Family Day at Apple Valley Montessori

Each May Apple Valley Montessori celebrates Family Day, where the children choose two of their current favorite works from the classroom and they teach their parents. I walked into my daughter’s classroom and saw her standing by the bells.  She had her hands folded in front of her and the look on her face radiated anticipation.  I looked around the room and saw that each child was sitting or standing near a specific Montessori material in the classroom.  The classroom became a buzz of children teaching parents—such excitement for both the parents and the children. 

My daughter carefully played each bell with a wonderful sweet tone flowing in the progression.  She then handed me the playing stick and I imitated what she had shown me.  I could see the pride in her eyes as she became the teacher.  She then took me over to another part of the classroom where she laid out a small rug and took out a short bead chain and a set of numbers on yellow wood.  She showed me how to count the beads and where to correctly place the numbers.  I felt such a sweet closeness from being guided into the world and work of my five- year-old daughter’s day at AVMS.

After that she and I went to the elementary classroom where my son was teaching his mother how to do pin maps.  He methodically placed little flags indicating states, countries and bodies of water.  His understanding of geography certainly surpasses mine and his passion for the subject grows the more involved he gets with the work and the more he learns the history that is intertwined with the geography.  He then took us to his desk and helped us learn some more involved math. 

The children in this class held a bake sale to raise funds for a wonderful new globe with a wooden stand.  The had baked cookies and pumpkin pies—which were delicious and went fast!