I visited June’s school before she finished her first year at the end of May. June is my four-year-old granddaughter. Although June would correct me and say four and a half!
June attended Humboldt Park Montessori
School in Chicago. On Generations Day, they invited one person from an older generation to spend the morning with each student. My wife visited earlier in
the year, so it was my turn. The
students were instructed to teach their guests how to complete tasks by doing some with them.
June was assigned to teach me Collage, Puzzles, and
Wash the Baby. June took her role as a teacher
seriously.
We began with Wash the Baby. June brought a plastic basin covered with a towel
from a shelf nearby to a very low table.
I managed to sit on one of two tiny chairs.
Under the towel was a fully dressed baby doll, a small pail for water, a brush, and a bar of soap.
“OK, Papa, I’ll get water from the sink, and you undress the baby.”
I did as told and put the clothes in a pile on the table with the naked baby doll on top of them. So far, so good. June returned with the water but stopped before pouring it into the basin.
“I’ll pour the water in the tub, but you put the baby in and do the washing. Do
you know the most important part of Wash the Baby?”
I had ideas but kept them to myself.
“No.”
“DON’T GET SOAP IN THE BABY’S EYES!”
June wasn’t messing around. I washed the baby under June’s watchful gaze.
“Now, Papa, you dry the baby while I empty
the bathtub.”
June left, and I toweled off the baby. We both dressed her. June folded the towel and covered the basin
just as it had been when we got it.
“What’s next June?”
“Papa, it’s not over. If we don’t put the baby back on the shelf, we’re
not done.”
June put the basin back. It was a side of June I hadn’t seen. Strict with the rules.
Next, we did the Collage. June brought a tray with construction paper,
a pot of glue with a brush, small pieces of colored tissue paper, and bits of
dried flowers. June brushed lots more glue
onto the construction paper than I would have.
I wanted to scrape some off but didn’t.
We were in this together after all.
“What’s next, June? Do we make a picture? Like a tree or something?”
“No, Papa. We just make it pretty.”
June dropped bits of tissue paper randomly,
possibly in vague rows, and I sprinkled dried flowers somewhere in
between. When we were done, it really was
pretty. June put it on a wire rack with
clothespins to dry. I put the materials back
on the tray and put it on the shelf. I
was catching on.
We finished with Puzzles in no time. June and I do a
lot of puzzles together.
“These puzzles are hard, Papa. Know why?
All the pieces are the same color.
You gotta look for shapes that fit together.”
The puzzles weren’t too difficult. We finished our three projects with time to
spare.
June suggested we read books. We went to a corner with racks of books, a
padded mat, and bean bag chairs. We drew
a crowd. There we met students who didn’t
have grown-ups who could come to school with them. June
picked out books, and those kids gathered around us. June introduced me.
“This is my friend Tanya.”
Tanya got close and looked me in the eye. I bumped fists with her.
“Are you Papa?”
“Yes.
June talks to me about you.”
Tanya gave me a big smile.
“Where’s Oliver? June talks to me about Oliver, too.”
“He’s sick and had to stay home,” Tanya said.
“He’s going to be mad. Oscar's Gramma was
coming with him.”
After four books, our reading activity petered
out. One student pulled another down to the mat. Someone else joined the pile. There was chasing, rolling around, and a lot of laughing.
The teacher, who quietly observed and helped only when needed, let them play for a while. That
ended when she brought out snacks. The
kids helped themselves and brought snacks to the grown-ups. After that, my time at school was over.
I learned some concepts about Montessori at our daycare center when I worked at YSB, but I’d never seen a pure Montessori
school in action till that day. I was impressed. June learned a lot in her first year of
school, but more importantly, she discovered she could learn on her own. I can’t wait till she’s five.
