Montessori Madness

So, for the past 2 weeks (I guess since this is Friday it is actually 3 weeks) I have been swarming with Montessori thinking. I am an educational nerd anyway, constantly searching on the internet for more resources, but now it is for Montessori lessons. The picture above is Talia doing one of the lessons I made for her after the first week's class was over.

Julie M and I have been given a scholarship to take Montessori Primary training through Laurens 55 (yep, that's a tiny little town outside of Simpsonville, which is a tiny little town outside Greenville) . Actually the Montessori folks in the district are paying for the training, the hotel, gas and a food allowance. Beautiful. But the coolest part is that everyday I am required to journal and think and process what I am thinking! The school (in Gray Court actually) is next to a huge field with cows and a pond and beautiful trees so when it is time to journal, we go outside and look at nature and write. I know someone's hippie radar is going off but it is amazing stuff. On day 2 of the training I frantically emailed Gail and asked her where could I get Talia into a Montessori school! She gave me the principal's phone number at Logan so I called and got Talia on the waiting list for the 4s. Crazy. I am loving the community spirit of Montessori, the practical life lessons, the lessons designed for the developmental period where the child is, the pure and simple materials that used, and the attitude the teachers have. One huge part of becoming a Montessori teacher is having the "transformation." (I do still get a Rocky Horror Picture Show visual in my head-go figure.) Really that is the teacher viewing children a different way, viewing education a different way and viewing the world a different way. I've been struggling with different parts of my life lately- chaos, messy house, not spending good time with Ta and Mike, not working toward the good of anything, and these classes are helping me (forcing me) to think through these things and making some plans around the obstacles I set up for myself. And I am muchly enjoying the solitude of my hotel room and Julie's company! She is going through similar thought changes and we've had some interesting discussions-and many laughs.


Now it is July 4. Talia and I worked in the yard. Actually, Talia said "I really really want to work in the year." So as a good Montessori mom that I am trying to be, I followed the needs of the child. I got dressed, we went outside, and in the first 5 seconds she runs off to play with Michael. So two hours later, my flower beds are weeded and trimmed and most of the plants I needed to move around are in their new homes. And Talia is clean and played out. Now it is raining so more free watering! It just needs to stop before my outdoor plans begin. I also have a nice red nose to go with my blue dress, in keeping with the patriotic theme.