A Montessori Day

The day before Thanksgiving was a little crazed. I was busy getting things ready for the holiday, and wasn't so sure we would get around to doing school.

Sean announced that his friend was out of school "because tomorrow is Thanksgiving", and asked if it was a hanging out kind of day for us. I didn't really want to say it was a day off, in case I had a few minutes to give a lesson, or we found time to do something. So instead I said it was a "go at your own pace" kind of day. That's every day around here, but I've never said it that way, I guess.

I returned to my work of cleaning and prepping, and wasn't really paying a lot of attention to what he was doing. I knew he wasn't in front of the TV, because it was off. I needed him to help me move a piece of furniture, and when I called out for him he said, "I'm doing math right now."

He did a full work plan, and when I realized he was really working I knew I should make time to give him something new to work with, so I presented some Latin root words that afternoon.

I love this method of teaching and learning. I know that only fellow Montessori homeschooling moms and Montessori teachers will understand how great I felt knowing that he had worked all day as if I wasn't there.

"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