"When you are facing the child whose heart is open and overflowing, find yourself in that child. Remember the adult you loved dearly. Respond as you wish that adult had responded to you. When you are facing the child whose heart is locked away, find yourself in that child, too. Remember the adult who you feared. Respond as you wish that adult had responded to you." - Catherine McTamaney (The Tao of Montessori)
On Wednesday evening I arrived home late and as I settled in my daughter disappeared to the kitchen where neither her dad nor I was allowed to enter. A surprise was underway. A while later she led us with our eyes closed to the family room where a tray awaited us laden with fruits that had been carved and merged creatively to be different creatures. A pear had been transformed into a pig and a plum into a fish using parts of grapes and lemon peel. With our edible fruit creatures we were also provided a glass of fruit water. Needless to say, it was a delightful extension on her part of a family habit of enjoying a plate of fruit together after dinner and before bed.
This was a wonderful affirmation and spiral of our family as a sacramental community. We have endeavored to weave this shared responsibility for family life into the often random and hectic pace of our daily experience. Engaging with our daughter’s interpretation was a small gift exemplifying our mutual joy in each other.
As a parent I see my responsibility to nurture the mind, the hand and the heart of my child. To me this incorporates self- monitoring those places where my interests for my child supersede her need for me to meet her where she is. Being present with her is part of ‘following’ her as she evolves. It provokes emotions and memories of how I grew up that I need to balance with how I wish to be as a parent. This is an important task, steeped in ‘am I doing the right thing?’.
The school-home partnership at CMS offers parents meaningful ways to dialogue about the parenting journey, the reassurance that there is more than one way, and the invitation to consider together how to do our best for the child. Modeling responsibility for the shared experience of community life – just one example of the value added at CMS.
This partnership helps children build a strong understanding of themselves as learners. This partnership also helps instill in students a sense of responsibility to themselves and to their community. It encourages us all to value both the common threads which connect us to others and to respect our differences.
