The truth is, historians spend entire careers trying to understand the context of one or two critical people or events and how they relate to other events and key figures of a revolutionary time. Fulfilled people are able to rise above the noise and put effort into focusing on what they can control while working to tune out what they can’t. Educational researchers and curriculum developers invest their time and energy into cancelling out the noise in order to find the signal that improves outcomes for learners. And parents who want their children to grow up to be good people never leave it to chance that simply loving their child will somehow make it to where the child can just figure it all out. Good outcomes, regardless of where they begin, are the result of a lot of work. Outside of starting someone down the path toward examining something, quotes are – in our opinion – useless and frequently harmful. You will never really be able to understand a subject, an event, or especially a human being (including yourself), from a quote and you will likely not progress above the noise and nonsense by living a quotidian life.

Putting in the Work

What does this have to do with parenting or having a child
that attends a Montessori School? Well… we are glad you asked. One of the biggest
things that makes Montessori education so wildly effective for the age groups
we teach is how it builds life skill muscle memory. This comes from practicing,
on a daily basis, the skills that will make for a fruitful and well lived life.
If your child is in a well-designed classroom, overseen by a qualified directress,
at a Montessori School (and not just ours) that is dedicated to providing
opportunities to get in some serious practice it is fair to say that your child
will be putting in the work and not just being given the quote. Put another
way, they will be immersed in practical life work (cleaning up after themselves,
feeding themselves), engaged deeply with progressively challenging work that
has been designed and presented with their development in mind, and they will
be playing an active role in the sustainability of a thriving community on a
daily basis. These are valuable things and the very notion of the “work” your
child goes to every day is the foundation of the joy with which they will
approach work for the rest of their life. If you are willing to put in the work
as a parent that is.

Life Beyond the Quotidian

No successful school program has ever existed that did not
have the support of the parents of the children they educated. Disengaged
parents will see disengaged children who will become disengaged adults who also
raise disengaged children. Without your help, it doesn’t matter how good the early childhood curriculum is at getting your child ready for first grade. If you aren’t on board and doing the work, the effects of the Montessori education your children are immersed in will go by the wayside. There is simply too much extra noise in the world that will be competing for your child’s attention.

–      Your three-year-old uses a broom, a mop, a duster, and a dustpan at school to clean up after themselves. There is no reason not to have age appropriate versions of these tools at home and to allow your child the ability to participate fully in their own life. You pick up after yourself and they can pick up after themselves. We have written ad nauseum and talked at length in klatches about how to be successful at this. If you want to know – just ask. Your child is fully capable of maintaining their environment and getting the satisfaction from doing it themselves – FULL STOP. When you pull out your sweeper – have them pull out theirs.

–      Push yourself to become better at something worthwhile. If you consider the growth in what a child knows at age three compared to what they know at age four it is astounding. How much knowledge would you need to gain in a year to equal the relative growth in knowledge and skills your child achieves? Putting in the effort and challenging yourself every day to expand your horizons is a priceless example of lifelong Montessori. Don’t just read the quote – read five books that were behind the quote. Some of the most oft quoted people only get better as you dig into what they have to say. Practice math problems and build broader math skills that you have struggled with (you’ll thank yourself come homework time with your child later on). Take an online college course in a subject that you think you know something about. Make lifelong learning real so your child will see that Montessori and the joy of earning new knowledge doesn’t stop after Kindergarten.

–      Being involved will help your child be involved as well. We are kicking off a food drive this week. In year’s past we did this at Christmas time, but it turns out everyone does it at Christmas time and other times of year have shortages. So we are putting in the effort at times of year when there aren’t many people focused on giving. If you are a Greystone House parent, allow your child to pick out three or four items at the store and bring them to school. Regardless of where your child goes to school, pick out a half dozen items yourself and then take them to the Montgomery Country Food Bank (check out their website for what they need). Hand delivering food is a short trip, but a good way for your child to see that you too are a part of a community that takes effort from everyone. There are of course dozens of other ways to be involved – take back the night, walking for breast cancer, working a fundraiser, getting involved in a parks project, etc. It doesn’t matter what you do – it just matters that you let your child know through your actions that just as how they must help maintain their community at school, you also have a role to play in making where you live and work a better place.

Circling back to how we started, merely chatting about these
things with your child is the human equivalent of being a quote. If you are a
Greystone House parent we still encourage you to read the weekly quote – but picking up a copy of The Absorbent Mind and digging in is more optimal in terms of follow up. A bias for action with a knowledge that truly making an effort is hard – but worthwhile – is how you become the deeper well and the fuller story for your child. We promise you unequivocally that 20 years in the future you will be glad you went beyond the quotidian.