When dusting becomes meditation

There's something deeply satisfying about organizing a space. Maybe that's just me. I know some find cleaning and organizing to be quite frustrating. Maybe it's laziness (keep it 100, friends), or maybe there are more important things you can do with your time...like finding your keys. But I've found that organizing one's environment has a way of bringing order to your mind. And this is nothing compared to what it does for children of a certain age. Maria Montessori speaks of it in her book Education and Peace:

The child is capable of developing and giving us tangible proof of the possibility of a better humanity. He has shown us the true process of construction of the human being. We have seen children totally change as they acquire a love for things and as their sense of order, discipline, and self-control develops within them…. The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind.”

Not only this, but order in a child's environment has an amazing way of bringing a more settled disposition. When I taught in the public school and then switched to public/private Montessori schools, I noticed the stark contrast in how much open space there was on the walls and tables in the Montessori Elementary environment. It seemed bare, compared to the poster laden, brightly colored spaces of public schools. That is, until I noticed the children's reactions...settled is the word that comes to mind. This includes "those children" who are considered hyperactive. Somehow they are able to focus far more in a Montessori environment. Perhaps this is due to there being far less to focus on.

And so consider these things as I dust the shelves. The arrangement of the knobbed cylinder blocks at just the "right" angle takes a moment to achieve. For as neatly as I prefer the space, having a place for everything helps the child build their own mind, even as they pass through their various tendency periods. This allows a sturdy foundation on which to build themselves and thus build the world around them. Making sure each didactic material is complete and ready for use by the children who come after you does not have deeper meaning because of these things. But the meaning of these actions become more fully clarified in light of its effect on children. Raise your mops for peace, dear ones...though be sure to wring it out first.

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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.

With Rods painted red

I first established the idea for this blog many years ago, when I just started working at a public Montessori school in a relatively poor neighborhood. But then life happened. Before I knew it I found myself in a Montessori teacher education program, graduate school, and lead teaching in an early childhood classroom. Being one of a handful of men in my school (there were three of us at the time), I felt a bit of pressure to perform. I was quite stressed and worn down. What constantly brought me back was the primary reason that I came to my school, that I began learning Montessori pedagogy, that I do anything at all: to bring glory to God. Granted, I had to learn the lesson of being satisfied in Jesus by being hospitalized, but that's another story for another day. (I'm quite fine now, thanks). My point is that there was very little time for me to reflect on what it means to be a Montessori teacher, while first being a lover and follower of Jesus. But now I can. On...

Grace and Courtesy

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