Thursday was Mary's Back-to-School Night. She was very excited to show us some of her favorite lessons. (That is an understatement.)
Mary beelined straight for her sound book. It's a little notebook where she keeps track of the letters she has learned. She was careful to ensure that both Mommy and Daddy had the opportunity to trace each letter and make the sound. Mary is very proud of her sound book. So far, her book has m, a, r, t, o, and s. She loves her book so much that I wasn't allowed to take a picture of it.
Next, Mary showed us her very favorite lesson. Hand washing! It's a multi-step process that includes, among other things, fetching water with a pitcher, pouring the yucky water in a bucket, dumping the bucket water down the drain, and making the bowl "boo-ti-fuw" again with a towel.
Then we were on to her other favorite lesson, banana cutting. Again, a very structured, multi-step process. I was amazed by how deliberately and confidently Mary proceeded through the activity: retrieving the materials off the shelf, choosing a table, rolling out the place mat, arranging the materials on the place mat, peeling and cutting and eating the banana, washing the bowl and knife, wiping off and rolling up the place mat, and returning the tray of materials to the shelf.
Banana cutting is a very serious process. (Don't mess with Mary and her banana.)
Mary finds the most joy and fulfillment in the Practical Life area of the room (maybe it's the apron), but she also showed us some activities in other parts of her classroom.
Here she is finishing up a tracing activity.
Mary then chose to work on a rug she placed on the floor. Here she is learning the parts of a horse using a puzzle and cards.
But our little housekeeper was soon drawn back to Practical Life. She showed us how to wash a table. (She is much more thorough than I!)
Lastly, she chose Silver Polishing. This is a traditional Montessori activity that goes way back to Dr. Maria Montessori's first "Casa dei Bambini." The point is not that Mary has learned how to polish silver. But that she learned to carry out a multi-step process, using her body, with a meaningful and visible result. And she did it independently.
But it's nice to know we have a certified silver polisher in the house. If only we had some silver...
Then Mary showed us the Donut Eating Lesson. Oh, wait that was later.
First, we dragged her kicking and screaming out of her classroom. (We used to drag her kicking and screaming into her classroom, so this is a nice change.) She finds so much satisfaction from school. Her teacher continually comments on how busy she is. I was amazed by how much careful and meaningful work she accomplished in under an hour, as she showed us some of her favorite things. And she wanted to keep going.
But, alas, Back-to-School Night can't last forever.
So we went here, our little local grocery store, where they sell high school sweatshirts and carry your groceries out to your car, no tips please.
They also sell donuts.
David was a trooper! He played in another room at the school with some other children, so Greg and I could focus on Mary. He had a great attitude about it. He definitely deserved a donut.
But Mary was the star of the night!
Mary, we love you even more than you love donuts! And cutting bananas.
