It's a school devoted solely to 3-5 year olds. Each class has a different mixture of ages, and Montessori philosophy fits in well with Connor's temperament. Montessori is, as my friend B puts it, a daily celebration of learning. Children are encouraged to ask questions, to find things they're interested in, and incorporate a love of learning into their daily lives. The activities are largely self-directed...Connor loves maps and puzzles, so often heads for those first thing when he gets in. He carefully takes a map puzzle from the shelf, places it on the table, pulls out his chair and concentrates on it to the exclusion of all else. When he's done he carefully replaces it on the shelf and moves on to another activity. The striking thing about Montessori schools is how quiet they are. The children are all calmly working and since the adults with them believe that work had inherent value regardless of the work itself, they are left in peace to learn. The teacher guides them gently to new activities, or incorporates crafts in it all. Pretty amazing. B's daughter is also in Montessori, and this incident of hers is illustrative: R asked if there were seeds in pumpkins. The director promptly hacked open a small pumpkin on her desk and asked R what she thought. R saw the seeds, was led into a discussion of growing plants, and the director proceeded to give her a bag of seeds to plant when the time was right. Montessori is always about satisfying curiosity and fostering children's innate love of learning.
I'm probably doing a poor job explaining, but the results are undeniable. Connor is reading very well, he's starting to write legible letters, he counts to 20 daily in Spanish and English, he has a fifty word Spanish vocabulary, he knows his continents, he can spell his full name and several other words besides...and most amazingly of all, he loves to do all of these things. He and I did an experiment in reversible change yesterday with ice cubes and water, and he couldn't have been happier. Did I mention he's three? I just burst with pride, and since it's my blog I can brag with impunity...muhahahahaha!
Montessori also believes in making it easy for children to function on a daily basis as part of the family, which means incorporating them into the business of the family and making it easy with kid sized tools to do so. Connor has a work display board in the book room at his level, with a boot shelf full of art supplies underneath. There's a hook to hold his apron (I sewed it for him from a "Montessori" pattern), a broom/dust pan, and a ladder to use at the counter. We have stools at every sink to allow him to get his own cup of water or wash his hands. He has a kid sized table for his work time at home -- that might be pattern work, stringing ABC beads, drawing, or working with gluten free playdough. Timmy has been included in all this too -- he too plays at the table, and loves to drink his evening water out of a little shot glass that is just his size to grasp and drink. They have some sponges cut in half to make it easy for them to clean up after themselves, and if they spill they're expected to help clean up. They both help me do laundry, they help wash dishes. That's not to say they don't make messes, but they're far less than they ever were and they're happy about helping.
We've had a few issues with Connor's diet -- mostly people not realizing how much casual contact with gluten containing items can still harm him -- but that's smoothed out a lot. I'm terribly sorry to do it, but Connor is going to be moving into the morning class in about a week. He was in the afternoon class and loves his friends and teacher, but it was eating my entire day. It takes about 35 minutes to drive there so we have to leave at 1215 to be there by 1250. I turn around and come home by 130, then Timmy naps and I run back at 315. If I move him to mornings I think he will be fresher, and Timmy and I can get errands and exercising done in the morning before picking him up. Then we can be home for lunch and rest/naps and he might actually get to play with his neighborhood friends in the afternoons.
The pictures of school are trapped on Charlie's phone so I'll have to rescue them later. Meanwhile here's a few cute pics!
Connor at the park.
Timmy playing with one of his birthday toys.
Connor and Timmy love this huge bead maze they got from Pop and Nani for Timmy's birthday. They play for hours!
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