Casa Stories: Recent Episodes
casastories
A Space to share information about the Casa School, get to know the members of the community and discuss topics related to parenting, teaching and education.
SUMARY
In this Deep Dive episode, the White Rabbit has a follow-up conversation with Jetteke, the team Lead for the Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary groups at Casa.
In the second part of this two-part episode, Jetteke explains goes into the details of standardized testing in Upper Elementary, how children are prepared for their transition to secondary school, and recommendations for choosing a high school for your child.
TIME STAMPS
(00:00) Episode's Introduction
(00:34) Setting up the context
(01:14) Sharing intermediate IEP test results with parents in UE
(02:13) The IEP End Test
(03:32) Helping children prepare to go to high school
(05:11) Overview of high school groups in NL
(06:00) The importance of mixed level classrooms
(07:49) What if the test results and the teacher's advice disagree?
(10:08) Making the final high school level recommendation: a team effort
(12:50) How guides discuss the children's progress as a team
(15:12) Making the final high school level recommendation
(15:55) How the different subjects add to the final IEP test score
(18:01) The importance of helping children develop mental resilience
(18:52) Choosing a high school for your child
(20:37) Episode Closure
(21:26) Season 1 Closure
SUMARY
In this Deep Dive episode, the White Rabbit has a conversation with Jetteke, the team Lead for the Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary groups at Casa.
In the first part of this two-part episode, Jetteke explains in a nutshell how the Dutch government provides guidelines for primary school curriculums, walks us through the special way in which Casa structures and implements her curriculum, and discuss how Casa uses standardizes testing to complement the way in which the guides asses the children's individual progress.
TIME STAMPS
(00:00) Episode's Introduction
(00:41) Government guidelines for primary school curriculums
(06:00) Te curriculum at Casa: learning about The World, Yourself and Others
(08:26) Learning about Yourself and Others: Kanjer training and positive Discipline
(12:01) How guides asses the children's progress on a regular basis
(15:27) The "I Can Sheets" and the "Knowledge and Skills Book"
(19:30) Quantifying progress with the IEP standardized test in LE and UE
(23:14) Frequency that children do intermediate IEP tests
(24:11) Sharing intermediate IEP test results with parents in LE
(25:53) What if the child's progress is slow?
(28:55) Episode closure
SUMARY
In this Casa Behind the Scenes episode, the White Rabbit continues her follow-up conversation with Jasmijn, the Team Lead for the Casa Toddler’s Group.
In this episode we go over the clothing that toddler's need to wear at school, discuss more aspects about how parents can prepare themselves and their children for their first day at the TOD Group, and talk about the way that the guides interact with parents and keep them informed about the child's progress.
TIME STAMPS
(00:00) Episode Introduction
(00:31) Why toddler's need 3 sets of spare clothes
(02:08) Teaching toddler's to clean after themselves
(03:50) Developing toddler's independence
(04:37) Recommendations for clothes
(05:25) Recommendations for shoes
(07:50) Storage of spare clothes
(08:07) The wet bag
(09:09) Positive Discipline
(10:10) Adjustment days
(12:21) Comforting the child
(13:54) Goodbye strategies
(17:54) Contact between parents and guides
(19:45) Transition from TOD to CH
(21:09) Tracking the toddler's progress and reporting to parents
(22:57) Episode closure
EPISODE SHOW NOTES
"Positive Discipline" by Jane Nelsen:
English: https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/positive-discipline/1001004002658550/
Dutch: https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/opvoeden-met-positive-discipline-boek/9300000032886427/
SUMARY
In this Casa Behind the Scenes episode, the White Rabbit has a follow-up conversation with Jasmijn the Team Lead of the Toddler's Group at Casa.
In the first part of this episode, we cover in detail the facilities and organization of the Toddler's Group, how parents can prepare themselves and their children before they join the school, and the unconventional way in which they approach potty training.
TIME STAMPS
(00:00) Episode Introduction
(00:28) TOD Group location and classroom layout
(02:34) The TOD Group's Team
(04:29) The garden
(09:11) Going outside the school
(09:53) Preparing to go to the TOD Group
(12:08) Why the TOD group starts at 15 months
(14:02) Potty learning
(22:38) Episode closure
EPISODE SHOW NOTES
Recommended book to prepare to join the Toddler's Group:
"The Montessori Toddler" by Simone Davis (https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/f/the-montessori-toddler/9200000095529375/)
Information about the Montessori workshop for parents with Toddlers :
https://www.montessoritogether.com/services-montessori-at-home
Email: monti.together@gmail.com
SUMARY
In this Meet the Casa Community episode, the White Rabbit has a conversation with Jasmijn, the Team Lead for the Casa Toddler’s Group.
In this episode, I learned that Jasmijn has an artistic background, which lead us to talk about how to develop mental resilience in children, and the topic of discipline... but I also took the oportunity to ask her about her Team Lead role, and how moving to the new school building will mpact the Toddler's Group.
TIME STAMPS
(00:00) Episode Introduction
(00:33) Jasmijn's art background
(05:08) Developing mental resilience and self-confidence in children
(09:07) Letting go of reward and punishment to discipline children
(12:25) Exposing the child to the outside world
(14:22) Giving direction and the Montessori environment
(16:07) The Team Lead role at the Toddler's Group
(17:04) Team coordination
(19:28) The new school building
(21:03) Episode closure
SUMARY
In this Casa Behind the Scenes episode, the White Rabbit continues her follow-up conversation with Archanha, one of the guides working in Children's House.
To give parents an impression of what they can expect when their children start in Children's House, we finish this two-part episode by going over what the first day in the classroom looks like.
TIME STAMPS
(00:00) Episode Introduction
(00:35) Picking up from the previous episode
(00:58) How Montessori guides handle children when they come to school crying
(06:44) The importance of remaining calm when the child cries
(07:47) Comforting parents when they leave a crying child at school
(09:18) Saying goodbye at the door
(11:51) The CH classroom environment
(14:49) Introducing the child to the activities and materials
(16:23) Toilet Independence
(19:18) How long does it take for a child to adjust to the classroom?
(19:55) Morning vs. afternoon work cycles
(22:39) Episode Closure
SUMARY In this Casa Behind the Scenes episode, the White Rabbit has a follow-up conversation with Archanha, one of the guides working in Children's House.
To give parents an impression of what they can expect when their children start in Children's House, we start this two-part episode by going over what parents can do to prepare their children.
TIME STAMPS (00:00) Episode Introduction
(00:36) What children need to bring on their first day in the CH classroom
(01:52) The importance of dressing the child with comfortable, weather appropriate clothing
(4:42) How clothing can provide sensory distraction to the child
(08:40) Dressing etiquette for Montessori guides
(11:14) Keeping spare clothes and shoes at school
(17:23) The trial days
(21:03) Episode Closure
SUMARY In this Meet the Casa Community episode, the White Rabbit has a conversation with Archanha, one of the guides working in Children's House.
In this episode, Archanha shares the beautiful story of how she discovered Maria Montessori's work. We also talk about her AMI training in India, the relationship between parents and guides, and how we can help children find their passion.
TIME STAMPS
(00:00) Episode Introduction
(00:40) Archanha's background in Financial Management
(03:04) Discovering Maria Montessori's Work
(06:58) The value of having corporate experience
(07:21) Archanha's AMI training in India
(13:56) The relationship between parents and teachers
(16:03) Difficult conversations with parents
(19:43) Helping children find their passion
(21:46) Episode Closure
SUMARY In this Casa Behind the Scenes episode, the White Rabbit has a follow up conversation with Jeanet, one of the Upper Elementary guides that is also doing Kanjer Trainer lessons at Casa.
In this story, Jeanet gives us an introduction to Kanjer Training, explains how she is implementing this method at Casa, and shares examples of exercises that she is doing with the children during the Kanjer Lessons.
TIME STAMPS (00:00) Episode Introduction (00:28) Background information about Kanjer training (01:59) The Kanjer caps (04:33) What is a Kanjer? (05:18) Why Kanjer Training is not done in CH? (05:56) Jeanet's Kanjer lessons structure (08:39) Approach in UE (10:08) Approach in UE (10:28) Tailoring Kanjer Training to the children's needs (12:47) How Kanjer Training is currently implemented at Casa (15:45) Kanjer Lessons with UE graduates: going to high school (16:25) Kanjer Lessons with UE graduates: giving feedback (19:27) Closing the gasoline station (21:41) Tracking children's progress (22:33) Episode Closure
SUMARY In this Meet the Casa Community podcast, the White Rabbit has a conversation with Jeanet, the guide responsible for kanjer Training in Lower and Upper Elementary.
In this story, Jeanet goes over the different things that she has done during her extensive career in education, explains how she is supporting our school community in different ways, and shares her views on parenting, communication and education.
TIME STAMPS (00:00) Episode Introduction (00:30) What inspired Jeanet to become a professional educator (01:29) Jeanet's early working experience (02:08) Working with physically handicapper children (02:50) Working on special education (03:27) Becoming a kanjer trainer (04:57) Doing the kanjer training (05:58) How Jeanet discovered Montessori education (06:40) Working with gifted children for 1.5 years (07:23) The joy and challenge of working with children with special needs (08:32) Being a guide vs. being a mother (10:54) The importance of the collaboration between parents and guides (13:31) Summary of Jeanet's roles and expertise (14:21) Helping children in the role of Confidant Person (16:26) Jeanet's Montessori training (17:10) Jeanet's view on what is an ideal education (20:26) Episode Closure
SUMMARY
In this Casa Behind the Scenes episode, the White Rabbit has a follow-up conversation with Niek, the Digi Wizard behind the Digi lessons offered to the Lower and Upper Elementary classrooms at Casa.
This time, Niek explains how the digi lessons work, and presents the program that he is developing to equip children to face the digital world.
TIME STAMPS
(00:00) Episode Introduction
(00:25) Physical Classroom environment for Digi lessons in LE
(02:24) Physical Classroom environment for Digi lessons in UE
(03:52) Children's Google accounts
(05:47) Digital Classroom environmet
(07:17) Connecting Digi with Cosmic Themes
(08:08) Basic Digi Skills
(11:21) Digital Creation
(13:31) Computational thinking
(18:14) Digital Cityzenship and Media Literacy
(20:53) Collaboration between Niek and the other classroom guides
(22:06) How can parents and guides help with Digi
(25:53) Episode Closure
EPISODE SHOW NOTES
Digi Curriculum categories: 1) Basic Digi Skills Learning how to handle computer hardware (computer, mouse, headset) and their google account 2) Digital Creation Creating digital things with digital tools (videos, podcast, minecraft...) 3) Computational Thinking Learning about (programming) logic with robots and drones using live programming, visual programing with Blockly, MakeCode or Python. 4) Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy How to find and challenge information on internet, respectful/civilized online communication, digital communication challenges (fake news, hacking, ... )
Physical Materials: - Cubetto: https://www.primotoys.com/ - Robot with buttons: https://www.clementoni.com/be/66799-mind-designer/ - Robot ball : https://sphero.com/collections/coding-robots - Quadcopter: https://www.ryzerobotics.com/tello - Picoo: https://www.picoo.com/ (digitally assisted outside games)
Digital Materials: - Safe Google account for all children with basic tools (email, calendar, meet, chat, docs): https://myaccount.google.com - LE and UE digital google classroom environments: https://classroom.google.com - Programming exercises: https://studio.code.org/s/express-2019?section_id=3481751 - Minecraft Education: https://education.minecraft.net/en-us - Typing Club: https://casaschool.typingclub.com/signup/GUZJY65 - Video editing software: https://filmora.wondershare.com/ - Canva: https://www.canva.com/brand/join?token=u0YvbuB-Qg-bs6mtpaW1ZQ&brandingVariant=edu&referrer=team-invite - Skillsdojo: https://www.skillsdojo.nl/echt-of-fake/
- Blockly: https://developers.google.com/blockly or Scratch: https://scratch.mit.edu/
- Python: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)
- Arduino: https://www.arduino.cc/
- Microbit: https://microbit.org/
SUMMARY
In this Meet the Casa Community episode, the White Rabbit has a conversation with Niek, the Digi Wizard at Casa School. His mission: to empower the Casa students to responsibly interact with the digital world.
This story starts with Niek sharing his childhood adventures as a student, and then... a magical conversation happened.
TIME STAMPS
(00:00) Episode Introduction
(00:35) Why Niek chose Casa for his daughter
(04:21) Aiming for a 6 rather than a 10
(07:25) Developing intrinsic motivation in children
(08:38) How Digi lessons started at Casa
(11:07) The challenge of "Screen Time"
(12:49) Aligning Digi lessons with Montessori education
(14:38) Take aways from the corona pandemic
(17:19) Casa is how an online school could be shaped
(18:24) Episode Closure
SUMMARY
In this Casa Behind the Scenes episode, the White Rabbit has a follow-up conversation with Panji, the gym guide of the Lower and Upper Elementary classrooms at the Casa School.
This time, they focus on the current operational aspects of the gym lessons at Casa, and continue talking about what these lessons look like under the surface.
TIME STAMPS
(00:00) Episode Introduction
(00:24) Gym guides and frequency of gym lessons
(01:35) Gym shoes and clothing
(03:27) Panji's funny dance
(04:50) Going to the gym's locations
(05:29) Changing clothes and hygiene
(06:54) Physical safety
(10:19) Emotional safety
(12:39) Difference between LE and UE gym lessons
(14:35) Channeling the drive to win in a constructive way
(15:24) Panji's new approach for UE gym lessons (revisited)
(17:36) Episode closure
SUMMARY
In this Meet the Casa Community episode, the White Rabbit has a conversation with Panji, the gym guide of the Lower and Upper Elementary classrooms at the Casa School.
Together, they go over some aspects of Panji's background and provide a first impression about the way he approaches gym lessons.
TIME STAMPS
(00:00) Episode Introduction
(00:37) Panji's name
(01:17) Panji’s primary school Montessori education
(02:26) Lessons from boxing
(04:46) Sports teacher training
(05:54) Montessori training for Gym Lessons
(07:16) Panji’s new approach for UE Gym lessons
(08:30) Tailoring gym lessons to the children’s individual needs
(11:40) Helping children to deal with winning and losing
(14:10) Wrap up and looking towards the future
(16:02) Episode Closure
SUMMARY
In this Special Edition Episode, the White Rabbit has a conversation with Jetteke, the Team Lead of the Lower and Upper Elementary teams at the Casa School.
Together, they reflect on what the Casa Community has been through during the corona pandemic.
TIME STAMPS
- (00:00) Episode Introduction (00:00)
- (00:31) Looking back at the start of the pandemic: March 16 2020
- (02:28) The challenge of making a Montessori environment online
- (03:20) Reflection about parents educating children at home
- (07:25) Impact on the younger children
- (10:29) The lack of contact between the parents and the guides
- (13:07) Some families struggled more than others
- (15:42) Parents support towards the school
- (17:29) Episode Closure
SUMMARY
Join Alicia as she visits the White Rabbit, and discover what the Casa Stories Podcast is about.