Given the recent change in my life from java support team leader to deputy manager and Children’s house directress at a Montessori school, Montessori is a hot topic of conversation with most ppl I meet atm. I find it easy to be enthusiastic about it, though I’m often surprised by which bits ppl know about and which bits they don’t. So I thought I’d amuse myself today by going on about it on here, from my new point of view.
First of all, most ppl have seemed to know bits about Montessori materials. They may have heard of Pink towers, or Sandpaper letters, or Golden beads, and even made and used materials of this type at home with their children. (Remember that many of the ppl I’m talking to are home educators!) What doesn’t seem necessarily to have come across from the reading they’ve done is that Montessori is about far more than just materials. The community of children, working for global peace and harmony, Grace and courtesy in how we move and speak and handle ourselves around others, these are the things that aren’t nearly as easily quantifiable, and can’t be presented on a tray to be taken home in quite the same way.
A Montessori children’s house is a community. The children learn to look after each other, and learn that hands are for helping and cuddling, not hurting. That if feet need to kick then we need to go outside and find a ball, that if hands need to hit then we go outside and find a bat. (I’m also thinking that we might need to bring in some wood working and other tools that could explore these urges.) Jumping and bouncing, shouting and running are all also done outside, we walk and speak quietly in the classroom so that we can keep each other and our beautiful materials and work safe (occasionally I feel like an episode of Dora 
). The materials and the pre-academic skills that come from using them are important, but the skills for independence and social existence in a community are even more important, and completely central to each day.
This can lead to a slightly fraught Jax. My natural demeanour is not a completely smiley happy one, I’m sarcastic as all get out, and nice is not my middle name. Which is why we work as a team – it can really help to have another member of staff catch your eye and smile as you’re dealing with the tenth incident of running in the classroom or flattening a friend (these are 2 1/2 to 5 year olds I’m with all day!) and if we ever really can’t deal we swap out to let someone else take a turn. There are times when I really do need my 30 minutes lunch break – I’ve got into the habit of taking two cups of tea up as it’s often difficult to get a cup during the day.
Do I regret the change? Not at all – my stress levels are lower, I smile more and I believe in what I’m doing now – it has a positive effect on ppl and the world. How could I regret that?
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