I am so excited to bring you an updated tour of Lauren’s classroom! A couple of years ago, Lauren shared photos of her beautiful Montessori environment as part of our Classroom Showcase Series. You can see the original post here, and see her stunning outdoor space here.
Lauren was kind enough to offer us a peek at the changes she has made in her room and her life since then.
Meet Lauren Franchek
“It has been overwhelming to see the response my June 2015 contribution to Trillium Blog has received. It has always been my intention to not only share but also gain ideas from our beautiful Montessori community. You are all so inspiring, kind and reassuring. Seemi prompted me to compose an updated bio to let you all know what I’ve been up to the last couple of years since the last post.”
“For starters, I married my best friend and we got our first dog, who is really like our baby. We also bought our first home and continue to enjoy living in sunny Gilbert, Arizona.
Professionally, my role as a Montessori Guide continues to flourish as I meet new goals and further my understanding of the art of serving the child through an authentic Montessori approach. The 2016-2017 academic year marks my fifth year teaching and my tenth working in Montessori schools. I completed the Inclusive Education training through AMI and was able to attend the AMI refresher course in Long Beach. My school has also provided me an opportunity to take on a leadership role as Level Coordinator to encourage consistency and clarity throughout our Children’s House classrooms. I support our local AMI training center in Phoenix as well as our Montessori community here in Arizona as the Co-Chair/Co-Founder of our Alumni Organization. I will be attending both the AMI refresher in Austin this February and the Montessori Congress in Prague this July. If you see me, please say hello!”
“These ‘updated’ photographs were taken in September 2016. You will recognize similarities within the structure and flow of the environment as well as some differences as I have learned to ‘dance’ with the children in the environment over the last three years.”
For more photos of Creo environments, please visit www.creoschool.org and click on “connections.” Also, you can follow Lauren’s personal blog via Instagram: @MontessoriLo.
Welcome to Lauren’s Montessori classroom
This chair is so important. It is Lauren’s home base. This is the chair she sits in, awaiting the children each morning. She shakes their hands and tells them how happy she is to seem them, then they go straight to work. She sits here to observe throughout the morning and afternoon work cycles. The children know to come and sit by this chair if they need something, rather than disrupting a lesson.
A view of the classroom with the geography area in the foreground.
Here we are standing in the Language area, with Math to the left and sensorial on the far wall.
Another view of the Montessori classroom
Unique cultural objects of interest
A painted chair as a plant stand
Click the images below for a closer look at the different areas of Lauren’s classroom
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