By Alicia Yip
I was packing my things to leave the classroom after the morning session when a child suddenly came up to me. He showed me pictures of dolphins, sea creatures and a map. He told me that he visited Sea Word in Shanghai. I was intrigued: “I’ve been to many different Sea Worlds but I have not been to this one.” We sat down together and look at his pictures and the map.
I was packing my things to leave the classroom after the morning session when a child suddenly came up to me. He showed me pictures of dolphins, sea creatures and a map. He told me that he visited Sea Word in Shanghai. I was intrigued: “I’ve been to many different Sea Worlds but I have not been to this one.” We sat down together and look at his pictures and the map.
He started showing me different places he explored. Very curious,
other children came to join in the conversations. We listened attentively. When
he finished his story, I expressed my interest to visit the place and my wish
that all children in the classroom could come along with him as our guide. He happily agreed.
I then asked the group how we would get there. I was amazed
by their answers. Some mentioned the bullet train and said we could turn the
bullet train into classroom. Another student said we could go by airplane because his daddy is a pilot. When I
mentioned that it might be expensive to buy so many tickets, another student
said we could go by boat or ship.
My eyebrow rose as he continued. “We can use wood to build
our ship and then we can set sail to Sea World for free.” A brilliant idea! The
next day, some children made their own maps to Sea World along with pictures of
how their ship would look. We talked about turning the classroom into a ship
with all of the woods we have. They suggested making different rooms for
sleeping, playing, working and learning!
I laughed with enthusiasm and nodded my head, though I did
mention that we would have to get permission from Teacher David to turn the
classroom into a ship.
It was hilarious but exciting to see the children’s
curiosity, creativity and imagination sparkle and burst into a whole new world
from the simple spark of a single conversation. As I thought about what had
happened, I realized that their brilliant ideas were primed by a previous
academic theme we explore – transportation.
And that's why Montessori education is beautiful. We learn hot to learn through observation, listening, exploration and reflection upon our knowledge, and by making connections through applying our knowledge to our world.
And that's why Montessori education is beautiful. We learn hot to learn through observation, listening, exploration and reflection upon our knowledge, and by making connections through applying our knowledge to our world.
