Show-N-Tell

Cole's Montessori class has Show-n-Tell every Monday and Thursday. Due to Cole's 3-day attendance he only has Thursday to bring something to share and discuss with his classmates should he want to. Each week I give him notice that if he wants to choose something, he should think about it the night before, however inevitably he changes his mind seventeen times. With a ten minute warning in the morning before departure, he makes his "final" decision, I then put the required name label on it and as we rush to get out the door, 9/10 times he'll go "mom, I've changed my mind, I want to take X". I sigh and 5/9 times let him go and pick something else, while 4/9 times I make him stick with his choice regardless of the pleading and tears. It has become a ritual of sorts and we laugh about it, 5/9 times. One morning when I was less on patience but attempting so hard to keep my calm composure I said "Cole, we go through this every week, you know you have to bring something, it is a bit frustrating to be having this conversation again!" He replied "but mom, it is hard to choose since I have to share and talk about it". I had to give him credit for his logic was sound. He couldn't find anything and exasperated he dropped his voice and replied in a shaky tone "I guess I won't take anything today". I was determined to get out the door with a laugh so I retorted "well, why don't you take me for show-n-tell!?" Without a moment's hesitation he goes "Mom, you're not educational". I laughed and said "oh but I disagree!" His reply "no, that's okay, you're my mom, I don't want to share you with everyone" He looked at me with the most genuine expression and in that moment I realized that what seemed like a trivial decision was much more important to him that I had been aware of. Another lesson learned...thank you Cole.

Telling it like it is...

There is a magnificent wooded trail that Cole, Tucker and I frequent all but a 5 minute drive from our house. Cole loves to ride his bike and Tucker can typically roam off leash since we rarely run into others. There is a cool bridge that crosses the creek and the gravel path follows the bog and railroad tracks. You can hear the frogs and crickets and see all kinds of birds. There is beautiful green leafy foliage and varied flowers in the spring/summer and when the fall landscape turns, the brilliant yellows and reds in the huge trees overhead beam in the sunshine. Tucker loves to jump in the creek and Cole loves to try to skip rocks. I love this little trail tucked back in the woods, it is a perfect 45 minute to 1 hour stroll.

We hadn't been there in awhile but one recent afternoon, the sun was warm and the trees had just started to shift into autumn mode so off we went. Cole was way ahead for a time, pushing his strong legs round and round. He is just about ready to try without training wheels but he loves to go fast and I know he'll get frustrated so I'm leaving that lesson for Dave.

Tucker and I finally caught up as Cole hurried us along. I saw a man on his bike catching up to us and told Cole to move off to the right. I saw Cole looking at the man as he approached and without hesitation as the man cruised by us Cole shouted "hey sir, you forgot your helmet!" The guy never turned around but Cole turned to me and goes with a shrug of his shoulders "he was going too fast, he is going to crack his head if he falls!"

The start of a new school year...

It is the "official" start of the 2011-2012 school year this week. Cole's Montessori school has a year-round program which is wonderful because during this pre-school period I believe it is vital to not have a cessation in learning. During the summer months, there is less emphasis on daily lessons but they still spend several hours a day developing their educational brain cells with multiple breaks for physical outdoor play.

The Montessori philosophy embraces that each child acquires skills at their own pace with support and guidance from its teachers. I have witnessed Cole flourish in his classroom. I wish that he is always as excited as he is now to show me his "work". I have to say how impressed I have been at the sheer content of his "work", doing simple math and writing letters without tracing at his age simply amazes me. He loves to have me hang his worksheets in his playroom and on the refrigerator. Holy toledo if he finds any of his sheets in the trash (*ugh, but I can't keep every single one of them!)

Many of Cole's school friends were away from Montessori for the summer as they have older siblings who were home because public schools had their seasonal break. He knew that this week, they would all be back! He kept asking each day, if it was THE day and finally it was.

This will be his final year at Montessori before embarking on his journey through Kindergarten next fall. It will be so bittersweet to watch him graduate from OMS next spring. He was just 18 months old when I left him for the very first time with Ms. Sara and soon, nearly 4 years later he will have grown up under their watchful and caring eyes. His love of "work" is a testament to OMS. I can only hope that as he moves forward with his education that he continues to have teachers that can foster his curiosity and wonderment and encourage his love of learning.

Enjoying the ride "up north"...

So now that I have an easy way to compress video clips, I have a boatload (pun intended in some cases) of them to show. Some day I would like to craft a collection of them as it would be a sheer delight to watch them from when he was just itty bitty until the present. They are fun for me to listen to because unlike pictures, they also capture the soundbites which are a treasure in and of themselves.

This clip is from our recent camping trip "up north", our second one of the summer. We went a bit further north on Leech Lake than we did in June. It was cool for August but the sun warmed things up during the day. The flies were worse than the mosquitoes but we managed to find some respite when we were cruising.

Our campground sat back off a channel that emptied into Leech Lake near Portage Bay. For Dave and I boating through the channel in the early morning and at sunset was absolutely our most favorite part of the whole trip. The channel waters were calm, the reeds swaying, the sky and clouds postcard perfection and though there were other boaters, it felt as if we were the only ones for miles. You had to zig-zag as you navigated the water which made it fun and then sploosh, it kicked you out into the 3rd largest lake in Minnesota.

You can barely hear my commentary due to the wind created as we zipped along but you can hopefully feel the essence of where we were and how special it was.