Six Weeks In: Building Our Community 🌿

Yesterday marked an exciting little milestone at DGS: six weeks back at school!

By this point in the year, something special is beginning to happen in a Montessori classroom. The newness starts to settle, and routines begin to become familiar. The children know where things belong, how our days flow, and what their responsibilities are to themselves and one another. In Montessori language, we begin to see our classroom normalize -- settling into the purposeful, peaceful rhythms of a community at work.

And community has been very much on our minds lately.

Every child in Lower Elementary (even our youngest friends!) has now had an informal individual conference with their teacher. We've talked about how school is going, but most importantly, the children have been asked what they think: What are you interested in? What would you like to learn? What work would you like to see appear on your plan this year? We can't promise that every request will make it onto a work plan tomorrow (or that math and spelling will disappear if they aren't requested!), but that's not really the point. The most important message the children receive is: you have a voice here. We are listening. Your ideas matter.

That sense of belonging, that knowing that you are both an individual and an important member of something larger, is a cornerstone of our community.

Adventures at Rockmont

If there was ever an experience designed to build community, it's our lower elementary Rockmont trip. Ms. Judith and I have been regaled with epic tales since the children returned. Check out Ms. Emily's blog for all the trip details!

But underneath all the fun is something even more important: children encouraging one another, trying things that felt a little scary, sharing experiences away from their usual routines, and creating the kinds of memories that become part of a community shared story.

Their thank you notes say it best:

• "Thank you for letting us go on your beautiful climbing wall."

• "At the waterfront I had so! much! fun!"

• "Thank you for encouraging us to try things that were scary for us. I LOVED going on the zipline."

And, from one of our third graders:

• "Thank you for the best of all 3 times I went to Rockmont."

Safe to say, it was memorable!

One Elementary Community, One Very Big Story

Community showed up in another way this week, too. On Monday, we brought our lower and upper elementary communities together for one of the great Montessori traditions - the First Great Lesson (or, the Story of the Universe).

Together, we wondered about hydrogen, helium, and the other elements; where scientific theories come from; what happens to matter when it is heated; how materials of different densities behave; how these properties relate to the formation of the Earth's layers; and how the activity of our early planet helped create the conditions for water and, eventually, life.

There were demonstrations, questions, predictions, and quite a few minds officially blown!

Perhaps that's one of the loveliest things about learning in community: wonder is contagious. One child's question inspires another. Someone notices something nobody else saw. Older children model enthusiasm and confidence for younger ones. Ideas get passed around, examined, challenged, and expanded.

Six weeks in, our classroom increasingly feels not simply like a collection of children who happen to attend school together, but like a community that belongs to one another, in which every child has a voice, everyone has something to contribute, and we can encourage each other to climb a little higher, ask a bigger question, or try something that once felt scary.

We are so proud of this community and how far they've already come.

Six weeks down, and an entire universe still ahead of us! 🌎💫🏕️