A huge, pink-hearted thank you goes out to all of you parents for making our Valentines Lunch and annual DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) a wonderful classroom event. We loved preparing lunches for our special someones, and we know that without your full participation we couldn’t have even come close. We celebrated our love of reading before cherishing our picnic of giving It was a snuggly, happy, and love-filled day!
As we wrap up February, it is a lovely time to reflect on how our classroom community has grown as kind and respectful humans. Oddly enough, I can see this growth through the continued experimenting with rude or inappropriate behaviors. The second plane of development is also known as the Age of Rudeness. During this stage of development, children are developing their own moral compass and constructing themselves within the context of being part of a social community. This is a time when the children are concerned with right and wrong, rule following, fairness and justice.
The children's work during this 6 year cycle is to develop a nuanced and mature understanding of the complexities of morality and society. It is through the testing of social boundaries, both with the adults in their lives and with their peers, that the children encounter the social consequences to brushing up against or crossing social expectations. It is often through experiencing the natural consequences to violating social expectations that children truly know for themselves that the social guidelines are real.
In the Montessori classrooms, we prepare the children with 'Grace and Courtesy" lessons for a myriad of circumstances that they will naturally encounter in life. These lessons and community discussions provide the children with the opportunity to practice handling challenging situations with grace and kindness. As I observe rude behaviors rise within our classroom community it is a signal that the children are confirming what they know to be the social guidelines of the community and are ready to expand their moral compass to include a more complex understanding of human relationships and community.
And now it’s time for some rest and refreshment. We wish all our families days of warmth and wonder during winter break.