The Mommy Lesson

I told you all that Izzy started school. She is a proud pupil of Snake River Montessori School which I can tell you that she loves.

Have any of you heard of the Montessori method? In a very elementary definition, it is an approach to educating children that Maria Montessori developed in 1907. She observed that young children who are given freedom in an environment prepared with materials designed for their self-directed learning will sustain and support their true natural way of being and educating. So basically, the teacher (director, really) watches over the environment and removes obstacles that interfere with natural development of learning instead of being a focal point in the classroom. Can you tell that I set through an ALL DAY seminar last Saturday?

Well it has been three days and I am a believer.

I have been shocked at how much Izzy just gets it. It's not about telling your child the right and wrong way of learning. It's really about letting them do things themselves. They pick up very quickly on their own whether things are correct or incorrect. This morning, I watched my four year old walk into the wrong classroom. As I went to get her, the director grabbed my hand and said, "Watch."

15 seconds later, little Izzy walked out and calmly walked across the hall to her classroom. Obviously this is not rocket science peeps. I get that. But for me it was an "AH HA" kind of moment. My four year old doesn't need me to tell her she's not in the right classroom. She went in, observed and corrected without an over zealous mom frantically waving.

And no bones were broken in the process.

It was my instinct to grab her and walk her in the right direction. And in this instance, she didn't need that from me. She relied on herself and I think as a parent, that's all of our end goal. Get your child to be a self reliant adult that is a productive member of society. Am I saying that Izzy no longer needs any kind of guidance in her life? Of course not. I'm just saying that maybe I didn't give her enough credit because I consider her my baby. Which I do.

I wanted to share the Daddy Man's reaction to our Montessori schooling experience.

"Wow, we paid a lot of money for Izzy to teach herself."

He really does think he's funny.

Don't worry. I'll educate him.

Or maybe I'll let him educate himself by removing various distractions from him.

Like food, right peeps?

 Get your minds out of the gutter.