“We’re all gardeners!”

         Hello and happy Monday! Between our ‘Under the Sea’ Exploration Camp and ‘Nature Fun’ Extended Day Camp, the children spent the week learning about our biggest shared space: the environment. Thinking about the massive scale of our community when it comes to our environment—a worldwide community—can be overwhelming. As Westmont does with all its lessons, however, it starts with the small, manageable, and understandable before expanding outwards. While children are encouraged to work independently—building self-esteem and capability—Westmont also cultivates an environment that is inherently communal. The work on the shelves is for everyone to have a turn with, the rug at the center of the classroom is for everyone to sit around, and the garden is for everyone to take care of and harvest from. This community-centric mindset is not learned like a math formula or a set of instructions; the children learn this mindset from each other every day. The children learn to step forward to help one another with a problem and care for a sad friend without hesitation because for them—because of Westmont—there is no other way to be. I see it every day when I sit down next to them as they decorate their own seahorse crafts or gather around to marvel at a grasshopper on the playground. While it sounds contradictory, Westmont simultaneously teaches children to be both independent and community-oriented. 

  I can’t think of anything more representative of Westmont’s emphasis on shared space than the garden in the playground, which was possible because of money raised through the ’18-’19 Ray of Light. Filled with flowers, kale, celery, strawberries, basil, and more, the garden encourages and represents the communal energy of Westmont. This past week the garden has flourished, nearly overflowing, which seems fitting given how much time the children have spent learning about the importance of our environment. From filling up watering cans and rushing over to help the garden grow to simply wandering over to check on the plants, the children love having that shared space—something they can all contribute to and take responsibility for. While we were out on the playground this week I asked the children if they’d like to go check on the garden. As always, they ran over to the garden before I could get another word out. With the garden being so full at the moment, the children and staff are encouraged to eat or take home the produce they’ve grown. As they each pulled off a piece of celery, one child said, “We’re all gardeners!” In one moment he seemed to sum up everything I’d been thinking about: the inherent understanding that everyone has responsibility for the garden. Like I discussed in my previous blog, however, this responsibility actually becomes empowering and satisfying for children at Westmont. Most importantly, just as the garden enhances the children’s community-oriented mindset, the Ray of Light Fund allows Westmont to further cultivate its uniquely communal and independent environment. Have a wonderful week!

Learn more about Westmont's Ray of Light Fund here!

"It's amazing how much he's getting it already. They are so capable."

            Hello and happy Monday everyone! I hope you all managed to stay cool over the weekend. Looking back on the past week I keep coming back to the time I spent with Discovery Camp and the concept of personal responsibility. As a much smaller group than Exploration Camp, Discovery Camp focuses on getting younger campers (18-36 months) into the rhythm of Montessori education. At first glance it might seem strange and counterintuitive for me to pair the youngest children with what seems like such an “adult” concept. My idea of personal responsibility has previously been defined as maturely acknowledging a wrong. This week, however, my notion of personal responsibility was turned completely on its head. As I walked into Discovery Camp one morning, I was greeted by what can only be described as an overwhelming Montessori energy. I could practically feel the inspiration radiating off the teachers as they moved from child to child, prepared to offer guidance if needed while encouraging the children to move independently. The phrase "in one’s element" came to mind right away. Not long after I walked in, I noticed a child walking with a cup in his hands from the sink with a look of fierce determination. Noticing my interest, the teachers chimed in and told me that he had been working all week to successfully complete the seashell washing work. Wide-eyed with excitement, they explained that he had been learning through watching the other children do the work: taking a cup to the sink, filling it, and taking it to the shell to wash it. I watched as he started to make his way across the room, totally focused. Then, when his legs carried him forward too quickly, water sloshed over the sides of the cup and onto the floor. I tend to keep my focus on the child in these situations, but in that moment I couldn’t help but watch the teachers as they crouched down to meet the child’s eyes and encouraged him that he knew to get a towel to clean up the water he’d spilled. They encouraged his capability and responsibility all at once. As he got a towel and wiped the floor without hesitation, the teacher said with certainty, “It’s amazing how much he’s getting it already. They [the children] are so capable.” It made sense to me then, the way in which personal responsibility is taught as an essential part of capability and accomplishment at Westmont. As adults we tend to think of accomplishment or success as totally separate from making a mistake, seeing that mistake as a failure and the opposite of doing work successfully. From a Montessori perspective, however, this is not the case. At Westmont, making a mistake in one's work does not mean a child can't do it; taking responsibility for it is not a failure, but is actually a part of doing the work itself. As a result, personal responsibility becomes part of every action we do. It’s simply part of the process. When the child cleaned up the water and went back to the sink to fill up his cup to try again, I was left in awe and inspired to change my own mindset when it comes to personal responsibility and success. Have a great week everyone!

"Is it okay if we get glue on our hands? Yes!"

            Hello and happy Monday! This past week I felt overwhelmed in the best possible way by the amount of creativity and imagination at Westmont. If you’ve ever been around children then you know that they simply radiate imagination. At Westmont this week several children invited me over to the train on the playground, explaining adamantly that they were heading to the zoo. When I asked which animals they were going to see, each child piped up one after the other without hesitation, “Penguins! Bobcats! Lions!” From there I headed to the sandbox where the children filled buckets with sand and told me simply that they were making huge cupcakes. Seeing the children’s unwavering confidence in their imagination both inspired me and made me pause. I consider myself a creative person, but I can’t remember the last time I just let my imagination run wild without considering what others might think or if I should edit my thoughts somehow. I imagine other adults have a similar thought process when it comes to creating something. Children, however, have a liberating certainty that comes with creating. This mentality, however, is particularly evident and encouraged at Westmont because of Montessori’s emphasis on the role of creativity in education.

            This week the theme of Exploration Camp was “A Visit to the Met,” meaning that the campers spent the week learning about a different famous artist each day and made their own individual versions of one of their pieces. On Friday the children learned about abstract art, studying artist Wassily Kandinksy. As the teacher showed the children the first painting, she asked them how they felt when they saw it. Without hesitating, they responded, “Funny! Sad! Happy! Happy, I feel happy!” Regardless of the answer, the teacher encouraged them to speak up, giving them the opportunity to consider and share their feelings. As the teacher went on to explain the craft, which included each child recreating parts (that would come together to become a whole) of Kandinsky’s “Squares with Concentric Circles,” one child asked, “Is it okay if we get glue on our hands?” The teacher paused and shifted the conversation back to the children, asking, “Well, what do you all think? Do you think Van Gogh got paint on his hands when he painted? Or Monet, Cassat, or Seurat?” The children’s capabilities were placed alongside those famous painters without question, something unique to Montessori’s approach. I saw recognition pass over the child’s face—she was just as capable and creative as the artists she’d learned about. All the children said, “Yes!” Westmont’s emphasis on empowering children and the role of creativity seemed stunningly clear to me. Westmont recognizes children’s natural abundance of creativity and uses it to empower children to both respect their own abilities and their own creativity. Creativity is often viewed as an aimless colorful quality in the adult world—one that needs to be stifled. After spending time with the children this week, I’m reminded that creativity is actually a liberating force and a gateway to independence.

"Look what I made all by myself! This time I made it all by myself."

            Hello and happy Monday! I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday weekend. Thinking back on the week leading up to Independence Day, I’ve typically never felt very festive until the actual holiday, as I imagine most adults can relate to. Being around the children this week, however, this was not the case. As they spent time making firework and hand-print American flag crafts, I couldn’t help but feel their contagious enthusiasm for the special occasion ahead. When I walked into Exploration Camp one morning three children greeted me covered in star-spangled sunglasses and necklaces with huge grins. I’ve noticed that when we’re older we often hesitate to be openly excited and happy. After all, there are a million other things to be stressed about, right? Being around the children this week I noticed that their uninhibited excitement goes hand in hand with their dedication to the work they do. Whether they were working on coloring an American flag or telling me about how incredibly excited they were about seeing fireworks, the focus was the same. I find that Westmont continuously manages to cultivate an environment that encourages dedication. At Westmont, children give one hundred percent of themselves in whatever they do. Whether that’s completing a puzzle, completing a craft, or explaining how you feel in a moment of happiness or anger, the children always follow through. Westmont encourages the growth of the whole child. Looking back on this concept and approach as an alum, I can’t help but think that growing up and learning in an environment like Westmont’s encourages you to be wholeheartedly yourself.

            The concept of  ‘being yourself’ brings me to the other concept that I’ve been thinking about this week: independence. Not only is it especially relevant this week, but I’ve also found that being oneself and independence go hand in hand at Westmont. As I discussed earlier, children at Westmont are taught to work and feel wholeheartedly, which ends up making them wholeheartedly themselves. I was sitting with a child this week who was working on his Play-Doh, trying to roll it out enough so that he could cut out the shape he wanted. He’d been working at it for a while and then suddenly grinned, proclaiming, “Look what I made all by myself! I couldn’t make it by myself last time, but this time I made it all by myself.” Again, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw his enthusiasm. It all seems to fit together—the dedication, independence, enthusiasm, and the unique growth into being oneself that comes as a result of a Montessori education
            The picture shown above is a little me on the Westmont playground years ago. I lost my dad a year ago today, so he is on my mind more than usual, but this week’s post especially brought him to mind. My dad was always the one encouraging me to make my way across the monkey bars, waiting to catch me if I fell while believing that I could do it myself. I’m feeling especially grateful for Westmont and my dad today. Have a wonderful week everyone.