Stuff I Like About My Montessori School

1. I get to hang out all morning with cuties like this:

And this:

2. When I see a shoelace untied, I take several minutes (!) slowly retying both laces.

3. I'm not a slave to the kids. Even the 2 year olds have to take care of their own messes (as much as two year olds can be made to do anything).

4. My main goal is to help the children achieve successes/avoid failures. Montessori activities are made to be self correcting. You give a lesson by slowly demonstrating how to do it "right," then the child does it. With a puzzle, I don't have to say, "Nope, that piece doesn't fit there," (tho I often forget and say it anyway). They just need encouragement to keep trying. If you don't build the tower the right way, it doesn't stay up.

5. I say, "Feet stay on the floor" and "Bottom on your chair" and "Walking feet" and "Say, 'Excuse me,'" and "We need to be kind to our friends" and "Quiet voices" and "Thank you, Mrs. Roth" and "Cheese balls or graham crackers?" and "We color on our paper" and "Do you need to go potty" and "Throw your tissue away" and "Let's wash hands" and "That's his work, you need to do your work". (Always try to tell them what TO do instead of what NOT to do and never waste time asking ,"Why did you do that?!"; you won't like the answer anyway.)

6. Simple, clean, organized. Children have a sense of order. They are very sensitive to routines and organization. If their environment is such that that sense of order is stimulated, they automatically (with a little reminder) keep it in order. Order is normal, efficient, and pleasant.

(*** I missed my staff meeting whist composing this post, dammit. Grrr. I'm becoming more and more reliant on my phone to tell me where I am supposed to be.)