Often when I observe children working in a Montessori classroom it reminds me of listening to a lovely symphony; thus was the case this morning. It began with a time of tuning up. The children arrived slowly over a period of about 10 minutes. As they entered the room they started their routine by washing hands and selecting an activity; that is when the music began. A couple of children warmed up in the library, glancing through familiar titles. Three banded together to assemble a floor puzzle of the Presidents, and one soloist carefully arranged silk flowers in 6 different vases and then decorated each of the tables. It was a lovely harmony of activity and spontaneous socialization.
During our morning meeting, one could almost hear the unison as the children recited pledges, read Bible verses, and shared prayer requests. Although their ages and grades are varied, their spirit of curiosity, and joy unite them. It is a lovely sound. By the end of the day I had observed many choruses produced by this very alive yet soothing group of musicians. The youngest and newest member enjoyed repeating his part several times--rehearsing it over and over to perfection. The more seasoned players delighted in tutoring their less skilled colleagues while building their own self confidence. The melodies were enchanting.
Some days the tempo is more stimulating, and the volume less soothing, but today the orchestration was perfect and the music delightful.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Praying Boldly
Last week our pastor, Andy Stanley, challenged our prayer life a little. He suggested that often we pray mundanely and do not ask God for Boldness. While I agree with him, in principal, I believe that throughout the journey of this school I have consistently asked God to bless us in such a way that only He could get the credit. I also believe I have been faithful to give Him all the credit every step of the way.
I have been asking Him for 2 or 3 more students this semester. Two would get us to the financial 'break even' point and three would give us a little breathing room. So after last Sunday's message, I boldly asked Him to please direct 2 or 3 students to us now. We only want to enroll children that He brings, but surely there were a couple out there who simply had not found us yet.
That being said, it has been a rough week. My husband was out of town on business all week, I got sick on Tuesday and missed 2 and a half days of work, and our teacher had a medical emergency with her eldest daughter and missed a day and a half--not our best week. But I had Boldly asked God to send us some students NOW, and with what I can only attribute as some Heavenly humor, He chose to answer my prayer. Not only did He send us 2 students, but they are siblings whose parents have been looking for a Christian Montessori school for a long time, and they came to visit us while I was sick and Sherry was distracted!!! "when I am weak, He is strong." They are great kids, our students fell in love with them and see them as an answer to their prayers (yes the children have also been praying for more students), and I really believe that they will be a great 'fit'.
So we are thanking God for His perfect timing and grateful for the challenge to ask God for big things--things only He can do, and to ask with boldness!
I have been asking Him for 2 or 3 more students this semester. Two would get us to the financial 'break even' point and three would give us a little breathing room. So after last Sunday's message, I boldly asked Him to please direct 2 or 3 students to us now. We only want to enroll children that He brings, but surely there were a couple out there who simply had not found us yet.
That being said, it has been a rough week. My husband was out of town on business all week, I got sick on Tuesday and missed 2 and a half days of work, and our teacher had a medical emergency with her eldest daughter and missed a day and a half--not our best week. But I had Boldly asked God to send us some students NOW, and with what I can only attribute as some Heavenly humor, He chose to answer my prayer. Not only did He send us 2 students, but they are siblings whose parents have been looking for a Christian Montessori school for a long time, and they came to visit us while I was sick and Sherry was distracted!!! "when I am weak, He is strong." They are great kids, our students fell in love with them and see them as an answer to their prayers (yes the children have also been praying for more students), and I really believe that they will be a great 'fit'.
So we are thanking God for His perfect timing and grateful for the challenge to ask God for big things--things only He can do, and to ask with boldness!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Kids say the cutest things
During the month of December the children attempted to memorize the first 19 verses of the second chapter of Luke, and because of the poetic nature of the language, we opted to have them learn the King James Version. To help them with understanding, we selected about a dozen of the words we felt they might not know and typed them on small cards with definitions on other cards, thus creating a matching lesson. To introduce the lesson I reviewed them at group time by asking the children if they knew what the word meant. The words included "abiding", "with haste", "espoused", etc. Of course the children did not know any of these words, but then I asked if anyone knew what "abroad" meant, and one of the younger boys excitedly waved his arm, "I know, I know--a girl" he said proudly! :)
(BTW, they all learned the first 15 verses perfectly and most got all the way through verse 19!)
At lunch last Sunday, we were eating with my daughter and her best friend Maureen. During the mealtime discussion my daughter told a story about her boyfriend who is a deployed marine. Ryan thought for a moment and said, "Hey mom, Maureen and marine are homonyms, right?" I think he is getting it!!
(BTW, they all learned the first 15 verses perfectly and most got all the way through verse 19!)
At lunch last Sunday, we were eating with my daughter and her best friend Maureen. During the mealtime discussion my daughter told a story about her boyfriend who is a deployed marine. Ryan thought for a moment and said, "Hey mom, Maureen and marine are homonyms, right?" I think he is getting it!!
Friday, January 14, 2011
We're Back!!
It is impossible to believe that we are 2 weeks into the new year and that we have been in school for four months!! I know you think I have abandoned the blog; I simply needed a little hiatus, but hopefully I am back and thrilled to report to you on our first semester.
As I have consistently stated, this school is the direct result of God leading us and we pray that everything we do is only because of His blessing. We had some specific goals and He has exceeded our expectations in so many ways. First of all--God brought us the perfect teacher to begin our journey. Miss Sherry is not only an extremely competent reading and math teacher, but she is compassionate, caring, and very dedicated. She and I work so well together. She is definitely the lead teacher, but her weaknesses are my strengths and my strengths are where she is weak. In a small school we both wear several hats, and have many non-conventional duties, but we share them and for the most part our days are filled with joy!
We asked God to send us the children He wanted to be here. I am disappointed that He brought so few--mostly because it means that Edgar and I must financially support the school for much longer, but am so thankful for the five we have!! The big WIN is that I can assure you, the changes we have seen in our students over the last few weeks can only be attributed to God! We knew that many of the students came to us with a low self esteem and/or a dislike of school, so our first goal was to create an environment where children loved to learn and would feel successful. I truly believe we have met that goal! On the days when I become frustrated with the lack of prospective students, I go into the classroom and look at the incredible children that He has given us! They are learning, they interact more like siblings than peers, and they are feeling so much better about their own abilities.
Lastly, I have loved seeing the children grow in their understanding of God's Word and their desire to learn about Him. We have seen their prayers mature, their ability to memorize scripture increase, and their ability to apply the truths they are learning expand. We are on an incredible journey together and we are so grateful for the opportunity. We still need your prayers, and we long to have more students because we know their are more children who need to be here (and we need the money) but we are more confident today than we were 6 months ago, that this is exactly what we need to be doing!!
As I have consistently stated, this school is the direct result of God leading us and we pray that everything we do is only because of His blessing. We had some specific goals and He has exceeded our expectations in so many ways. First of all--God brought us the perfect teacher to begin our journey. Miss Sherry is not only an extremely competent reading and math teacher, but she is compassionate, caring, and very dedicated. She and I work so well together. She is definitely the lead teacher, but her weaknesses are my strengths and my strengths are where she is weak. In a small school we both wear several hats, and have many non-conventional duties, but we share them and for the most part our days are filled with joy!
We asked God to send us the children He wanted to be here. I am disappointed that He brought so few--mostly because it means that Edgar and I must financially support the school for much longer, but am so thankful for the five we have!! The big WIN is that I can assure you, the changes we have seen in our students over the last few weeks can only be attributed to God! We knew that many of the students came to us with a low self esteem and/or a dislike of school, so our first goal was to create an environment where children loved to learn and would feel successful. I truly believe we have met that goal! On the days when I become frustrated with the lack of prospective students, I go into the classroom and look at the incredible children that He has given us! They are learning, they interact more like siblings than peers, and they are feeling so much better about their own abilities.
Lastly, I have loved seeing the children grow in their understanding of God's Word and their desire to learn about Him. We have seen their prayers mature, their ability to memorize scripture increase, and their ability to apply the truths they are learning expand. We are on an incredible journey together and we are so grateful for the opportunity. We still need your prayers, and we long to have more students because we know their are more children who need to be here (and we need the money) but we are more confident today than we were 6 months ago, that this is exactly what we need to be doing!!
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