The elementary class was a happy mess Friday afternoon. The students were making their papier mache heads for their historical figures for next week’s Historical Dinner.

This year we discovered that cardboard necks work MUCH better than cover stock necks. Even so, with all that flour and water, the cardboard was getting pretty soggy on some of the heads. We finished just before afternoon dismissals (Note: never try to do this after lunch again!), and I did not even have time to get the dried flour off my hands before loading children into their cars. Too funny!

But the good thing about using cardboard for the necks was that most of the heads could dry standing upright. Every year I have had to go to school each day over the weekend to turn the heads over to allow them to dry on all sides. When I went today, only a few needed to be turned. The others were mostly dry in the upright positions. Yea!

Next week it will be on to painting the heads and building the bodies. The body-building day is truly one of the most tiring days of the school year. But the effort is well worth it! In the mean time, the classroom looks a bit macabre with all those heads on the table.

We have been very fortunate to have some new faces at school this week. We have two lovely new ladies who have become part of our small, but dedicated staff. One is Ann Harpham, an experienced teacher from Massachusetts. The other is Emily Zimmerman, who hails from Tennessee. Emily is currently finishing her master’s degree with her thesis on Montessori education.

As an administrator I’m thrilled to have found these wonderful people who will be helping to enrich the lives of the children at school. They have much to offer the children. And already we are seeing signs of better flow during transition times and valuable support for classroom functioning. They are helping in all those nearly invisible ways that make everything just work better.

It seems like a gift to have found these two wonderful additions to our staff.

There are also new faces among the children. On Monday we had a new four-year old begin attending and just today a new kindergartener started. We are delighted to have all of our new faces. Our community is growing richer.

I have been trying to find time all week to post about this. I have been so pleased about a development in the Early Childhood class. Although children learn to use the sandpaper letters, they often get the mistaken idea that they can only do them with an adult. I have seen many, many children practicing independently with them.

By practicing more frequently the children will develop their penmanship more quickly AND their reading skill should blossom better.

I am eager to observe how the year unfolds. I know already that it will be very rich in sandpaper letters.

Last week in the elementary we made some different gasses. We did the typical baking soda mixed with vinegar to make carbon dioxide. That is actually a lesson on the shelf that the students may choose when they wish. We took it to another level, though by inserting a glowing splint into the gas and watching the carbon dioxide extinguish the ember.

We then mixed yeast with hydrogen peroxide. Unfortunately, the yeast was old, so that part of the activity did not work. I promised the children that I would get some new yeast. I delivered on that promise today. First I used some aged yeast that did not have a very “enlightening” reaction. The glowing splint sputtered and then went out from the foam.

Then I broke out the brand new yeast. Oh wow! The oxygen-filled foam rose immediately in the flask. When the glowing splint was inserted, it burst back into flame as it reached the oxygen. Many of the children exclaimed, “Do it again!” I continued to reignite the splint until much of the oxygen was gone.

We really had a gas today.

Last night we celebrated the annual picnic at school. One parent told me that he had been looking forward to the picnic, but it was even more fun than he had remembered. I’m so glad. I love to watch the ebb and flow of the evening.

New parents (and their children) do not know just what to expect. But there is lots of socializing as parents get to meet other parents of the children they have been hearing about at home. “Oh, you’re so and so’s dad!” or “I hear so much about your child, I’m so glad to meet you.”

The food is always fabulous. It is impossible to get that many families together without some scrumptious fare! There was an herbed bread last night that, well, I simply ate too much of it! It was that good. And a fluffy chocolatey concoction for dessert. Mmmm! But that’s enough about the food.

I know that new parents are surprised at how much fun we can pack into our playground. During the evening children are playing as they usually do. We see a few instances of students testing the limits (not unusual when there might be issues over whether they can “get away” with things when parents are present. Simple answer - No.).

The real fun starts after everyone has had a chance to eat as much as they want. That’s when we start the games. At first it is kids only. Then we draw in the parents. When the parachute comes out, everyone wants to play. Finally it is time to go home. I enjoy picnic night immensely. My pleasure comes from seeing the families having such a great time.

It is hard to imagine that we will have to wait another year for the picnic. I was especially sad that some of our children had come down with the crud this week and were unable to attend. Waiting another whole year seems so hard.

As we look around the early childhood classroom we are noticing that little things are disappearing. Several beads are gone from one transfer lesson, a wooden container is missing from a containers and lids, little cubes are missing from a cube-stacking lesson and even some red flattened marbles are gone from a scooping lesson.

At first we thought that things were simply rolling under the shelves when they were dropped. But this seems to go beyond that. We have even checked under the shelves, too.

Oftentimes children take little pieces of their school home with them. This appalls many parents, but we realize that children just like to have little treasures from their classroom. This personal borrowing shows that school is very important to children. The problem for us, though, is that we end up with incomplete lessons.

I think I need to put some special little treasures out for children to take home and return at their convenience. In that way we will still have all the pieces of the lessons that we need during class time. In the mean time, I hope some of those missing treasures find their way back to the classroom.

The early childhood classroom was a virtual hum of activity today. The classroom was busy with that quiet hum for a great part of the morning. We had a very new student, though, who just started on Friday. About mid morning she started running out of steam. Britton comforted her some, Carl comforted her some and I did, too. She sat on my lap while I was giving one of the “old hands” a lesson.

Her period of false fatigue meant tears. It was touching (and a bit amusing) to see one of our former criers trying to cheer her up. There was hugging and patting. Montessori observed that children are much better able to communicate with other children than we are. But in this case our teary student really wanted adult comfort. She asked if she could just rest her head on my shoulder. She actually did rest her head on the table for a few moments.

Once she passed out of that period of false fatigue, though, the rest of the morning and lunch were very enjoyable. She laughed a giggled in group with the others as I tried to get them to use up some extra energy (Rainy days are tough!).

It won’t be long until the magic of Montessori works its charm on her and she is just as joyful as all our other young learners.

I have been watching and helping (in small ways) my daughter as she launches her own Montessori School. I wish she were nearer so I could do more to help, but she is in Massachusetts. Her school officially opens on Tuesday.

There have been several last minute calls as she tries to work out all the details. What amazes me is that she is thinking about those details. Another amazing thing is that she already has 26 students enrolled in her early childhood class. That is actually more than we have in our class after all these years. Goodness.

She asked yesterday about how to teach all those children how to clean up after lunch. We always have a large number of new students learning the ropes, but not 26 new ones at one time! There will be quite a bit of confusion those first few days. Lunch is definitely one of the harder times to manage since everyone is finishing up at the same time and trying to get all those left-overs and dishes and glasses and napkins and trash and place mats and lunch boxes all tidied and put away. Whew! I would love to be a fly on the wall Tuesday.

But then I look at our process and already the early childhood class is settled down at lunch. So I assured my daughter that it will come together. I know it is an exciting time for her. And a frightening one, too.

I’m somewhat overwhelmed to think that she is carrying on this important legacy of Montessori. Overwhelmed, and awed and humbled.

Those interested in visiting her school website may do so at:
www.berkshiremontessori.org.