“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.” ~ Maria Montessori
Nishad not only takes pride in not only clearing his plate after he eats, but now serving himself and on occassion, making Mommy and Daddy’s plate too!
“Hello, Family! We are a family!” I love it when Nishad says that to us. There are so many moments in the day in which he says something, so beyond his years, that makes me pause, smile, giggle, kiss him and thank God that we are blessed with our boys.
Lately he ‘thinks’ he needs to parent his baby brother, which tends to get him in a bit of trouble. We’re working on helping him understand that while he can help the baby, he doesn’t have to parent the baby- That is what Mommy and Daddy are for.
We couldn’t understand why he was not playing nicely with his brother. We would tell him, “Now how will you make your brother feel better?” He then goes over to Arun and hugs and kisses him and says, “It’s okay baby. Don’t cry.” While I recognize that he’s more advanced than most adults by doing this, it was a good reminder to me that I need to work continuously on grace, courtesy and manners with the boys. I’m pleased to say that last night, while I was making dinner, Nishad was ‘entertaining’ him brother. Arun was laughing so hard at Nishad, he was turning red and sounding off with sounds of joy! When he gets that happy, he seriously sounds like Donald Duck.
I have to say that I’m really pleased with the way he willingly shares his toys with others and how he interacts with other kids. He’s not a loud or uncontrollable. He’s especially good in public. I’m glad that he had the opportunity to live in a sheltered world, until pre-school, when it’s the right time for him to start interacting daily with children and engaging in social activities.
We also feel confident because he’s going to be attending a Montessori school in which he will thrive in! What child wouldn’t? After working in both public and Montessori, we knew there was only one choice for our children’s education.
We as parents will be a part of a new and exciting community that have similar goals as us; ranging from academic, nutritional, and life style. Nishad will play a role in a community that has respect for ones self, others, all living things and materials. I recall a directress I worked with, Suman. She had three classroom “rules” for the children. The three W’s; Walk, Work and Whisper. I’ve tried to carry that on when I taught in classrooms. We live in such a loud society! Everyone is always yelling or speaking so loud that you can hear their conversation across the street from you.
Nishad will also be in a culturally diverse atmosphere. That was really an important factor for us. We wanted to him to attend a school that had represented the ever changing face our our country- our world. Of course, good things aren’t cheap- it all comes with a cost.
Before applying at this school, I toured, observed and interviewed directors at 15 other Montessori schools. Having a bit of a background in Montessori helped. I preferred and AMI school over and AMS school. I personally worked in 2 AMS schools (which, by the way, were both highly respected and wonderful schools). I preferred an AMI as a parent as Maria Montessori started AMI. Another key factor was that the architecture of the school had to abide by the standards of AMI. Fellow seekers of Montessori beware- “Montessori” isn’t trademarked. Therefore, there are a lot of schools that have the Montessori name on the school and they are not Montessorians.
Nishad’s school has a gorgeous outdoor environment, much like the Montessori school in Shoreview where we enrolled in the parent-infant class. There are four children’s houses in the school and one toddler community. There is a open area atrium where children can walk outside of their classroom and do yoga. Sign me up! 🙂 Don’t you feel so deprived as a child compared to all the wonderful academic opportunities children have today? I know I would have benefited as a Montessori child. Often, working in a Montessori classroom, I had the urge to let loose when the kids weren’t in the classroom. haha. There are actually adult Montessori classrooms so you can experience it in a similar manner that a child does. I would love to attend one of those conferences.
As a parent, there are some great resources online in regard to Montessori. If you’re ever up for a good read that directly impacts the most precious people in your life, I recommend these:
Clink here for a comparison chart of Montessori -vs- traditional.
“The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, “The children are now working as if I did not exist.” ~ Maria Montessori
quickly Arun knew exactly what to do. He seemed so proud to be able to feed himself with a fork and to be sitting at a table designed with him and his brother in mind. Pancakes never looked so good! 
