(i don’t know really how to work with placing images on wordpress yet … bear with me while I work to make things more aesthetically pleasing!)
So, this weekend is a bit of a “Montessori retreat” weekend for me. I will get to bed earlier, walk in nature, read selections from Maria Montessori’s books, sew polishing and buffing cloths together, and do some much-needed materials making (homemade phonogram folders, anyone?). The class is going well, but burning me out a bit after two months going at it strong. Did I mention this is my first year as head teacher? When I get impatient, I try and remember to be like Anne of Green Gables….seriously! 
It’s difficult transitioning over children who were there last year to an AMI classroom, because I am starting them all from scratch to make sure they’re solid on what they know. The biggest challenge for me this year has been classroom management, something you’re not really taught in training (which otherwise is excellent). I just make pencil and paper lists for each child on a weekly basis, and cross out the lessons as I give them, then I record them on handwritten checklists later. Yeah, I’m old-school (pun intended). I want a prettier, more organized-looking system, but this works for now. My school is not AMI-certified, so I need to stay on top of my game by refreshing myself now and then (and asking to go to AMI refresher courses as they arise). Some days I worry I’m going too fast, and some days I hope I’m not going too slow. Some days I just give it up entirely and watch. Observe. I don’t think I stop to observe enough. Closing my eyes and taking one deep in and out breath often help. Overall, it’s a wonderful way to spend my days, with these beautiful children. In the afternoon, we read from chapter books. Right now, we are reading James and the Giant Peach, before that we read Peter Pan and Little House in the Big Woods. I am having them illustrate scenes from the chapters each day with beautiful Prismacolor pencils. They’ve been drawing and painting outside (and having picnic lunches!) this past week because the weather’s been so beautiful. Sometimes … I get frustrated because I feel the children are interrupted too much by “extracurricular” activities like Spanish, yoga, and music, which occur during the work period. I have to learn to let it go because I can’t change that. I try to make transitions seamless. Today, I set out two rugs and laid out the ingredients for banana bread. Sure enough, it drew a crowd. Bless their hearts, a peaceful, helpful, curious crowd. Eating the hot bread was wonderful. They loved it! After lunch each day, we do “classroom jobs.” I fan them out and they choose one after the other: feed the fish, sweep outside, wash dishes, fix inside shoes, fix library, dust bells and metal insets. Our days have a gentle but active rhythm and parents tell me the children are changing so much at home … which of course we know is the real measure of their progress. I can’t wait to see my older children start writing in cursive … another month or two, perhaps! I am going to start number writing practice on paper and chalkboards this week for two of them. I can’t wait to see the chalkboards come out! Watercolor painting on tray tables has been popular, too. Lots of goodness going on … I’m feeling re-inspired already! More to come soon ….
