinking about a motor act prior to initiating it), or implementation (getting the proper finger muscles to move the right way at the right moments).

Kids with fine motor problems may need extra practice while focusing on a single form of output (such as the piano or working with computer graphics). It is important to try to understand the nature of a student's dysfunction, so that activities can be selected that sidestep any weak link. For example, a particular student may succeed with activities that spare memory, allow more time, or involve less complicated muscle movements. Once a mode is chosen, kids and parents need to commit to the age old adage that "practice makes perfect"; nowhere is this truer than it is in the domain of fine motor function.

Parents, teachers, and the children themselves need to decide if a fine motor weakness merits repair. Not everyone needs to be a meritorious sculptor! Undoubtedly, the production of fine motor masterpieces or the repair of malfunctioning electronic devices can be enormously uplifting, as well a big boost for self-esteem. Fine motor triumphs can be especially valuable for kids who are not succeeding in one or more other areas of their school lives. In general it is very helpful for every student to find at least one mode of fine motor success.

Graphomotor Function and Dysfunction
Many students reject and denounce the act of writing because they are stymied by its intense motor demands. Written output must be rapid, in order to keep pace with the outflow of ideas and language. It must be precise, so that it's sufficiently legible. It must feel easy and automatic, so that a child can write, think, and remember things all at once.

Graphomotor dysfunction can deter writing in several different ways. Some thwarted writers have trouble picturing the letters they're trying to form, while others can't recall fast enough the muscle movements needed to make specific letter symbols. Kids with these problems generally prefer printing to cursive writing (and should be allowed to print). A number of students have problems assigning specific hand muscles to particular parts of letter formation. Many of them may have the same kinds of impairments in speaking and so have had a hard time pronouncing certain words. Still others can't seem to track the moment-to-moment location of their fingers while they are writing, a condition known as 'finger agnosia.' Many students with graphomotor deficiencies develop awkward pencil grips, which can make the motor aspects of writing even more of a chore.

When letter formation is slow, laborious, and unattractive, kids are apt to become frustrated and resistant. They may show a puzzling discrepancy between the sophistication of their thoughts orally and the simplicity of their ideas on paper. Their writing may be brief, poorly organized, and flawed in other respects (such as spelling and punctuation). It may be that so much effort is required for letter formation that other components of writing are seriously undermined or sabotaged.

Students with graphomotor problems need our help. First, they need to understand the sources of their writing agony. They must not be permitted to give up on writing. Their teachers temporarily may have to allow them to write a bit less than their peers and be tolerant of any inadequate legibility. At home, these children benefit from nightly writing practice (perhaps keeping a diary), careful choice of the best writing utensil, and early introduction to keyboarding. The latter can be initiated in a preliminary manner by the end of 2nd grade, but parents should not completely discard the act of writing. Students with graphomotor dysfunctions need to be developing their computer skills while still working to make their normal handwriting more fluent. Sometimes these children can benefit from consultation with an occupational therapist.

Many students reveal a sizable difference between their fine motor and graphomotor performance. For example, a child may be a wonderful artist or artisan yet display barely legible handwriting that takes too much work to generate. Adults need to be aware of the potential humiliation experienced by students whose fingers don't seem to work right when they write or draw. Such children need our support and sympathy rather than the frequent ridicule that so many of them endure for their problems.

Dr. Mel Levine

http://www.allkindsofminds.org/articleDisplay.aspx?articleID=7&categoryID=5

 
REGIONAL NEWS


Dates To Diarize
Information for Next Regional Special Interest Group Meetings:

Gauteng
Saturday 27 August 2005
Time: 09h00
Venue: Village Montessori School
Topic: Refining Fine Motor Skills for Grade R children
Contact: Joanne Schimper 082 486 2076

KwaZulu Natal
Saturday 03 September 2005
Time: 09h00 - 12h00
Venue: Wonderkids Montessori, Sherwood
Topic:
A series of workshops, including An introduction to the HANDLE approach, Insights into the NED Grade 0 curriculum, and an update on the Standards and Policies for SAMA Accreditation process.
Contact: Sharon Desfontaines 084 649 8477

Eastern Cape
Saturday 03 September 2005
Time: 10h00 - 14h00
Venue: Knysna Montessori School
Topic: Workshopping the Standards and Policies for SAMA Accreditation for Pre-Schools process.
Contact: Sam Streak 082 411 7154

Western Cape
Saturday 10 September 2005
Time: 09h30 - 11h30
Venue: The Children's Workshop
Topic: "Personality Types in your Classrooms"
Contact: Christine Clarke 072 110 5205

 
VACANCIES


Newberry House, Somerset West are looking for Directresses for their 6-9 and 9-12 environments to start January 2006. Send CV to childwork@mweb.co.za

Morning Star Montessori in Faerie Glen Pretoria are looking for experienced directresses in their 0-3 and 3-6 environments. Please send CV to jlm@iafrica.com or phone Jenny on 082 6026627