Last month I flew to Vietnam for the very first time to lead early childhood and elementary teachers in a Montessori professional development workshop. It was such an incredible trip! From the beautiful sights, to the buzzing of holiday cheer in the city, to all the warm, welcoming people I met, I feel so blessed to have been given this opportunity to share my passion for the arts.
I worked and traveled for 16 intense days. My trip included stays and workshops in two of the biggest cities of the country—Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, with populations of nearly 9 million and 8 million, respectively. This was the first official certified Montessori art training to be held in Vietnam and everyone was so eager to learn everything I had to share. I conducted two five-day training sessions, plus two parent lectures; in total, I spoke to well over 400 attendees during the time I was there.
Throughout the course of my trip, I had many deep, beautiful conversations about culture and art, with several thought-provoking ideas exchanged between Montessori administrators, teachers, parents, and myself. I truly learned so much from their community!
The hospitality in Vietnam was amazing! The food was incredible and colorful. I had the chance to try so many fruits that I had never even heard of or tasted before! Of course I’ve had phở before, and I was looking forward to eating an authentic bowl while on my trip, but I also had so many other dishes I wasn’t expecting. I can’t wait to return and try the cuisine again!
Visiting Vietnam was an exhilarating experience that I’ll never forget. I got to spend Christmas in the country, and while I was sad to be spending the holiday away from my children, I was pleasantly surprised by how cheerful and festive everything was! The stores and downtown areas were decorated with lights, and I got to spend Christmas Eve singing carols in the city square with thousands of other people! On top of that, the country was preparing for the even larger holiday—Tết, or the Vietnamese New Year—which will be celebrated later this month. I loved hearing about their traditions and getting to experience something new.
The Montessori Professional Development Workshops
My Montessori professional development workshop was sponsored by VietNam Montessori Centre (VMC). I was excited to celebrate with the two groups who completed the workshop, because they were the first Vietnamese teachers to become certified in my Nature of Art® visual art training!
I was inspired by how motivated and dedicated the teachers were to learn the missing component to the way they taught Montessori principles. During our sessions, they really opened up and expressed how art education has always been something they wanted to bring to their own children and students, but were unable to because they had never had a proper introduction to the subject. What I learned was that most of the country has been in such a “survival” mode; they’ve focused on more compulsory and disciplined subjects, and have never been taught or encouraged to embrace art.
The teachers really enjoyed the free-flow techniques of process-based, learning about art literacy and artistic techniques, and creating their own art works during the intense (but fun) training sessions.
The main focus of the Montessori professional development training was to educate teachers on four main points:
- The importance of art literacy
- How to create dynamic art programing for children at different skill levels and capabilities
- The framework for understanding the artistic process
- The elements needed for teachers to write their own art curriculum and create art programming for their classrooms
The overarching theme of the weeks I was in Vietnam was teaching how different societies, cultures, and ideologies can interfere with raising creative, independent-thinking children. This training was a huge success with the hundreds of attendees sharing revelations and heartfelt testimonials. Many teachers had never worked with fine-art mediums before and were very excited to see how fun and relaxing art making could be. This gave them the enthusiasm to get their art programing into place.
I am very excited to be working with many of these teachers in the future and developing even more trainings in the region.
One Step Further: Bring Montessori Art Programming Into Your Classroom!
If you are interested in bringing this type of Montessori programming to your training center, school, or classroom, you’re in the right place. I want to help you make 2020 your most organized school year, while giving you the confidence to introduce art lessons and Montessori art activities to your students.
Imagine finishing off the school year feeling full of clarity, direction, and confidence. Imagine not needing to worry about looking up art activities or wasting time crafting lessons that flop or lead to huge messes. Sounds great, right!?
You just need a simple roadmap and resources to design your own art programing the right way. I’d love to start you off with a FREE online mini-course, Phases of Art Development. It’s a quick, stress-free way to set a foundation for understanding how young children learn art. I also share a few Montessori art lessons and activities you can teach your students.
A Shortcut Just for You, Order Book!
Montessori Early Childhood Art Guide
The only way to get a full picture of how to really help your young students learn art, is through my new book, Early Childhood Art: Visual Arts Teaching Guide. It compiles all my experience in teaching young students art in a way that lays the groundwork for you to be able to teach your own Montessori students everything they need to know about art. I also provide tips and tricks for setting up an art environment, using proper art materials and mediums, and planning level-appropriate art lessons.
If know the value of art in the Montessori classroom, especially for young students, and you want to be able to introduce art to your early childhood students, then this book is for you! Click here to get your copy of my Early Childhood Art guide!
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