Outside The Box
What do you think about when someone says “Think Outside of the Box”?
It is often thought of as meaning to think thinking differently, from a new perspective or unconventionally.
What does that have to do with education, parenting and children.???
I have spend many of my adult years in the classroom of some kind. Traditional public school - a literal box - as a teacher I was put into a box (my classroom) with a group of children assigned to my box (my classroom) with an “appropriate” state approved curriculum (that came in a “box”) in order to check the box to prove learning was happening. Talk about being in a box!!
Why, as parents, do we sign our children up for that box? Because we are told we have to and it is what is expected, affordable, and what we have always done.
Until we begin to think outside the box….
Our children do it all the time…. they actually have a hard time fitting into the box to begin with. As adults - we need to take a few lessons from our children and think outside the box…. outside of the norms, outside of the have-to expectations, and outside of the need to….
I’m trying to think differently-
OUT OF THE BOX…
It’s hard…very hard. It’s so hard in a world that likes to put everything into a spot. I am a practical person and I think in terms of lists and boxes often. But I want to think beyond the classroom, beyond the school building, beyond the school hours, beyond the checkbox of learning objectives, beyond the have-to, and beyond the rush to get through whatever it is.
I want to embrace opportunities to explore, to play, to learn, to teach and experience. I want to feel the joy and excitement of sharing in experiences with little people and big people alike. I want to create a community of learners - young and old.
A shift- a change of thought-thinking outside of the box….
Montessori Moments began my shift in thought. It began to meet the needs I noticed in others but to also meet my own needs too. I’m thinking outside of the box… thinking about how I can meet the needs of parents, children, the community and create purposeful learning experiences that are outside of the traditional school box. Stay tuned to Montessori Moments for a variety of classes, including parenting workshops, children events and playgroups, mom-and-me sessions, and seasonal camps- all based on the best of Montessori and the best of Reggio rolled into one. See the schedule in the link below to find out everything Montessori Moments has planned.
