Mr. Montessori, Year Two
September 05, 2012
This was Ezra (and his face) on the first day of school last year, on his very first day of school ever:
He was a little unsure that things would be great.
(SPOILER ALERT: Things were pretty great.)
Now it's this year:
School didn't start until 8:45. He started impatiently dancing around the front door around 7:45.
By 8:15 he was officially mad at me for not taking him to school already. What the HELL, woman? That trinomial cube ain't gonna assemble itself, you know.
At last year's classroom visit, he was a Human Ping Pong Ball of Destruction. This year, he played quietly with his favorite materials and created an elaborate tableau using the Farm Box and the Land & Water Forms. His teacher and I chatted about good places to buy kid-friendly area rugs. (I suggested Ikea, because I am mean like that.) When it was time to go, he happily put away SOME of the things, but then insisted that he wasn't finished with the farm.
"I not FINISHED." he said. "I clean up when I FINISHED. That's the RULES."
His little sense of Montessori justice was being gravely wronged and he KNEW it. His teacher and I tried to explain that today was a little different because we were just visiting, and once school started for real he could absolutely work with the farm until he was really and truly finished.
He stood there for a little bit, his face clouding over like an incoming storm and I braced myself for the tantrum. Instead, he folded his arms and stomped towards the door. He was leaving. He was leaving and he was not cleaning up, SO THERE.
But then he stopped, grabbed the hallway pass from its spot on the wall and marched out in a huff. Because that's the RULES.
It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. And I've seen some pretty cute things. Oh, Zah.
Oh how I miss Montessori! Sky went to a Catholic Montessori school in Japan, so it was awesome on all kinds of levels. Now the closest one is over an hour away. Somehow the Catholic is not nearly as much fun without the Japanese or the Montessori.
Oh, the Zah.
Cute. My kids tell me all the time when I'm breaking the rules.
I love how when my kids would come home from Montessori kindergarten they talked seriously about their work. Because the blocks and the beads, etc. was all work.
Wow, what changes in a year! He looks so much older...hope he has a good year :).
He looks so cute and grown up! Those deck shoes slay me. My 3 year old also gets mad at me if I break the rules. Case in point, trying to watch the DNC during dinner (we're on the West Coast) and she said "Finish eating. Then watch TV."
Oh, the rules and the injustice of it all. He's just too cute for words! Have a great year Zah!
My three-year-old only likes her rules, not anyone else's.
My boy is in his last year at a Montessori preschool and oh how we love it. The trinomial cube and the folding of laundry and he schooled me on how to set the table last night. :) Hope he has a great year!
I love that story.
Man, the land and water forms brought back memories. I went to a Montessori school for kindergarten and have missed it ever since. Best school ever.
Ezra's face from last year about breaks my heart. But yay for being excited this year! Hope he has a great year!
This is now in my top 10 favorite posts of yours. It's just wonderful on so many levels! I love that last picture of Ezra too; he looks like a real beanpole there!
What a difference a year makes.... Hope this year is as great as last.
Look at the raincoat--you can unroll the sleeves this year! He looks so happy.
Too cute! I sure hope you saved that adorbs dinosaur coat for Ike.
Following directions in the middle of a temper tantrum: if that ain't an argument for Montessori, I don't know what is!
E reminds me so much of my nephew and therefore melts my heart at all times. I can't explain it, but goodness that kid is cute.
Is it okay to just go ahead and say that besides Noah and Ike, Ezra is my favorite?
This is so odd - I remember randomly stumbling across your post about last year's classroom visit and reading it to my husband out loud. It made us both laugh because our son was pretty much the same. And now I randomly stumbled across this post! Clearly I should be following your blog :)
My little guy just started his second year this week too. It's so amazing what a difference a year can make!
That little face is KILLING me!
I. Am. Slain. That face! The stomping! Why are my children not that little anymore???
The blue Sperries! I die! This kid. I love his face. Shityounot, if I could be guaranteed an Ez lookalike, I'd have one tomorrow. True story.
Ok, let's put aside the insane cuteness of Ezra for a second (because hell, he's so flipping cute,) an focus on the links to the Montessori work. WIKISORI? HOW in the HELL (sorry for all caps on those) did I not know about this? This is my fifth year as a Montessori parent and I have never heard of this site. I am so all over this!
I will leave this room and you cannot stop me. But first I'ma get this pass because I can't leave the room without it, you uncaring, rule breaking adults.
Damn he is cute. And seriously, would it have killed you have to have been ready an hour early? Sheesh.