ALL THAT WE DO!!

The experience at The Children's School is vast and varied. I have several pictures to share here that may seem unrelated at best! But the common thread is that these experiences are child-driven, Montessori experiences, and the Staff of The Children's School wants to explore more of what this means with parents through an opportunity we are calling the Parent Lunch Bunch!


Our first Parent Lunch Bunch will be on Wed., November 14th from 11:45 am to 12:45pm. Our topic will be: The Magic of the Montessori Experience: What that means for our children, and how does that play into “kindergarten readiness!”


We hope you will join Mrs. Banks and Mrs. Jaques, and other parents as we explore this topic together. In the meantime - enjoy these pictures!!

The freedom to create - or not! Both options speak volumes to us!!

What a stunning idea to bring a little "Fall" inside! Lots of careful work displayed here!

Sometimes we prefer to work "solo." In some time alone, our friend Nikola created this zoo!

And here is an example of great cooperation - our friend, Dylan, in Miss Tierney's Pre-K class invited his friends to build a rocket ship, and later invited several to ride in it to the moon!!

And then there is always the completely unexpected! In this moment, our friend, Lina from Mrs. Banks' morning class was interested in watching Mrs. Banks create the Halloween invitations. So interested in fact, that she took her own clipboard and began to duplicate the invite on her own! There is no other word than "STUNNING!!"

This is just a small sampling of what our friends' imaginations, combined with the opportunities provided by our program, can lead to -- Pure Magic!!

The Magic of the Montessori Way!!

At first glance the task depicted in these pictures may not seem all that "magical," but you see, that's the beauty of it all!! It took me a little while to see it myself, actually, but now that I know what I'm privelaged to be watching, I watch with awe and admiration.

First, you take a fairly common, everday task, such as cutting bread, or in this case, bananas!

Then you invite a 3 or 4 year old to cut that banana, put it on a serving tray and then offer those morsels to his or her friends!


Sounds straightforward enough - but maybe you've had the experience of cutting a banana before, you know what it feels like to use a knife, to chase a slimy piece of banana with a toothpick, to arrange them on a plate, and even to carry that plate around without inadvertantly spilling banana to the floor.

Many of our friends in our M-F classrooms are new to these experiences, and are challenged by all those steps just named! How do you hold a knife so it can cut? Which way is up? How do you keep the banana from running away from you? How do you get the banana slices from tray to serving plate? How many pieces should you cut before serving? How do ask your friends if they would like a piece of banana - and not have it sound like it's directive?!

To be given the opportunity - the space, the quiet encourage-ment, the FREEDOM - to work this out for oneself, yet with the support of teachers, and even friends if you need it, is the quiet, everyday "magic" that happens here at the Children's School. It is each child's personal experience - journey, if you will - with even these simple everyday tasks that leads them down a road of discovery, success, self-confidence and joy!

In and amongst this kind of learning, there is also a great deal of just plain fun!! Laughing at a shared joke, playing castles with princesses and the ever-present "bad guys," singing and dancing, jumping and rolling! But always with a quiet acceptance of each child's gifts and skills, a gentle encouragement to try something new, a kind and loving word of all each child is willing to share with us! Oh, the magic, oh the joy, oh what a wonderful experience for all of us!!