2020. The year that we spent on hold.
It’s been that kind of year, hasn’t it? In many ways, it feels like we are still on hold. Despite the nine months that have slipped by since we went into the first COVID lockdown. When we first started fighting the virus, the trees were leafless and the air was crisp here in Oregon. In late spring I marveled at the tiny green leaves and the fact that nature kept moving while we all held our breath and waited for permission to resume our everyday lives.
By mid-summer, that feeling of running in place persisted, but the long hours of sunshine and the heat of the day reminded us that time was continuing onward. Even if much of what we had planned wasn’t.
And here we are in late November. The air is crisp and cool again. The trees have shed their leaves again. And we are once again being asked to stay home and stay safe. As fall slips into winter here in the northern hemisphere, we continue to stay the course.
Isn’t that a lot like running a Montessori school? Seasons come and seasons go. Some bring significant challenges, many bring great joy. And every season brings the wonder and amazement of watching the extraordinary development that takes place in the children of each and every classroom over the course of a school year.
Montessori outreach
Through it all, we stay the course. We share what makes our school special to prospective families. We support our teachers and assistants in their journey of growth. We encourage the parents of our enrolled students as they embrace a Montessori approach at home.
As school administrators, we are continually working on outreach: to prospective families, to current families, to prospective staff, and to current staff. Reaching out to share the joy that is the Montessori child following their curiosity, learning and engaged in self-construction in the Montessori classroom or the Montessori home.
It has been my pleasure and privilege, as an education copywriter, to help with that outreach for the clients I serve. My children – who are now teens and young adults – continue to reap the benefits of their Montessori early childhood education. It makes my heart happy to hear friends and family describe the differences they see in their children and grandchildren, because of their Montessori experience.
When I help another client promote their work in the Montessori community, it’s my opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to those who guided me and my children on our Montessori journey. And a small way of giving back to that community.
Thank You, Dr. Montessori, for your incredible work in the field of child development and the tools you have provided the world over for the advancement of early childhood education.
Thank you, to all of you who stay the course, from one season to the next, as Montessori leaders.