Journey to Discovery
On Friday January 20, and Saturday, January 21, nine parents (and two classroom assistants) participated in our first ever “Journey to Discovery”. This is a unique parent education workshop, designed to replicate in a small way what your children experience at our school. It also allows participants to see the ‘big picture’ – the progression from one level of learning to the next, how one flows from the other and how they interconnect.
We were thrilled with the response. Parents were excited and engaged. They were fully involved in the experience, and enjoyed meeting other parents in the school. We deliberately invited people who might not have met each other: we wanted parents from each classroom, new parents and experienced ones, those who knew something of Montessori and wanted to learn more, and those who knew very little.
Here is a sampling of some of the comments from those who took part, when asked to describe the most wonderful or meaningful experience that they had on the Journey to Discovery:
- The silent part in the toddler room made me emotional. I was so proud of my son knowing he has his jobs and his world here.
- Several – the way math is explained is wonderful, providing such a solid understanding of quantities etc. I was so impressed with the breadth of learning topics that are covered at such an early age.
- Interacting with the materials that the children work with daily – now have better understanding of the experiences that the children have and can now converse about them.
- A better understanding of what goes on, ability to reinforce at home. Fun, vibrant, visual, touch, simple, variety…precisely what every child needs and deserves.
- Seeing the progression of learning from Casa to Elementary – the way that the blocks of organizational skills from Casa carry through into elementary work.
- Great experience – to see my children’s world that they live every day, very comforting and peaceful.
- The consistency of concept from classroom to classroom – and that the knowledge continues to grow and expand.
- Opportunity to experience the learning activities to appreciate how concepts are taught and how learning is experienced by the children.
- It was hard to believe that multiplication using an abacus (Mrs. Barbara’s class) could be so easy!
When asked what they would say to another parent about the experience of the Journey to Discovery, the responses were equally enthusiastic:
- It would turn a non-believer into a believer. It makes you wish you had the same experience.
- Definitely worth doing again – hands on experience with the Montessori materials has given me a much better understanding of the way my children are learning.
- Relaxed introduction to the Montessori tradition and mechanism of education. Enjoyable.
- Fantastic, necessary for all in order to have a better and clearer understanding
- Do it so you can go through your child’s world and experience it the way they do every day.
- I didn’t know the extent of my child’s learning until I experienced it myself, seeing, touching doing the activities.
- Learning is interactive. The child is able to learn at their own pace without feeling compared with others. The concepts build year to year so the foundation is strong.
- Do it! Free your mind!
