A two-fold study

Mary Poppins, Georgia O'Keefe, and patio margaritas for the soul.

Hello, and happy summer! So many things have happened, and so many things are still the same. The seasons have changed, but I’m still chugging along at Sage. It’s a small group of children in our community over the summer, and it’s been a gift to spend the extra time outside (if you are a Montessori guide, don’t forget to observe outside! Watch group dynamics, notice how children move their bodies. Observe before you intervene in outdoor play, just like in the indoor classroom, even if its physical play! This article from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is really great! The authors continuously remind readers that when educators better understand the skills children acquire during rough and tumble play, the better equipped we will be to support it. End side tangent).

Anyway, I miss summer break, but I’m also finding the bright spots. One of the brightest spots is each afternoon from 1-1:30. By 1pm the lamps are turned off and some of our friends are tucked in for their nap. Other friends are relaxing on their cots while I read out loud. We had been listening to stories on the Ipad for 20-30 minutes each afternoon for the six years we taught together (Room 3 forever!), but like many schools, we worked within an established afternoon. We brought this ritual of listening to a story into our afternoon routine at Sage. We started the school year with so many very young children who were still used to 2-3 hour afternoon naps, and in those early days it took two adults to help the youngest children settle in for their nap. We had a lot of kinks to work out. We still do, and always will I guess since the children’s needs change as they grow.

Anyway, we have been reading out loud and it has turned into one of the best parts of the day. Right now, we are reading Mary Poppins Comes Back. We read Mary Poppins back in the spring and two older children had lots of context from seeing the movies. We have been waiting patiently for Mary Poppins Comes Back to be available at our local library, and it finally arrived in time for our first summer session. The illustrations in this edition are beautiful ink drawings. We have been looking at the illustrations together during the day and pointing out the details we recognize from what we’ve read. Look! That’s when they go up with the balloons! Look! It’s where they all went upside down! My hope is that this time reading out loud will feed into some type of literature project for their kindergarten year, but we’ll see where it goes.

I also finally updated the gallery wall with some pieces by Georgia O’Keefe. Stephanie has shells and oceans and fish on the science shelves right now, and I thought these pieces went nicely.

And for the four thousandth time, I am still adjusting to working through the summer. I want to drink my coffee on the porch, and drain my brain a little from the school year before. That’s been my rhythm for a long time. School and summer break. But not anymore and that’s okay. I love hiking in the mornings during the summer, so I’ve been trying to get some evening hikes in after school. And I’ve been eating as many tomatoes as I can, and drinking margaritas on patios, just like every summer.

The first sunflower in my garden popped just in time for my first week off this summer. What a treat!

“The teacher must undertake a twofold study: she must have a good knowledge of the work she is expected to do and of the function of the material, that is, of the means of a child’s development. It is difficult to prepare such a teacher theoretically. She must fashion herself, she must learn how to observe, how to be calm, patient, and humble, how to restrain her own impulses, and how to carry out her eminently practical tasks with the required delicacy. She too has greater need of a gymnasium for her soul than of a book for her intellect. ”Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child, p. 151

Whether you’re on summer break, or chugging along with your regular routine during these longer summer days, I hope you are finding rest and warmth and joy, in whatever a gymnasium for your own soul looks like. I think the gymnasium for my soul includes a patio with margaritas.

Thanks for reading!