Montessori Day 2!

Some friends of mine sent their daughter to Montessori, and I was very impressed with how the Primary education impacted her.  I read up on it some and was further impressed with the philosophy of the system.

So when Krissi and I discussed education, it was quickly a no-brainer that we'd send Piper off to Montessori.   We started looking at local Montessori schools before Piper was even born, and even called to find out about waiting lists and such.  So earlier this year we got our ducks in a row, and shook the money tree in the back  yard and enrolled her in the Primary program at the school that we'd fallen in love with.

We went to a Parent Meeting the other evening which was informative and helpful.  We were a touch nervous.  It seems silly, but aside from work and our immediate friends and family, we don't get out and socialize a whole lot.  So I get nervous when it comes time to meet & greet.  It was very nice and easygoing though.

So Piper's first day was yesterday.  For new students they do three days of coming one hour - next week she will be going for three hours per day.  We weren't sure how Piper would do.  She's often shy when meeting people - but we think that "being shy" is a game for her, because she warms up quickly and then has little fear of talking to people.  We'd been talking her a great deal about school and trying to get her ready in a no-pressure sort of way.  So we rolled in there Wednesday morning, and when we got to the door where some people were standing, Piper started to hold onto me, but about two seconds later she saw that there were people sitting inside on the floor, children and adults, and let go of me, heading for them. She didn't even look back or say good-bye.   We went next door to the middle school classroom where some of the instructors were hosting new parents to sit around and talk (since middle school is not in until next week).  There were perhaps 10 parents and pair of instructors.  Everyone was very pleasant and we chatted about the Montessori philosophy, about our children, about the instructors experiences in Montessori, and about what the kids would be doing.  The hour seemed to fly by for me, but Krissi said that she watched the clock the whole time.  We split up after an hour to go back and get our children, all of whom seemed to be doing just fine.  One of the primary instructors shook Piper's hand and they sang a little goodbye song as she (and each child) walked out to hook back up with parents.

We walked back to the car.  Piper was quiet and a little sleepy looking.  We asked her how school was and so forth, and got some typical Piper responses ("Piper, what did you do in school today?", "Everything.")  But we asked her about the mat, and her instructors, and the other children.  That afternoon when she woke from  her nap she said that she was ready to go back to school.  We explained that we only went to school in the morning, and that she'd get to go again the next day.  She said she missed her teacher.  No tears, though Krissi got a little watery eyed after we'd gotten Piper and were headed to the car.

So today was day 2.  Again, Piper was eager to head to school (she was mostly dressed and announcing that she was ready to go to school more than 30 minutes before we needed to leave).  We got there and she walked right in, turned and gave us a wave and was gone.  We went again next door and hung out with a smaller group of parents, but again had a pleasant conversation.  We headed to the car, and again Piper was not exactly a font of information.  But that's okay, she processes information differently than we do.  Mostly we are afire with curiosity because we want to know what she's learning and doing and experiencing.  I told people that I'd gladly give a kidney to be able to just be a fly on the wall.  You can bet that we'll be getting in some observation time.

Tomorrow she goes for an hour, but all of the rest of the Primary class will be there, so it will be a busy room.  And next week, she'll be there three hours a day!

Very exciting.