Following the Child - The Parent/Teacher Team

Respect all the reasonable forms of activity 

in which the child engages and try to understand them.

~Maria Montessori

The year that I worked in a conventional school I was advised to involve parents as little as possible. It was shocking and troublesome. Parents were always suspicious and untrusting of us teachers because they were kept in the dark. We were under the assumption that our work would be more challenging with parents being meddlesome.

 It was my first year on the job at Good Shepherd Montessori School that I learned the opposite. Dan Driscoll, the head of school, was very clear as I was preparing for my first parent-teacher conferences, "we want to communicate to parents that we know and love their children and remember that we are on the same team with them."  Being at a school that strove for a third of their population to be on scholarship meant that we worked with many poverty issues.  Dan's advice was key. It was so liberating. I was encouraged to form important, lasting bonds with the families. Through those bonds, the parents and I were really able to work as a team for their children. 

Now that I am a Montessori parent, I am so thankful to be on the receiving end. I deeply appreciate knowing that Gracie is well cared for and that if a concern arises I am seen as a team member - on Gracie's Team! I appreciate that when the teacher comes to me with a concern the question is asked, "has anything changed at home?" This is the queue that there has been a change in behavior at school.  


This is where respecting all forms of activity and trying to understand comes into play. A child that is behaving in a way outside the norm (for that child) is trying to tell us something. It is our job as parents and teachers to figure out what is going on - why has there been a change? What is the change? If teachers were left to figure this out without parent imput, it would be like trying to put a puzzle together with only half of the pieces. Together, parents and teachers can discuss and figure out the new activity and understand and make the necessary changes in the home and school environment to suit the child. 

When Justin and I chose a Montessori education for Gracie we started out on a journey. We knew we loved the Montessori philosophy because we had been steeped in it for so long. Gracie is three and a half now and we have been blessed with some of the greatest teachers who are eager to team up with us and help us follow our child to the best of our ability.