By Teri Tipton
It
all started with my daughter. After a traumatic beginning of life (she
was born a full three months early), she grew into an amazing baby and
young child. She was such a live wire! She was interested in
everything and, like a sponge, took in everything from her little
world.
I, like most new
parents, was fascinated by her development - her nearly non- stop
activity, her strong will, her concentrated efforts, her intelligence,
her spirit. Wanting to know more about how children learn, I began to explore the field of child development. It was during that time that I discovered Montessori.
It was like fireworks for me. Maria Montessori's forty plus years of observations of children world-wide were my observations
of my own child! She had even given a name to that extraordinary
sponge-like ability to learn, describing it as the young child's "absorbent mind." Ah! What was so amazing about my child, it turns out, is what is so amazing about ALL children.
According to Montessori, children want to learn, - they have a spontaneous urge to learn - and they do so by absorbing from and acting upon their environment. In this way young children actually teach themselves! How else do they learn to crawl, walk, manipulate objects, or talk in the language of their culture?
Because children are learning all the time from their environment (even before birth), Montessori placed enormous emphasis on the environment and, in fact, considered it the most unique element of her method. That
is why Montessori schools feature "prepared environments," classrooms
that are specially designed to facilitate the child's remarkable ability
for self directed learning. This is in sharp contrast to education that consists mostly of direct teaching which, for young children, often impedes rather than helps their natural development.
From
that point on I was hooked on Montessori. What I discovered during Montessori training resonated with me to the point
that I began to dream of a lovely little school in a beautiful woodland setting that
would, as Montessori put it, "serve as an aid to life itself."
That dream became a reality in 1999. Today Little Tree has a
strong, supportive parent community which has, in past years, made it possible to provide partial scholarships for several families. Volunteer parents also built our lovely little planter boxes and erected our fantastic climbing dome after the play yard was renovated and certified lead and arsenic safe by the Department of Ecology in 2008. Ongoing parent contributions include laundry washing, playdoh making, returning library books and other vital behind the scenes support, as well as occasional special classroom presentations.
Another dream became a reality in 2009 when a series of parent education evenings was launched. In collaboration with parent educator, Melanie Salonen, monthly school gatherings feature selected topics that are intended to help parents better understand the importance of their child's early years, and how and why Montessori is so beneficial. (See the school calendar for topics.) These sessions have been well received and are a lot of fun!
Also a lot of fun is... Spanish! Our 2010/11 school year begins with optional weekly Spanish sessions with Bonnie de Steiguer. With Bonnie, children are exposed to basic Spanish through songs, movement and games. These weekly sessions are reinforced and supported daily in the classroom.
My daughter? She is now an "amazing" teenager! Remembering her Montessori days - the freedom, the independence, her favorite activities - she says, "Why can't public school be like Little Tree? Little Tree kids are so lucky!"