Grounded and Soaring: Recent Episodes
Grounded and Soaring
The stakes for a child’s education are always high, but something is different now.
We all feel it.
The world our children will inherit is filled with promise and peril. They will have unparalleled opportunities to create, to build, to fulfill their potential, and they will have to navigate just as many distractions and shifting tides.
We launched Grounded and Soaring because parents need help, and we at Marin Montessori School have years of experience that we want to share.
Grounded and Soaring explores what it means to parent and educate in today’s world.
In this episode of Grounded and Soaring, Terry Dubow and Siri Panday, Director of Education for Toddler and Primary at Marin Montessori, dive into the complexities of separation anxiety in young children.
From school drop-offs to moments of everyday goodbyes, learn how to create routines that promote confidence and help your child thrive emotionally.
Episode Highlights:
- Spotting the signs of typical separation anxiety vs. deeper concerns
- Practical strategies for establishing stress-free morning and evening routines
- Tips for short, reassuring goodbye rituals that build confidence
- Understanding the developmental stages related to independence
- Supporting emotional growth through positive, calm separations
Welcome back to Grounded and Soaring. In this first episode of Season 3, Terry Dubow and Sam Shapiro dive into the importance of "thinking differently" about education. Based on Sam's recent blog post, this episode explores how to break free from outdated assumptions about learning, encourage deeper thinking, and prepare children for an ever-changing world.
Episode Highlights:
- Understanding the risks of "automated thinking" and how it impacts education.
- Why age-based grades and standardized models might limit a child’s potential.
- Strategies to create an environment where children feel safe exploring diverse perspectives.
- How to balance digital exposure while fostering deep learning and curiosity.
- Key qualities children need to develop today to navigate an uncertain future.
In this final episode of our second season, we focus on how to prevent the summer slide. With insights from our level directors at Marin Montessori School, we offer actionable steps to keep your child engaged and learning over the summer.
Episode Highlights:
- Eye-opening statistics on summer learning loss and its impact on your child’s education.
- Practical Montessori activities to incorporate into your child's daily routine.
- Creative ways to balance educational activities with the joys of summer.
- Strategies for maintaining academic skills, particularly in reading and math.
- Advice on managing technology use and avoiding screen time battles.
- Tips for fostering independence, responsibility, and curiosity in your child.
- How to create meaningful family time and strengthen your child’s social skills.
Don’t forget to visit Grounded and Soaring for more episodes and resources. Enjoy your summer!
In this enlightening episode of Grounded and Soaring, Siri Panday, Director of Education for Toddler and Primary at Marin Montessori School, hosts a brief conversation with Rachel Manfredi, a Board Certified Behavioral Analyst and Behavioral Health Director from Child Development Center of Marin (Speech Marin).
They explore how early intervention through behavioral support for children under five, strengthens social skills while addressing common misconceptions and fears that may prevent families from comfortably seeking behavioral support.
Episode Highlights:
- Understanding Behavioral Therapy: What it is and how it can address a wide range of challenges
- Real-Life Success Stories: How early intervention can help diverse situations
- Managing Daily Routines: Practical strategies for easing morning and evening challenges
- Daily Integration: How to incorporate behavioral support techniques in everyday life
- Debunking Myths: Fears and misconceptions about seeking support for non-extreme cases
Explore the evolving landscape of education in the age of artificial intelligence with Sam Shapiro, Head of School at Marin Montessori, and Dr. Alex Curtis, Head of the New England Boarding School Choate Rosemary Hall.
This episode dives into the implications, challenges, and opportunities that AI, particularly ChatGPT, presents in educational settings.
Highlights include:
- Anticipation of the upcoming Gather for Good, which will include a panel with Sam Altman of OpenAI, discussing AI’s impact on future generations.
- Dr. Curtis's insights on integrating AI within a storied educational framework.
- A discussion on how AI reshapes the learning experiences and academic integrity.
- Strategies for educators and parents to harness AI while fostering critical thinking and creativity in students.
- Reflections on the balance of embracing technology and maintaining essential human skills.
Into the Wild: Unleashing Curiosity with Adventure explores the transformative power of experiential learning beyond the classroom. Join Terry Dubow and Bill Sneed from Marin Montessori School as they recount a recent snow science trip to the Sierras, delving into the profound impact of real-world experiences on adolescent development. This episode offers insights into:
- The Importance of Experiential Learning: How hands-on experiences enrich understanding and foster a deeper connection to academic subjects.
- Challenges and Adaptability: Discover how students navigate unexpected challenges, enhancing resilience and problem-solving skills.
- Community and Individual Growth: Learn about the role of communal experiences in shaping personal identity and strengthening social bonds.
- The Balance of Discomfort and Growth: Insights into how stepping out of comfort zones can be a catalyst for personal development.
- Montessori Philosophy in Action: See how Montessori principles of independence, observation, and curiosity come to life in the great outdoors.
Whether you're a parent seeking to broaden your child's horizons or simply interested in the benefits of learning outside traditional settings, this episode will inspire and inform.
"From Diet to Dreams: Building Healthier Habits for Kids" is a must-listen episode of Grounded and Soaring, the podcast that dives deep into nurturing healthier, happier kids in today's complex world.
Join Sam Shapiro, head of school at Marin Montessori, and special guest Anahad O'Connor, a Washington Post health columnist and award-winning author, as they explore the intersection of nutrition, sleep, and overall well-being for our youngest generation.
You'll discover tips for:
- Nutritious Eating: Learn how to introduce your children to a balanced and healthy diet that sets the tone for their entire day.
- The Science of Sleep: Uncover the critical role sleep plays in emotional regulation and how it affects parental patience and presence.
- Practical Wellness Tips: Gain insight into achievable practices that enhance both parental and child well-being.
- Fostering Healthy Habits: Find out how involving kids in food choices and preparation can boost their interest in nutritious eating.
- Emotional and Physical Health Connections: Understand the link between a healthy lifestyle and improved mental and physical health for the whole family.
Whether you're navigating the challenges of picky eaters, trying to improve sleep routines, or simply looking for ways to be more present with your children, this episode offers valuable insights and practical advice.
In this thought-provoking episode of Grounded and Soaring, Sam Shapiro, head of Marin Montessori School, speaks with Noah Orgish, educational technologist at Marin Academy, in a deep dive into the role of AI and technology in modern education.
They explore the impacts, challenges, and potentials of AI tools like ChatGPT in shaping learning and critical thinking skills.
From understanding AI's limitations to strategizing its effective use in classrooms, this discussion offers valuable insights for parents and educators on preparing students for a technologically advanced future.
In this eye-opening episode of Grounded and Soaring, Sam Shapiro, Head of Marin Montessori School, speaks with Dr. Madeline Levine, a psychologist renowned for her insights into the paradoxes of parenting in prosperity.
They delve into the unexpected emotional challenges faced by children in affluent communities, from heightened anxiety and depression to the pressures of success.
Dr. Levine, with her wealth of experience and bestselling books including The Price of Privilege, offers a crucial perspective on fostering resilience, empathy, and genuine happiness in children amidst the often-overlooked pitfalls of affluence.
This discussion is a must-hear for parents seeking to navigate the nuanced landscape of raising healthy, well-adjusted children in a world where more can mean less.
In this episode of Grounded and Soaring, join Sam Shapiro and his guests – all parents at Marin Montessori and professionals in sports and education – as they delve into cultivating a love for physical activity and sportsmanship in children.
Explore how Montessori principles can foster resilience, teamwork, and a balanced approach to athleticism.
Episode Highlights:
- Cultivating Joy in Sports: Discover the importance of fun and enjoyment in children's sports and how it fosters a lifelong love for physical activity.
- Building Resilience Through Team Sports: Learn how team sports can develop resilience, character, and meaningful friendships among young athletes.
- The Role of Coaches and Parents: Understand the impact of positive coaching and parental support in shaping a healthy sports culture for children.
- Balancing Specialization and Generalization: Insights into the debate on early sports specialization versus a more well-rounded approach to physical activities.
- Montessori's Unique Approach to the Spirit of the Game: Discussion on how Montessori's focus on the whole child contributes to developing respectful and supportive athletes.
- Physical Activity Beyond Team Sports: Emphasizing the value of diverse physical activities, from team sports to individual pursuits like biking and hiking.
In the latest episode of 'Grounded and Soaring,' host Terry Dubow invites Marin Montessori School's Eluna Antle and Carla Rummo to explore the acceleration of adolescence that we see everywhere in our culture.
Eluna, an Upper Elementary teacher, and Carla, a parent of young adolescents, describe how extending childhood with an additional year in a Montessori Elementary class nurtures resilient, curious, and emotionally intelligent young individuals.
Episode Highlights:
- The significance of Montessori education in countering the early onset of adolescent pressures.
- A deep dive into the sixth grade at MMS: the extra year that makes a difference in a child's life.
- Addressing parental concerns about digital distractions and the importance of preserving childhood innocence.
This discussion is pivotal for parents and educators seeking to foster a balanced, holistic developmental journey for children in an era of accelerated adolescence.
Navigate school breaks with ease and creativity in our latest Grounded and Soaring episode. Whether embarking on a family trip or enjoying a staycation, Siri Panday, Marin Montessori School's Director of Education for Toddler and Primary, offers valuable tips for a rewarding time with your young children.
Episode Highlights:
- Montessori Methods for Memorable Family Travel: Stress-free traveling tips with toddlers.
- Staycation Success: Maximizing home-based activities during school breaks.
- Routine & Exploration: Balancing structured routines with exciting exploration for young kids.
- Practical Parenting Tips: Keeping mealtime and bedtime routines while encouraging creative play.
Join Sam Shapiro, head of Marin Montessori School, in a vital discussion with psychoanalyst Sally Weintrobe about how parents and children can face the climate crisis with honesty, humanity, and, ultimately, hope.
This episode delves into managing climate emotions amid the escalating climate crisis, offering insights for parents and educators. Explore practical approaches to guide children through their fears and foster meaningful conversations about our changing world.
Episode Highlights:
- Understanding Climate Emotions: Sally Weintrobe, featured in The New Yorker, discusses the psychological impact of the climate crisis on families.
- Navigating Parental Responses: Strategies for parents to address their own and their children's climate anxieties.
- Fostering Open Conversations: Tips on how to talk with children about climate change in an age-appropriate and supportive way.
- Balancing Truth and Empathy: Finding the right way to discuss the realities of climate change with kids without causing undue distress.
- Building a Supportive Environment: Ways families and educators can create a nurturing space to explore climate-related emotions.
Tune in for this essential episode that intertwines understanding, support, and practical advice, crucial for today’s parenting challenges in the face of global environmental changes.
In this episode of "Grounded and Soaring," join Terry Dubow and Marin Montessori educators, Liesbeth Koning and Seth Kroschel, as they tackle the evolution of math education for young minds.
Discover how the Junior High's new math program steps away from traditional methods to foster a learning environment where understanding and curiosity drive student success.
Delving into the challenges and rewards of adopting new educational models, this talk is an essential listen for any parent who worries about the right balance in their child's education.
Episode Highlights:
- Unveiling Marin Montessori’s innovative approach to Junior High math that balances fundamental skills with real-world application.
- The impact of mixed-age classrooms and individually paced homework sets on student learning and engagement.
- Liesbeth and Seth’s insights into the value of learning from mistakes and fostering a growth mindset in math education.
- Discussion on low-tech teaching strategies that focus on concept mastery over digital distraction.
- Addressing parental concerns about the efficacy of new educational models versus traditional standards.
Feeling the weight of an uncertain world? It's common for parents to grapple with anxiety about the future, and this can unintentionally affect their children.
Join us as we delve into this topic with Dr. Denise Pope, the visionary behind Stanford University's groundbreaking research-based initiative, Challenge Success. Discover how redefining "success" can lead to well-being, a sense of belonging, and greater engagement for families.
We'd love to hear what you think of this and any of our episodes. Rate us wherever you get your podcasts!
The Grounded and Soaring podcast is back for season two -- and just in time for parents prepping for the new school year.
In this episode, authors and experts Sheri Glucoft Wong and Olaf Jorgenson join Sam Shapiro, Head of Marin Montessori School, to share parenting tips based on their book Raising Kids. Their guidance is compassionate, profound, and actionable.
As parents, we know our kids will face challenges and disappointments, but we don't always know how to prepare them to bounce back. In this episode, Michelle Borba, author of Thrivers, joins Sam Shapiro, Head of Marin Montessori School, to discuss a handful of practical tools parents can use to increase their children's resilience and confidence.
Michele Borba is an educational psychologist and best-selling author with more than 40 years of experience helping parents and their children. She’s also written UnSelfie, a study of empathy in an age of egocentric social media, and is a regular contributor to TV shows including Today, Dateline, The View, Dr. Phil, NBC Nightly News, Fox & Friends, Dr. Oz, and The Early Show.
We all know it: something is not working for the youth in our society right now. Data, scholarship, and lived experience all tell us that social media and unimpeded technology have disrupted childhood profoundly and, often, destructively. In this episode, Sam Shapiro, head of Marin Montessori School, joins to reflect a bit on the series of blog posts he penned over spring break called Real Fear, Real Hope: Social Media, Mental Health, and Our Children.
What could be more essential -- and challenging -- than feeding your child food they love and that they need? It can be a struggle, but there's hope! In this episode, Sam Shapiro, Head of Marin Montessori School, speaks with Nimisha Gandhi, who runs Moon Cycle Nutrition, about her approach to inspiring a love of healthy eating in children.
In this episode, Sam Shapiro, Marin Montessori's Head of School, speaks to Varun Soni, Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California, about the mental health crisis on college campuses and what we might do about it.
Throughout their deeply felt conversation, they try to work backward to identify the strategies parents of young children can use to increase the likelihood that their kids will enter college healthy, confident, and whole.
Children are creative creatures -- and not just with paints and clay but also with how they approach challenges. We know it's crucial to nurture their creative spirits, but sometimes that's easier said than done.
Enter DrawBridge, a nonprofit organization that provides free expressive arts programs to children in domestic violence and homeless shelters, affordable housing facilities, and in communities across seven San Francisco Bay Area counties. In this episode, Tracy Bays-Boothe, Executive Director of DrawBridge, shares about her organization, the power of nurturing the creative spirit, and why she's so excited that DrawBridge is this year's Community Partner for The Gather for Good, which takes place on April 15 this year.
Most parents know about the gift of failure in theory but can struggle in practice. While we want to raise independent children who become confident, humble, resilient adults, it can be a struggle to let natural consequences do their magic.
Enter Jessica Lahey, author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed and The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence. In this episode of the podcast, Sam Shapiro, Head of Marin Montessori School, speaks with Jessica about the value of failure in a child's life. She also shares her admiration of the Montessori method for how it decouples failure from shame so children can learn from the moments that don't go according to plan.
We're living in the middle of the revolution that has reshaped our world. In this episode, Tom Preston-Werner, MMS parent and founder and former CEO of GitHub, joins for a wide-ranging conversation about the role technology plays in modern life, what we should do about exposing our kids to it, and how we should go about preparing them to be agile, creators, not passive consumers. Parents sometimes wonder whether they're disadvantaging future coders by sending them to a low-tech school. Tom's answer might surprise you.
In this episode, we dive into a topic that most parents wrestle with because it’s essential and really, really hard. Communication or perhaps more accurately – healthy communication – is critical for a human being at any age to express feelings, preferences, needs and to receive those messages from others.
The question is how do we as parents help our kids build strong communication skills? – always a challenge but never more so than in today’s digital world.
Siri Panday, Director of Education for Toddler and Primary at Marin Montessori School, joins to share her insights and a few helpful tips for parents.
This fall, David Brooks published an essay in The New York Times called "The Crisis of Boys and Men." Among his provocative arguments based on some pretty sobering data points: "Many men are like what Dean Acheson said about Britain after World War II. They have lost an empire but not yet found a role."
When it comes to raising healthy boys today, parents and educators alike are called to wrestle with some troubling and uncomfortable byproducts of seismic shifts in our culture, economy, and society. The news isn't all bad, though, because parents and schools can do a lot to meet the needs of boys.
To paint a picture of the issue and the way forward, we spoke with Dr. Warren Farrell, author of The Boy Crisis: Why our Sons are Struggling--and What We Can Do About It. It's a complex and worthy topic. As always, we'd love your feedback. Just a note that this episode addresses some adult topics, so it may be best to listen without the kids in the car.
When your kids are young, high school may seem like a distant worry, but it comes faster than anyone would like. That's why it's good to have help, which is what Jamie Moffett provides students in Marin Montessori's Junior High School. Jamie joins the podcast to discuss the transition to high school and to share her experiences with MMS students who apply to and attend independent and public high schools. She also offers a bit of practical advice for what families can do to support their adolescents.
For those who aren’t accustomed to Montessori classrooms, it might seem a bit curious that children cook, clean, sew, and more. There’s actually a lot behind all the cupcakes the students are baking.
In this first episode of the Grounded and Soaring podcast, we take a few minutes to explore how practical life routines and activities help children build skills, confidence, understanding, and knowledge -- from complicated math to complex collaboration.
What this world really needs is another podcast...
We're doing it anyway though because we're looking for ways to connect with parents and educators about the stakes and opportunities we all face as we teach and raise children today. On this episode, we introduce the thinking behind Grounded and Soaring and what we're trying to achieve. As always, we welcome feedback. Just email us here!