Secret Society

Friday mornings have changed. The last few Friday's I've started the weekend off by spending time with other parents and the DGM director talking about a variety of topics. It's starting to feel like being part of a really cool club. And the club IS really cool. I just found out the names of some interesting Alumni. The founders of Google and Wikipedia, Julia Child and to my big surprise Sean "Puffy" Combs. Maybe the lack of television means I get my information slower but I don't recall ever hearing about this fantastic news...Montessorian's fare tremendously well in the real world. Maybe it's because they belong to this well kept secret society.

I can remember hearing at different times that kids who attend Montessori school have a hard time if they leave that environment and go to traditional schools. I guess that means we (my husband and I) will have to do whatever we can to keep our children out of a traditional school. There's no going back now, and good for us. The thing is, life is very Montessori. We are all multidimensional individuals contributing to the multideminsions of our environments. Why shouldn't we be trained in that way and encouraged to be good at it. You might have a Montessori style if you

- work to the best of your ability
- take pride in your own achievements
- demonstrate self motivation
- put things back after you are done with them
- work well with others
- handle transitions well
- understand the meaning of community

How long did it take you to master these things? I know I'm still working on some of them but my 3 year old will have them mastered by the time he's in lower elementary. If people knew the true beauty of educating the entire person who wouldn't want to get their child in fast. When I say the entire child I don't mean Reading and Math. No. I mean an 8 page report card that let's the parent know about social development, self control, grace and courtesy, care of environment, self and others and more...and that's the secret.

Well the secret is out, just click on the title to check out the Wall Street Journal Blog and find out more. It's fascinating that these dynamic, trendsetting personalities mentioned above have their educational roots in Montessori. I'm thinking about what they have done and the following each of them inspired. They all have in common, the ability to create and re create. Puffy was so into recreating that he changed his nickname back to his original nickname after changing it to several other names that he tried on for a while before deciding he was fine with where he started. That's awesome...don't be afraid to try something on; If it doesn't fit or you don't like it you can always leave with what you came in wearing. It's also called the Thank you bite-I don't mind trying it because I know it's not for me I can forgo an further experience with it and still be comfortable and confident that I made the right choice, for me.

Salaam,
Joronda

Imagine

Here in the United States education is a mandatory stipulation for parents raising children. To make the task simple, public institutions of learning are free and abundantly placed throughout neighborhoods, convenient for youth and families. It has been this way for decades but it seems as though over the same period of time our collective fervor for learning has diminished. Somewhere between the mandate to school and free resources, the excitement for education and discovering passions has been thwarted. Many strong starters barely complete the warm up before the big race of life after high school begins. Things change when you leave the highly formulated constructs of traditional education and step into the "real world". I have never understood why their wasn't a practice run before the real world. Ahhhhhhh but wait. Stay with me fore a minute and imagine a different educational process.

Imagine a child, happy to go to school.

Imagine learning spaces with endless opportunities to explore.

Imagine being encouraged to get even better at what you're already good at...

Imagine career readiness training from the time you start walking.

Imagine dictating your own promotions.

Imagine self-less teenagers who understand giving is the best gift.

Imagine those teenagers trying to get others to understand it.

Imagine adults who care about what youth have to say.

Imagine things being changed because the adults listened to the youth.

Imagine happy youth.

Imagine a toddler sanitizing her own hands.

Imagine running a business at 12 years old.

Imagine youth raised in this environment.

Can you imagine all this? I can't help but imgine it, every day. Our family is a part of it. This week I saw that toddler self dispense AND sanitize her hands as if she had read one of those bathroom signs that states "employees must wash hands before returning to work". I was amazed how second natured it appeared as she rubbed her plams together literally taking matters into her own hands. To me, it was a metaphor in motion, a vivid comparison, a representation, of sustainability. I am learning that DGM children (and families) are encouraged to be self-directed, independent learners who can change their world. Given the opportunity to practice, use and share those skills with others, what happens is you end up with individuals who have these beautiful tendencies embedded in their nature and it creates a self confident personality that last a lifetime. Tuesday morning I sat in an "Imagine" breakfast with about 400 people. It was an event meant to share the past accomplishments, present activities and future vision of the Desert Garden Montessori School. What a wonderful start to my week. I felt honored to be amongst visionary people who have the capability of turning hopes into reality. I want to teach our sons to do that same thing. I feel encouraged, optomistic, passionate, included, responsible and protected. When you TRULY want to make something happen, you'll put in the honest effort to do so. It's incredible when you have a support system helping you along the way. Salaam, Joronda