Dear WMS Community,

I think it is worth taking a step back from our concentration on how we have been organizing the school in the time of Covid and once again focus on the larger purpose of the school and how its components—children, teachers and parents—interact.

Childhood is for learning. Each child is already designed to learn; their brains are constantly forging new neural connections. Their -if you will- hard drive, is spinning rapidly, absorbing new information second by second. And while it would be terrific for each of our children to benefit from everything we as adults have learned in our own time on this planet, kids choose to listen to what they wish and our own accumulated knowledge doesn’t go directly into their heads. And that’s a good thing, for each child has his/her own path. Some are natural leaders and some learn best as followers. We look at each child’s temperament, energy level, and ability level in different developmental areas. We think of their capacity for organization and self regulation and curiosity.

We have come to understand that we each thrive in different environments. We educators also understand that you, not we, are really the expert on your child; you best appreciate your child, act as his/her advocate, ask them leading questions and foster their interests. You bring this knowledge of your most precious person to a school and trust the teachers to continue nurturing your child. Some schools provide more direct instruction and some are more open, giving the children more control of their learning.

Dr Maria Montessori, whose philosophy guides our approach, saw teachers as guides and classrooms as worlds of independent learners. Our children learn; they are not taught and much of this learning is independent. And some of us learn almost in spite of school, as the extraordinary neurologist Oliver Sachs said, “On the whole, I disliked school, sitting in class, receiving instruction; information seemed to go in one ear and out the other. I could not be passive–I had to be active, learn for myself, learn what I wanted, and in the way that suited me best. I was not a good pupil but I was a good learner.”

Dr. Montessori would have said “Hooray for Oliver.”

With appreciation,

Ronnie