Spring tea and the way we lead

I remember asking my college roommate, what do you think it means to be a man? To which he probably thought that this skinny black guy was crazy. I think his response was something like this: "Being a man and knowing it is not something you recognize, because the by the time you really are one, you'll be too busy to think about it." Seeing as I began writing this post a year ago and never got around to finishing it until now, I think I reached that point of manhood some time ago. But Montessori takes it in a very different direction. Since within humanity is a capacity towards the savage and the gentle, these two demonstrate themselves in masculine and feminine ways. It is not that women are one and men are the other. When I began writing this post, I had in mind the civility of peace and courtesy which is embedded within the Montessori curriculum. This is taught to both boys and girls, because both boys and girls have a tendency towards and an interest in the ways in which a well adjusted adult conducts themselves in society. Some children's houses around the world often culminate this experience with a Spring Tea. It provides a practical opportunity for children to demonstrate their fine and gross motor skills, all in service to another (usually the adults in their lives).

And yet a Spring tea doesn't sound particularly manly. But then, neither does picking up a young child upon your lap, grabbing a tissue for his face and nose, and speaking in low soothing tones...

Or perhaps it's just what masculinity needs in this day.

If God has made man in his image, after His likeness, and God experiences both anger and joy, expressing sadness with tears and gladness with singing, shall not I? He who was most fully human, Jesus, was a man, and this man wept. God Himself has placed the parameters of our existence. When humanity adds more to that, they tend to self-sabotage.

So I shall teach my children gentleness and resilience, to be firm and to consider the feelings of others. I shall teach them to be grand humans, which means I must be a model for them to follow. Rudeness and lack of manners does not demonstrate masculinity.To believe so is to diminish what men can be. Please pass the tea.

Comments

A return

It's been a long while since I've used writing as an outlet for thinking about Montessori pedagogy. But I have been using my voice in other ways. When I was growing up, I was slow to speak and would more likely be found writing in a journal rather than talking to others. There are some tendencies (not in the Montessori sense) that stick with you, even into adulthood. But lately, even in shyness, I've been speaking more rather than writing; sometimes to my colleagues regarding the lessons I've learned about the classroom; sometimes to parents to remind them that they are doing the most difficult of jobs, and that I know they're child well. But what I'd forgotten is how the written word has a magic to it that cannot--or perhaps ought not--be forsaken. It is in the written word that the ideas of one person can be conveyed, at least in part, to a completely different person. And in that transfer, hearts can be shared as well as minds. It's how I learned about...

When a square is more than a square

While we've spoken of the long bead chains before, I wanted to focus on a specific point of interest. Each colored bead represents a certain number and a certain set of that number. When placed in a long chain, children are able to count them, identifying important numbers within the set. So in the Long bead chain of 5 (light blue in color) it has number tags for each set of 5 (5, 10, 15, 20, etc). There are larger tags for each square of 5 (that is, each set of 25). When a square tag is placed on each squared number, a square bead is placed as well. To think that Maria Montessori thought about the concept of squared numbers and considered a means to make it as concrete as possible! To think there are children all over the world who are learning a mathematical concept that they can feel in their hands before ever knowing how to connect it to an algebraic equation. It's quite baffling. What beautiful things God makes, both concepts and man to understand them.

Self control and the Preparation of the Adult

As I've been taking my Spring Break as an extended time of contemplation, I wanted to focus in on one aspect of Montessori pedagogy that I continue to strive towards, namely the preparation of the Adult. In truth, Montessori educators are often very keen to setting up their classrooms, based on the previous experiences they've had with children, and taking into the consideration the specific children that are in their care. It's a great gift that so many of the shelves in my classroom are on wheels since, inevitably, there will be certain ideas about what I "know" children need that will manifest quite differently in the children in front of me showing the need to pivot in adjusting the space. But I wonder how much we do that when it comes to our very presence in the space? I remember having a teacher come to observe in my classroom as a substitute. She was constantly moving back and forth, trying to get a better view of what was happening in every area of the r...

Grace and Courtesy

Search This Blog