School Overall

We had parent/teacher conferences this morning.  And when I mentioned this to a co-worker today, he looked at me strangely and said, "Aren't your kids...?"  "Two and four, yes", I said.  Pause. "And I guess that says alot about why we are so pumped about our school."

Of course we are only a few years into parenthood, but I'd like to think that if there is anytime for parents and teachers to comunicate regularly about what their children are doing in school, then it is in these early years.

We love these conferences because it is a window into their days that we do not get, and from an adult's perspective.  We do a fair share of reading about Maria Montessori: her philosophy and how the works are purposed to present children with free learning experiences that are paralleled with natural phases of inquisitiveness ("formative planes").  And we love to hear how our boys are responding and learning in this environment.  We see results everyday at home, but it is good to get this teacher's perspective every few months.

Montessori might not be for everyone and we don't necessarily think it is THE WAY.  But we love it more all the time, as the boys get older.  We found out this morning that Heath will be moving up to the primary classroom (a different one from Alder) after thanksgiving.  This is very exciting and it sounds like he is very ready for the transition!  We also learned that after many months of spending almost all of his time in the "math area," Alder has started really wanting to be in the "language area" where he is sounding out words using the movable alphabet.  He told us this already, but it was nice to hear more about it from his teacher.

Here are a couple of videos shared with me today by fellow Montessori parents that communicate some the aspects of it that we appreciate the most about this method of education.  Not only as parents, but for Lesley as a teacher of college "kids," always trying to find ways to encourage them to truly learn/understand and not just memorize/regurgitate, we see a lot of relevence here.