Montessori Update from Ms. Maccabe
/Dear Montessori Families,
We are sure you have many questions about the next few weeks. This will be the first of many communications you will receive. I write today to give you the broad strokes of plans to this point. Just like you, we have many more questions than answers and we need your partnership to make sure we are best supporting our children in the coming days.
Next week our staff will sit down to put together something called Distance Learning. That will obviously be a challenge for the Montessori program as so much of what we do requires both the community of children and our Prepared Environments. We have a wonderful opportunity to think outside the box and craft something amazing and new, as many other schools are also doing.
We are in contact with many other Montessori schools around the world and are learning together how best to support the continued education of our students during these uncharted times. We are grateful for the universal collaboration and wisdom of many who are already in the midst of such programming. Please know that our information will be ongoing and developing in real time. At this point we are looking at many possible scenarios which may include small group limited time on campus, visitation by appointment to the library, check ins via the computer, book groups, online learning, parent supported activities at home etc. We are open to any and all ideas as we move forward. As a whole we are always better.
What we can do today is to offer you, as parents, some guidance around speaking to your children about all of what is happening. This is a manyfold topic and needs careful thought and age appropriate conversation. While we as adults may still be processing our own feelings we need to be careful to offer our children calm, loving and supportive energy. Remember that our children are mirrors of our energy and if we feel anxious then they too will take on that energy, even if they don't know why.
Please take a moment to read this article from Psychology Today that offers ideas and words around how to speak to our children about this topic. It is broken down into ages and I found it to be very helpful, from a parent perspective. I typically adhere to the philosophy that "less is more" and I usually wait until the child brings up a topic. That is usually best for younger children however it can be important to broach the topic with older children as they may not be talking about it if they are feeling anxiety from you and they want to protect you.
The most important take away I found was that, at any level, please don't use your children as your own sounding board or processing partner. If you are feeling worried, please find another adult to talk to as our children are looking to us to be the supportive protector.
The other important topic to address is this idea of self-isolation. I include here another article about the importance of not getting together for playdates etc during this time. In essence that defeats the purpose of what we are trying to do. https://medium.com/@ariadnelabs/social-distancing-this-is-not-a-snow-day-ac21d7fa78b4 To that end, we will be postponing the Lower Elementary Parent Education Night.
We are here to support you and your family during this time. Please know that we want and need your close partnership. There will be much more communication in the coming days as we are working on plans for supporting the children. Life is a challenge on many levels right now and I am confident that we will all be better as a whole when this is over.
Please reach out as you need to.
In partnership,
Heather