A Montessori Musing Place

Our classroom opens at 8:30 in the morning and most of the children trickle in between then and 9:00. This gives them time to socialize while they take off their outside clothes, hang everything up in their lockers and cubbies, put on their inside shoes and then wash their hands before starting the school day. By 9:00, most of the children are into focused work and a hush begins to fall over the classroom.

Just at that moment, a child arrives late, pushed through the door by a parent with a quick kiss on the cheek to serve as goodbye. The child stands on the mat for a moment then walks over to the nearest table to greet the child working there. The working child is disturbed. The late child is guided back to the lockers by the teacher but manages to disturb two more children on the way there. The teacher returns to the child she was working with but the moment for learning has passed. The late child takes off her outside clothes and puts them away then goes to wash her hands. Her lunch bag remains on the mat where her parent left it. The bag remains there until one of the teachers guides her back to it.

Finally the child settles down and begins to concentrate on an activity she has chosen………when another late child is pushed through the door with a quick kiss on the cheek…………………………

Everytime a child enters late, the entire classroom is disturbed. The flurry at the door is always distracting no matter how quiet a parent tries to be. The late child misses that very important socialization that the other children have had. The teacher is interrupted in the middle of a lesson and most focused work in the classroom has been halted.