As peaceful as it looks

Here's an e-mail exchange I had this morning with Post Oak School parent Stephan Kinsella:

Stephan,
I love hearing about the conversations you have with Ethan. I also continue to be amazed by the depth of thinking children display. Most adults don’t give them enough credit. That’s why Montessori said that children are our only hope for peace.
John


John, I thought you might like this one! Stephan

The earth is not as peaceful as it looks
via StephanKinsella.com by Stephan Kinsella on 12/18/09


I was driving my 6 year old to school this morning. We somehow got into a conversation about how laws were made. I started explaining to him the distinction between law formed by courts, and law artificially made by legislation. This led into a brief explanation of the British system, the role of the king or queen and parliament, how parliament is bicameral, and Britain’s “unwritten” constitution, and to a contrast with our own system with a President instead of king, a bicameral congress, and a written constitution. And so on.

During this Ethan blurts out, “I wish they would make a law against war.” So, this led to a discussion of the United Nations and treaties, and the attempt to limit warmaking in the UN charter. He asked me if it worked. I told him it hasn’t worked very well. He says, why? I say, well, if you are a powerful nation then you are sometimes tempted to use that power to get your way, and so on. So we still have wars.

Ethan is silent for a minute, and then mutters, “The earth is not as peaceful as it looks.” It kind of creeped me out.

Imagine

"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet has free access to the sum of all human knowledge."— Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia



An appeal from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

Mark Berger, friend and colleague, Head of School at Corvallis Montessori School, passed this along. I'll paraphrase what he said: Jimmy Wales is a Montessori grad. We brag about his work and the impact Wikipedia has had on the culture. He is an exemplar of the inventive, iconoclastic, entrepeneurial spirit engendered by Montessori education. Here's our chance to support a Montessori endeavor.

General Douglas MacArthur's Mom, Pinky, moved with him to West Point and took an apartment near campus so she could watch him with a telescope...

In "The Backlash Against Over-Parenting"
Time magazine takes on

helicopter parents,

hyper-parenting,

perfectionism,

and fear of failure.




Mistakes are good...
so is boredom...
and so are fewer toys.

(Thanks, Stephan, for sending me this article!)

"They're Montessori Kids"

I visited the Montessori High School in Cleveland with two parent-trustees from my school. We were inspired by what we saw. Those little 3-year olds do grow up.

One of my companions said of the high school students, "They're Montessori kids."

I asked what she meant.

"They aren't trying to impress each other. They're comfortable in their own skin. They are kind to each other and respectful of the adults. They're engaged in their work."

That doesn't just happen.

But it happens consistently in Montessori schools. Magic? No,design.

relentless positivity

Coach,

Thanks so much. "Positivity Reconsidered" (scroll down to find it on p.3) is very powerful and very subtle – and not so coincidentally (because it is one of our relentless themes…and a spirit that we aspire to) ties in perfectly with my lead story in this week’s newsletter.



Relentless positivity does not mean that you ignore errors, just that you avoid “going negative”. I loved this sentence: “A coach who can have hard conversations with kids while remaining positive and optimistic will be more likely to get them to change their behavior.”



And it contains humbling reminders for me as a leader, and for all of us as leaders of kids. Thanks for sending me this,

John

...and sat down beside her.

Jimmy came over and hugged his teacher.

Jimmy?

Quite out of character.

A nine-year-old boy? Also out of character.

Hugged his teacher?

It seems she had given the class as a special Halloween treat zoology lessons on "The parts of a bat" and "The parts of a spider."

Montessori kids are different.

Get down on the floor

Baby Einstein?

Build IQ through video. Or computer use.

Not!


Check it out. Get your refund.

"...getting down on the floor to play with your child is the most educational thing you can do."

Real engagement.

Real experience.

Three dimensional.

Tactile.

Personal.