Situated in a serene outdoor forest space in Woodstock, Illinois, Crystal Lake Montessori is beautiful inside and out. One can’t help but notice the beautiful outdoor areas like the garden and trail paths. Once inside, the classrooms are spacious and well equipped, especially the middle school. However, lovely settings and buildings can only take you so far. The people matter most, and they have an excellent staff of teachers from toddler to middle school. Led by Gwen Harris, I immediately felt welcome during our large group game to get their school year starting in a fun way. Gwen has been involved with Montessori education for over three decades with experience teaching in toddler, elementary, and middle. Professionally, she has a degree in education from Northern Illinois University, a Master’s from St. Catherine’s University (one of my alma maters), and a Master’s from Concordia University. Gwen also has AMS certificates for elementary 6-12, Early Childhood, and Secondary I. All this, and she was an instructor at MMTTC!
This past Monday, I traveled to their school to teach the Montessori Physical Education curriculum to Gwen and the elementary and middle school teachers of Crystal Lake Montessori. They are very enthusiastic about using these lessons in PE and the classroom, which will help them fully utilize their beautiful campus. In addition, because the PE lessons integrate with the classroom curriculum, PE and classroom teachers alike can feel inspired and motivated to use these lessons at their discretion. Our morning activities focused on games that integrate with the Great Lessons. We played the games for hours, and they still and energy and were excited to showcase these games to their students. We will continue to foster our partnership through collaboration as they share their feedback with me. One day I hope to revisit their beautiful school and see my friends at Crystal Lake Montessori.
For more information about their great school, please visit their Facebook Page or website.
Here is a small glimpse of the fun we had playing and learning.