Welcome to a new school year! The returning children are back into their rhythm and off to a smooth start. The new children were welcomed this week and participated in the gatherings, games and activities that we do to learn everyone's name, support the tying of shoes, and figure out just how to be in a Montessori classroom, where everything in this space calls to them to engage, connect and enjoy! At the start of the year, the way that we show children how to do this is through Grace and Courtesy activities. In our morning gathering, Senora Medina, Miss Elena and I perform little skits with each other or with the older children who have been here a while. They are exaggerated and sometimes funny so they capture the children's attention but really we are showing them how to act and speak with each other in our little society that is the classroom. Grace and Courtesy is also established through modeling and clear language by the adults.
Grace is a beautiful, unmerited gift that we receive from God to remain with Him. When we think of someone who is 'Full of Grace' our Blessed Mother comes to mind and she is a model for us in our daily interactions with the children. I have often wondered how she might have responded to the child Jesus when he sneezed or tried to get up from the table before the meal was finished, or when he wanted to rush past a group of people getting from one side of the room to the other. Surely, he needed to learn how to do things in the right way. How should we respond? Courtesy is how we extend that gift of grace to others through the refinement of our movements, our words, our tone of voice and the consideration of others.
In our children's formative years, they are absorbing the behaviors and manners modeled by the adults and children around them, and therefore Grace and Courtesy is essential to the peacefulness and respect in our classrooms, home, play yards or wherever we are. Before the age of two 1/2 children are taking everything in so we want to give them all that is true, good and beautiful. Between the ages of 2 1/2 and 6 years they are refining these actions by practicing their tone of voice, their language, how to treat others in social situations and what is acceptable and what is not. This is why we take extra care in what we expose them to!
In our classroom we establish a culture of respect towards others through attention to virtue and the details of daily life. When the teachers are attentive to their own words, tone of voice and movements, the children respond in the same ways. When I give my full attention to a child in a presentation using a material and cleaning up; then the children do this too! When I make sure the classroom is tidy and beautiful or notice when a child is hurt or sad, the children notice and do this too. They are watching everything we do and repeating everything we say. So, don't be surprised when your child is busy playing and you ask him/her something... You might hear them say to you, "I'm not available right now, but as soon as I am finished with this I will give you my full attention."
Children are just beginning to learn how to interact with others and we want to show them what to do in different situations. Some Grace and Courtesy that we have been working on: How to say, "excuse me" when you want to pass by someone; How to put your sneeze inside your elbow; How to wait for a teachers attention if she is already with someone else; How to put a heart on your table to let a teacher know you need help with something; How to walk around a mat that is on the floor, so we don't step on someone else's materials; how to open and close a door quietly; how to knock and wait at the bathroom door; how to wait to have snack when someone else is at the table; how to walk on by a friend who is working (even if you want to stop and chat with them!).