7 January 2005

 

“The small child...is…a developing human intelligence who should be treated, from birth, with the reverence due to a creature endowed with reason and an immortal soul.”     Maria Montessori.

Happy New Year!  Today we are going outside to enjoy the snow that has finally come.  We try to go outside every day so please send your child to school with all the clothes he/she needs to stay warm and safe.  The only days we do not go out are the ones with a wind-chill below zero.   It is good to see all the children back at school again. 

  <>We have had quite a few sick children so a little reminder of our “return to school” guidelines might be helpful.  If you child has a fever please keep them at home until they have been 24 hours without a fever.  If children throw-up during the night but feel better in the morning please keep them at home for the day and they should not return until you are fully sure they are well.  The same goes for diarrhea and other upsets or heavy colds or flu.  <> 

One of the bullets in our mission statement says, “Prairie Creek is a child centered school”.  I have been thinking about this a lot in the last few weeks.  What exactly do we mean by this?   What are the hallmarks of a child-centered school?  I suspect that if I asked that question of a number of parents they might all answer in different ways.  I’ll try to answer for the school in this letter by addressing a few of the key characteristics I believe answer the question. <> 

The relationship between teachers and children:

At Prairie Creek teachers do not see themselves as the authority figures and the child as inferior.  Our teachers do have authority in the classroom but they consciously use it in a different way than in traditional schools.  The adults at PCCS hold childhood in high regard and the dignity of the child is central to all our interactions with them and to all decisions that we make.  Children are included in decision making that is appropriate for them and encouraged to be part of this. 

<> 
Children are given freedom: <>Our teachers lovingly prepare the classrooms and the learning opportunities for the children so as to allow them the freedom to follow their own paths of learning and their interests. This requires knowledge of the child and patient attention.  Maria Montessori speaks very passionately about this.  She reminds us that the teacher is an important guide in the child’s life, a servant, who helps the child attain freedom.  Giving children freedom is not the same as letting them do whatever they want without any guidance.  That would be abandonment.  By first of all respecting children for who they are and recognizing their dignity, the teachers at PCCS know when to lead and when to stand back and let the child lead.  This approach requires a certain amount of trust that children, (when given carefully prepared environments with excellent literature, science and math materials suitable to their developmental age, chances for art and drama, leadership opportunities,  service learning choices, for example,) will follow their natural urge to learn, discover or serve without a huge amount of adult interference.  We are watching this in a number of classrooms right now where children have taken off on ideas to help support tsunami victims, for instance, and their leadership is remarkable. 

Children are intrinsically motivated:

At Prairie Creek our teachers know the importance of the difference between encouragement and excessive praise, and the danger of rewards and punishment to help motivate children.   We do not want children to be “performing” for our praise or attention or doing what is “right” in order to please the teacher.  We work hard to create for the children a culture which encourages them to be self-motivated and where the best reward is the great feeling inside that they have when they do the “right” thing.  Alfie Kohn has written a great book called Punished by Rewards for those of you who might like to read more about this subject.

  <>You have heard us speak often about our progressive philosophy at Prairie Creek.  We know that sometimes the description of our school as progressive and child-centered can mislead people into thinking that our school is a place where children can do what they like and not have to listen to adults if they don’t want to.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  We expect our children to be respectful in all their interactions with adults, including teachers and volunteers.  We expect our children to be learning and engaged in their school work.  Refusing to learn is not a choice at Prairie Creek. 

There are many other things I could write about but I will limit myself to these for now.   In closing, I want to state that at Prairie Creek we believe that children need adults in their lives to guide and teach them in their decision making and their choices. There are decisions that children should not be making for themselves, such as whether they want to come to school or not, what school they should attend, what time they want to go to bed, and so on.  They do not have the life experience or the wisdom to make such important choices.  Never be afraid to take the lead in your child’s life even if your decision making is unpopular with them.  Use your wisdom.  Children need adults to lead and guide them.  The influence of parents in children’s lives should never be underestimated. If you establish wise, kind and responsible leadership in your child’s life now, while they are young, they will look to you when they are older and will value your advice.   Even when they are teenagers and are trying to find their own wings, they will continue to be influenced in all their choices by what you, as their parents, have taught them.  Don’t abandon them now by abdicating your responsibility to lovingly guide them and take the authority that has been entrusted to you as parents.  This is what child-centered parenting is all about.  It’s a loving commitment to your child to invest your time in them and lead them with kindness and wisdom.  We have an awesome responsibility towards the children in our lives.