Working at Home

Many children seem to be "tired" when they come to school.  I see this tiredness in the way that they work and the work they choose.  In Montessori, we don't give homework for a specific reason.  We believe the work the child does at school is more than enough and that the home is for their lives to be outdoors, with friends and family, and a time to relax and be at ease.  Doing workbooks, educational games on iPads or the computer, being asked to work on handwriting or numbers at home, makes the children tired and ready for a break when they come to school in the morning.  So, we see lots of playing, coloring, and other misbehavior, and unfocused attention.  For the child to benefit truly and fully from the program that we offer, it is best that the schooling is left at school, and the home and fun of socialization be left for times outside of school. 

The children may find these other activities enticing and it may not seem the same "work" as what we do, but the brain is working, and with this work, it needs to rest.  The rest then comes when they are at school.  So, for the sake of what you are expecting and paying for, please consider allowing your child to simply have fun at home, go outside play in the garden, kick a ball, dig up some dirt, play with their toys, etc and come to school refreshed so that the materials here are exciting and engaging to be worked with. 

Many of you noticed the lack of choices on Father's night.  This is the daily struggle that we face getting your child to choose a meaningful and purposeful activity.  If for one night you saw this, imagine what a full day is like.  So, please help me to work with your child by having them well-fed, well-rested, and minds free of clutter and distraction from media and TV. 

" A child is a worker and a producer.  Although he cannot share in the work of adults, he has his own difficult and important task to perform, that of producing a man...But how was man created?  We can observe and admit this wondrous event in all its details in any and every child.  Every day our eyes contemplate this marvelous spectacle.  The child is the father of the man."  - Dr. Montessori, The Secret of Childhood.

-Caterpillar Teacher