Last year at around this time, National Poetry Month led to an impromptu celebration of Poem in Your Pocket Day. Students throughout the school were encouraged to share a poem, listen to poems and revel in the delight that is poetry. Many adults consider poems inaccessible and may have some less than favorable memories from their own school experiences related to poetry. However, when the purpose is to delight in a poem, the words carefully chosen and arranged in poetic fashion, smiles and joy prevail.
This year, for this particular day, one student woke at 2 a.m. to write poems in celebration of the day ahead. Now, that may not necessary be a desired outcome in your house, but sleeplessness aside, isn’t that unbridled enthusiasm something every school wants to inspire? As she delivered her poems and read them to the delighted recipients, it was clear that this day, a day that isn’t noted on our school calendar and doesn’t require anything from anyone other than to share a poem, meant a great deal to this child. And, as we embark on one of the busiest times of year in the school year cycle, I hope you find inspiration in the joy that is learning.
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.
The Montessori Message 