Mateo at Bluebird Montessori

So Mateo started Bluebird Montessori Preschool this January once he turned three...for those of you who are keeping track, this is DIFFERENT than Community Roots School which is the public school that Matt and I have been working to open in the local school district. Mateo won't be old enough to attend for at least three years, so we have committed to sending him to this Montessori preschool until then. We thought you would enjoy a glimpse at what the Montessori world looks like...

Mateo with his teacher Terri, getting a lesson about a snap frame. Everything in the classroom is kid sized...

Mateo working on planting some seeds in the Bluebird garden. He is able to narrate that they planted seeds, then it rains, then flowers grow...

Mateo eating lunch with Grace Traeger...yes, everything in the classroom is real, just kid sized. Those are glass glasses, and he is using a REAL apple slicer...I am constantly amazed at how capable he is at age three...beyond my imagination!

Mateo playing with the cylinder blocks...you match the tubes by size to the holes...

Mateo doing a continent puzzle...again, not something I ever imagined a three year old could do...but he is beginning to get the hang of it.

I think the thing that Matt and I feel most strongly about is how Montessori allows Mateo the freedom to learn as he needs and wants to...not as the system requires him to. This weekend, my book club friends were constantly saying how amazed they were at his thought process...I wish I could take even a little credit for that, but in truth it belongs first to Matt and then second to this wonderful place for him to learn.

Thanks to those of you who have sent donations in support of the Community Roots School effort...if other of you are interested, just let me know and I'll get you the information. In the meantime, we are taking all the prayers we can get.

Hugs from Silverton, Sarah