Since Wilmington Montessori School serves children as young as 12 months old, we have an opportunity to watch them grow in every way before they graduate from sixth grade and move on to middle school. The youngest children in the school are very attached to their teachers. They depend on the same faces greeting them each day, helping them with their work, and sending them off into the arms of their parents at the end of the day. However, once these children move on to the next level at age 3, they often are shy and quiet in greeting their former teachers. They may smile or say hello if prompted. They have moved on and are creating new relationships. By the time they graduate from sixth grade, they may only recall their toddler teacher because a photo or parent reminds them of that time spent in the classroom.

Teaching, like so many things in our lives, plants seeds. Teachers plant ideas, build relationships and work to further the growth of those in their care. Most often, they do not have the pleasure of seeing the results of that work. As the oldest students in our school exhibit that growth during a performance or ultimately, at graduation, the teachers who worked with them when they were younger look on proudly, amazed at their growth and the people they have become. They are happy to have had a part in that development.

As you think back on your time in school, what seeds were planted that grew over time? How did others influence you in ways that they never may have known? How will you make sure those qualities exist in your child’s school?