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INTRODUCTION That 2 year olds should be in a Montessori setting all day is, in some quarters, controversial. "Those children should be with their mothers." But "should be" is increasingly impossible for many in our society and it seems strange to suggest that denying Montessori education to children is the morally high ground. It is increasingly clear that at issue here are the needs of both parents and their children. To address those needs we opened ALL DAY MONTESSORI in 1995, licensed by the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago for 46 children 2 to 6 years of age and operating Monday through Friday from 7 A.M. to 6 P.M. Most children arrive between 7:45 and 8:15 A.M. and the majority have departed by 5 P.M., but some are with us 9 or 10 hours every day. MISSION STATEMENT The mission of ALL DAY MONTESSORI is to serve the community's needs for quality preschool and child care. Its goals are both child and parent oriented: A) to serve the physical, intellectual and emotional needs of children in developmentally appropriate ways that are consistent with the Montessori method of education. B) to serve their parent's needs for a nurturing, safe, and educational environment for their child. Paula has been in Montessori since 1970. She has classroom experience and AMS certification for infant-toddler, 3 to 6 and 6 to 9 year olds. Her experience includes both private and public Montessori schools: she is on the teaching staff of the Midwest Montessori Teacher Training Center and is an AMS consultant. Richard has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and has taught engineering specialties in North America, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. He has infant training at the Center for Montessori Teacher Education, New York. Since 1995 he has been the utility infielder for ALL DAY MONTESSORI: business manager and, as required, classroom assistant, cook, janitor and purchasing agent. Additional staff includes two full time persons AMS certified for 3-6, two interns trained for infant-toddlers, and two teaching assistants. THE PHYSICAL FACILITIES The school occupies 4900 square feet on a single floor at ground level. The 3600 square feet devoted to the children's activities are divided into working areas by shelving, at most 4 feet high. The overall visual effect of the children's space is that of a single large room with the use of individual spaces identifiable by the Montessori materials and artifacts found on the shelves defining the space. Behind the building is a fenced grassy area bordered by a vegetable garden, flowers and trees. The building fronts on a major busy street and is located about 150 feet from a commuter railroad stop. THE 2 YEAR OLD CHILDREN Our two year olds range in age from 22 months to 3 years, with graduation to the 3-6 environment decided on the basis of readiness. To borrow a concept from Virginia Varga, across the range of absorbent mind there is a developmental continuum from unconscious instinctual behaviors toward conscious ones. At 36 months the conscious component is typically very evident, but at 22 months the conscious component is significantly less well developed. All these children have wonderful command over their bodily movements but there remains much to perfect. They have a magnificent understanding of the language presented by the environments they have experienced. They read the body language and emotional state of adults with far greater subtlety and accuracy than adults read theirs. At entry their ability to verbalize their feelings and ideas is typically very limited but some come in with vocabularies and expressions that are wonderful to hear. They come to us with a wide variety of experience of adults and adult environments. Some are fearful, some secure on first entry in an environment of strangers without mom. Every day they bring to the school their response to the joys and sorrows of family life at home. THE ENVIRONMENT FOR 2 YEAR OLDS Their chief task, as we see it, is to begin mastery of the subtle skills needed in a social environment: control over the sphincters that control elimination; the fine muscle control required to eat with spoon and fork, drink from a cup, wash dishes and hands, wipe a runny nose, mark with a pencil or paintbrush; the self control related to deferment of felt needs such as that required of the 5th child wanting snack at a table set for 4 with 4 already seated, and work that belongs to a single child until he puts it away; the social discipline related to group activities on the line and going to the park. All this directly related to building belief in themselves as independent persons competent in dealing with a world of people, things and processes. Ours is not just a simplified 3-6 environment. It does contain a some didactic materials, but these do not define the primary work of the children because they are either used as elements in mastery of the skills cited above or are extensions of skills already well developed. A wide variety of materials are available for development of those skills but the most significant elements in the environment are the adults. The adults in this environment are first observers and careful interpreters of the behaviors observed. They teach by demonstrating the actions involved in a process with a minimum of words. Their use of words as models of vocabulary and pronunciation is important in describing what is next to happen, interpreting the ongoing elements of experience, story telling, word games and singing. The language of "motherese" is not appropriate here, nor is non-standard English. Ideally the adults are always calm and soft-spoken, serene in their command of themselves and happy to be with these children. RELATIONSHIP TO THE PARENTS Staff members interact with parents or their surrogates when they bring the child into the school, sign in and turn the child over to a staff member. A parent or surrogate must enter the building, sign out and take the child away in the presence of staff. There is, then, considerable opportunity for daily interaction of staff with parents: to observe the character of their relationships with the children and other parents, to share experience of their child, to explore the possibility that events at home are affecting behaviors at school and vice versa, to share in the tribulations and triumphs of working moms and dads who often have little opportunity to talk about deep concerns for their spouses and children. There certainly are opportunities for staff to act as counselors and interpreters of the experience of parenting. We maintain an open-door policy for parents: they can come in at any time to observe the school in action. We want them to be comfortable with the environment and what the children and staff do there. We hope they absorb something of Montessori's philosophy through what they see and hear, a learning process likely more potent than lectures. Like the children, they are free to pursue their interests in the classroom spaces so long as the common good is served. OUR EXPERIENCE If you accept the idea that our school is a community with continuity through time then you have a basis for understanding how we interpret our experience. We have kindergartners who started with us at 22 months of age. Of our current 3 to 6 year olds all but two started as 2 year olds. There does exist a culture absorbed by the younger children, in evolution, not static but truly significant. Although the school opens a 7 A.M., the classrooms convene at about 8:15, with fresh air and exercise out-of-doors starting at 11 A.M., lunch at noon, nap from 1 to about 3 and free time until the children are picked up. This means that the 2 year olds are interacting with older children before class time and after nap time in the gross motor area or in our backyard. We believe this is good for all the children but especially for the younger ones. It is not simply that they see challenging behaviors they might like to imitate. The central fact is that relationships among these children develop over extended time and daily so they are prepared to join the 3-6 classroom on a far different basis than that of a child without that experience. It is more than that they have friends: they know the culture, the psychic "state of our union". We have experienced little of the so called "terrible two's". We believe that development of independence and the sense of a strong self requires testing and exercise of the intellect and will. Surely a test of the child's will against that of an adult is appropriate, and we experience a little of that. But in the Montessori environment, where there are so many activities and materials that challenge the mind, body and spirit, the forging of an independent self is much less dependent on the anvil of conflict with adults than is typical elsewhere. There is seldom need to say "NO" to a child in an environment designed for his use. Often enough we see staff members and the classroom as anchors in the otherwise unstable universe of a child. The world of the school is calm and predictable: the behaviors of teachers and classmates are consistent, the materials and routines change but slowly as the class matures. A child's world outside the school is often extraordinarily complex: we see divorces in process and after the fact; we see moms and dads with long working hours and unpredictable assignments out of town; we see conflicts among the several generations concerned for the child's well being; we see moms with their responsibilities as professional and/or bread winning persons in conflict with their role as nurturer of their offspring. Of course the children bring the impact of these stresses to the classroom, but the release from tension and opportunities to focus away from threats to self and toward self development are truly important. This in no way denies the importance of parental involvement with their child, it only says that for many 2 year olds in today's society spending all day in a Montessori setting (or its equivalent) is essential for their psychic health and well being. Given the state of our society, it well may be that the order and consistency of the Montessori setting is more important for 2 year olds than for the older children. A word about moms at home who send their 2 year olds to our school. In the beginning we intended to serve only the needs of families with both parents working or single parent families. We quickly discovered that there were moms at home who needed opportunity for a life of their own at least part of the day: to shop, do the dishes and laundry, relax for a little with friends or a good book without a little one always underfoot and demanding attention. We have made available a morning only program for a limited number of 2 year olds. We feel it takes nothing away from the all-day children. We think it is often a stress reliever for both mom and the child and important education for the child. Meal time is a significant part of the all day program. We serve a varied and balanced family style luncheon with table cloth and cloth napkins, forks and spoons and tumblers for milk or water. For some children ours is their first experience of feeding themselves with a spoon and fork, not in a highchair and without a sippy cup. It is a relaxed time to exercise a variety of social skills and experience a variety of foods, their tastes and textures. Too often it rescues the child from a diet based on fast-food restaurants and TV dinners. This is not to blame the harried parents who have little opportunity to do otherwise: it is simply to state a fact of life for many. We do not see Montessori all day as a panacea or appropriate for all 2 year olds. Although we are growing in our competence as Montessorians we are not medical doctors or physical therapists or psychiatrists. There are children whose needs are outside our competence and whom we cannot adequately serve. But our experience says YES, all day in a Montessori environment can wonderfully serve the physical, social and psychic needs of very many children, but especially of today's 2 year olds.
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Copyright 2008, Little Red Robin. All rights reserved.