My oldest daughter requested a play date with her friend so they could research Elephant Seals. Honesty, I didn’t know what she was talking about at first. I did a quick search to verify there is such a thing, and thought what did our parents do before Google?
She was persistent about me arranging this play date.
The proposed report was for fun, not an assignment from school. She and her friend read a book at school about Elephant Seals in their free time, after they finished their weekly work plans. And they wanted to know more.
So during fall break last week, I arranged a play date and offered to take them to the library. They were thrilled about going to the library!!!
In addition to the book they chose on seals, they used one library card to split 36 books (the maximum allowed to check out at one time). I had the librarian print out two lists of the book titles they were checking out, and when the girls got home they diligently marked each of their lists as to who had what books to make sure they all get returned properly by the due date.
And they wrote a report on Elephant Seals. For fun!!!
Seeing these two friends sharing a love for learning that has become a part of who they are was a sweet ah-hah moment for me. It is the result we hope for from a Montessori education. When children have a inner desire to know more, to learn, because it’s what comes natural to them. And no one has steered them down a path to experience learning in any other way.
Imagine that? Writing a report on Elephant Seals for fun? I would have never done that as a kid.
We are definitely getting our money’s worth – or she is, really. The benefits of Montessori education are huge. I feel so blessed to be giving her this inspiring experience.
While sometimes I fantasize about homeschooling, I know could not have taught her to love learning so independently. In no way do I deserve all the credit for this awesome kid.
I can teach her the love of sewing. But loving to learn academically stems from being part of an enriching environment with interactive tools that are not driven by a curriculum of worksheets geared towards test scores or grades or daily quizzes.
It’s a process that inspires children to want to know more – to do homework for fun. It extends the natural curiosity of a toddler into an eager-to-learn school age child. And doing so in a group with other children has been a key part of the process, in my observation of my child.
The girls were delighted and entertained to learn how much an Elephant Seals weigh, where they live, what they eat and why they are called Elephant Seals. I was delighted to see these girls being such sweet little nerd friends together, sitting on bean bags on the front porch with papers and pens surrounded by books and information printed from two research websites for kids.
I had a mini flash forward to days of high school study sessions with friends. And I liked the way it felt. Big kid days are going to be fun.
