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This week at our school’s summer camp, there are some old familiar faces. Some campers attend other local schools and visit us only in the summer. They spend time getting reacquainted with Wilmington Montessori School, the outdoors and each other. There are others who are with us most every season of the year. It is fun to watch them all come together, enjoying their time, recalling summers past and anticipating what they will do this year: how it will be the same and how it may be different.
Summer is a time for most of us to slow down, to look around and see what’s new, and to enjoy the familiar summer routine – a routine typically quite different from the school year. We hear so much about “summer slump” and losing the hard-fought skills that were acquired during the previous nine months of school that we sometimes forget what summer is all about. It is the time to relax a bit more, catch up with friends and explore. Summer for all of us is much like the camp experience for children. What were your summers like as a kid? What did you look forward to? As you continue to read with your children, play games and perhaps practice some math facts, I hope you find some fun and relaxation in the long days of summer.
Working in schools – teaching a variety of students – confirms that children take individual paths to graduation day. Some move through school at the established pace, completing the required steps, causing knowing smiles as they accomplish predetermined goals. Others meander, checking out things along the way, perhaps devoting more time to some things than others and getting to the finish line in their own time. Still others may have difficulty determining where the finish line is and an even harder time figuring out what to do to come close to reaching it. Educators find these variations and more. Parents typically prefer the first option as it is tried and true. We know it works and what is expected is carried out. However, which is the best path? That depends.
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This time of year brings with it a lot of professional development opportunities for educators. Last week, several teachers were able to attend a conference on technology integration. It is a conference held each year to share ideas and experiences with technology in the classroom. This conference is what all professional development should be…inspiring. 
Nothing is more gratifying than quietly working and hearing the soft voice of a teacher strolling down the hallway singing with toddlers, “I’ve got joy like a fountain in my heart.” Moments such as these literally fill our hearts. Working with young children can be delightful, frustrating, enjoyable, difficult and rewarding. After all, they are children, which means they are all of these things and more. People often ask how one can work with children every day or say they could never be a teacher. Isn’t it hard work? You bet it is, but there is no work that is more important or satisfying than working with children and watching them grow. When was the last time you had the pleasure of hearing sweet voices singing the next verse of a well loved song or asking the teacher to sing it one more time? If your job doesn’t provide this opportunity, ask a teacher what delighted her today, sit back and enjoy listening to the response. You’ll be glad you asked. 