Yesterday afternoon during extended care I was getting a snack in the kitchen when I heard a huge crash. I didn’t hear any commotion so I figured it wasn’t anything major.

Later Britton asked me if I had heard what he did. Apparently he had pulled the drawer for the cabinet of the world parts out too far and all the boxes with all the flags on pins had fallen onto the floor. This is the quintessential big boo-boo! In fact, Britton said that he just stood there and looked at the heap of pins and boxes at his feet for a few moments without comprehending (or accepting) what had happened. He said it looked just like one of the students in that stance, kind of hoping the whole mess would just go away.

It has been years since this particular catastrophe has happened because I take pains when teaching the lesson to include specific directions for taking out the boxes with the flags and putting them away so they are easy for the next person to do. But, I haven’t been in the classroom that much this year, and those directions were just forgotten…

Imagine, though, the delight the children had today trying to find where all those pin flags went. Six continents, hundreds of countries, several hundred cities, waterways, mountains, and deserts all over the world. Some children spent the entire morning working on it. Others came and went. There certainly was lots of learning from THIS mistake!

This afternoon I saw two sweet examples of children reading to one another. The first was a group of early childhood students who stay late. Carl had read them a couple of books, but since he needed to keep ice on an unfortunate infiltration from dialysis that was swelling, he declined to read for a while.

These children had a perfect solution. One of them chose a book that she had heard often enough to have memorized (those Biscuit books are truly favorites!). She sat and “read” the book to the others. They sat in rapt attention. The afternoon was winding to a close and several children went home during this touching scene.

There were only two children left – a second year elementary student and one of the younger ones. They helped put the tables away in preparation for tomorrow. Then we went to wait in the hall for parents to come collect them. The older child pulled out the library book he had chosen (about tigers) and read with feeling to this younger student. I wish I had a video of this tender, touching time with a book.

Speaking of libraries, our music teacher was here today. She goes to many Montessori schools sharing her skills. She said, “Aleta, I have never seen a Montessori school with a library as extensive as yours.”

Books and reading. Windows to the world. Gems and gifts. It is truly a gift to be able to share this love with children.

On the way back to school from dialysis yesterday, I noticed that the corner of my left index finger felt tender. Hmmm. When I’m nervous I tend to “worry” at my hangnails. So, when I arrived at school, I dragged out the first aid kit, found some first aid cream, anointed my finger, and applied a band-aid. Basic care for something as minor as a hangnail.

Carl and I went out to celebrate my first successful insertion of his dialysis needles after all the children had gone home. That finger was surely hurting during dinner, but it was covered up, so I couldn’t really see what it looked like. But when we DID get home and I had a “good” look at it, I realized that in that short period of time I had gone from a worrisome sore hangnail to something more serious.

A trip back into town to the late Care Clinic was in order. I must say we waited longer for my prescriptions than we did to get me fixed up!

Let me simply say that the ensuing pain made for a sleepless night, and a call to my personal doctor’s call service at 2:00 AM, with contemplation of the ER. At one low point in the night I was wondering how difficult life would be without the offending digit.

Sometime around 4:30 the pain abated somewhat and I got a brief period of sleep. Sigh.

When I put the prescribed salve on the finger this morning, I deliberately left the Band-aid loose to allow for swelling. Alas, it wasn’t loose enough. By afternoon my whole finger looked like a sausage with a prominent ugly sac of pus bulging out from under the dressing. So, I made another trip to the Care Clinic.

Much pain, much lancing, some gory details purposefully omitted, a shot, another prescription for some heavy-duty pain killers to get me through the next few nights, and I made it back to school by 5:00 PM.

I only relate this sad tale so parents will be forewarned of the cause of my bandaged finger at the picnic. No, a child did not bite me. No, I did not cut myself. No, it isn’t a burn. It is “simply” an infected hangnail.

And, there is an important moral. Treat hangnails with the utmost respect. After all, Montessori is all about respect!

A former parent stopped by yesterday evening. She periodically brings us some dry ice to use for science activities. Needless to say, our students thoroughly enjoy this opportunity.

We chatted for a few minutes and she brought me up-to-date on what here children are doing (one married – how time flies). Before she left she said to me, “I really miss this place.”

I shared with her that our sense of community has grown even stronger since the years she was part of it. Indeed, enrolling in Montessori is a family endeavor. We want the whole family to embrace the philosophy of the Montessori approach so that the children will gain the best benefit.

And our community is like an extended family. Once someone leaves the family, we all feel it. And we rejoice when there are additions to the family.

I had the chance to work with a second year elementary student today who is learning the steps in preparation for compound multiplication. There is always a conspiratorial aspect of learning the “short cut” for multiplying by tens. We don’t want the students just telling others how to do it. We want each student to figure it out. But once that short cut becomes clear we can move on to greater things!

Today we were doing multiplication times multiples of ten, i.e. 241 x 20. My student ducked his head down and said, “I don’t want to lay this out twenty times! Oh no. I want to use the short cut.” He looked around to see if anyone heard him. Then he flipped ahead in the problem booklet to see some of the other problems. “Times forty! No one would want to lay it out forty times!”

I left him to his own devices as he worked out these problems, but I was tickled myself to observe how delighted he was to multiply these big numbers with so little effort.

Now that school is under way for this year, I’m missing a great portion of it. I feel so disjointed and out of touch!

After the children returned on Monday, Carl and I started home dialysis training on Tuesday. It seems like the morning barely gets going when it is time for us to eat lunch, gather our things and leave for training. We return in time for the other teachers to go home in the afternoon. We are missing so much of the activity. We are missing seeing the children burst with pleasure over new accomplishments. We are missing dismissals and getting to touch base with parents, new and returning.

But this will pass. Once the extensive training is complete we will be back in school on a regular basis. Dialysis can take place in the evenings and we can spend our days with the children, the staff and the parents. How I look forward to that return to normalcy. But for now, life has gotten in the way.

Oh my! The students who were returning from the early childhood class came back today. What happened to them over the two short months of summer? Bodies are longer. Faces are slimmer. Hair has lightened up from the sun.

Who are these grown-up children? I hardly know them.

How excited they were to be back. How glad we were to see them.

An elementary student came to me first thing this morning to ask for a lesson on weaving. He wanted to learn it yesterday, but I was busy teaching lessons to a new student.

Today he wasted no time in getting to this goal. At 11:00 AM he was finishing up his project. He had spent the entire morning in intense concentration. Others were working around him building an elevator or a flagpole to investigate pulleys. There was conversation at the same table where he was working, but his level of concentration did not allow him to even notice.

The reason I find this an important thing to post is that this child would not have had the opportunity to do this in a typical classroom. He would have been admonished to move on to other types of work like math or language. In our class, though, we get to know these children very well. This student learns everything with intensity. When he does math he works for long periods of time. Likewise for any of the learning areas. So an entire morning spent on weaving is of no concern. After he satisfies his need, he will naturally move on to other needs, many of which will be academic.

It would be an interesting world to see adults with this much focus and initiative. Perhaps one day….

The children started arriving very early today. As it turned out several parents reported that their children were so excited about returning to school today that they awoke in the wee hours of the morning in eager anticipation of this special day.

The classroom was abuzz with activity. And reconnecting with friends. It was a glorious day. Only in a Montessori classroom will teachers see this kind of day. The children come to school already steeped in the routines of learning. They can hardly wait to revisit those lessons that are familiar and stretch toward new challenges. More than once today I heard, “Will you teach me something new?”

We hit the ground running. It is going to be a great year. I can already tell.

The names are on the cubbies, the pencil trays are ready, the shelves are arranged and the computers have all the new children listed for record keeping. The new students have all visited for orientation and are feeling a bit more comfortable with this new adventure. The new parents have come now several times.

The floors are shiny, the plants are in their places and the gerbils are awaiting an eager audience. The elementary desks all have the names on them and the pencil trays are empty an waiting. All we need now are the children to make the school come alive once again.

Over the past few days some of our students have been making quick visits in anticipation for getting back to school. One delivered a letter. One came for a bit of pre-school orientation with the teachers. Today two delivered another child to her mom who is a teacher. I enjoy seeing those preliminary stolen peeks into the classroom We have heard reports from all fronts that the children are very eager to return.

The school is waiting now. The lights are off and the teachers have all gone home for the last time before the school year begins. In fact, the teachers took a bit of a detour this evening and came to our house for a little R&R before the big day tomorrow.

We are ready. We are set. We are looking forward to a new start for a new year and by all accounts it should be a wonderful. Let’s GO!