February 16, 2008 8:54 AM
Montessori at home - the best foundation is love
[This is the final installment in a four-part series: Why Your Preschooler Can Thrive at Home taken from a chapter in my book, Mommy, Teach Me! Read the first, The Best Teacher is Forever, the second, The Best Classroom Has No Walls, and the third The Best Lessons Don't End at Noon.]
The Best Foundation is LoveRemember when you fell in love with the man you’d one day wed? You couldn’t spend enough time with him. Memorizing every angle of his face, discovering every nuance of his personality – you thought you’d never grow tired of it.
And when your first child was born, didn’t it feel as though you could never grow tired of gazing on that precious baby – even when sound asleep?
Ah, but we are human and the daily grind of living 24/7 with those we love can become just that – a grind. How quickly we forget the miraculous power of love.
I’m asking you to remember for a reason. I’m asking you to remember because when it comes to the recipe for a perfect teacher the most important ingredient is love. And no preschool teacher – no matter how much she cares in the classroom – will ever love your child as dearly and selflessly as you.
But I’m asking you to remember for another reason. As you begin to prepare yourself to teach your child, the first step will be to open your heart, to tap into that great well of love you’ve experienced before – before it got a little murky from all the peanut butter smears and wayward permanent marker. Before the fatigue and frustration found on the flip side of motherhood.
And finally, I’m asking because as you continue on the journey to becoming the best possible teacher for your child, I want you to find inspiration and confidence in the recognition of where all of us teacher/mommies begin. We love our children. We want God’s best for them.
And clearly God’s best for your child involves your maximum involvement through these early years.
Remember: God doesn’t call the equipped; he equips the called. Before your baby was born, you were probably not quite ready for motherhood. Good thing you had nine months or so to devote yourself to immersing yourself in the things you’d need to know to make it through childbirth, nursing and beyond – not to mention gathering all the stuff you’d need to prepare the best environment for baby.
Learning to be a mommy never stops – take it from someone who after 36 years is still learning and growing. If you’re at a loss for what to do with your preschooler, is that really so strange? And isn’t the fact that you picked up this book assurance that God will lead you in the right direction? That he hasn’t just called you to teach your child, but that he will equip you?
Yes, some of us tremble before the things God calls us to do. But God did not give us a spirit of fear, only the assurance that love is greater than our insecurities – that in Him we find our strength.You don’t need a rigid method or a handbook with a hundred lessons. What you need are the keys to unlock the tremendous learning potential of your child – as well as your own potential to teach. Once you begin to use them, you will see your child – as well as your relationship – transformed. Then you will both discover the joy God intended in these early years – a joy that will spill over into a lifelong love of learning for your child.
But it starts with the simplest, most basic foundation. Your willingness to invest in your child – to stretch and grow in whatever ways you must – because you want the best for both of you.
The bottom line is love.
Posted in Homeschooling, Montessori, Mothering, Preschoolers, Toddlers | Permalink
Comments
Thanks for the reminder, yes if there is one lesson that cannot be repeated enough, it is Love your children! And it isn't something we can work up or produce on our own, it is rather something we LET happen. Something we open up to and ALLOW to happen. As natural as the sun rising in the morning. Become soft hearted and vulnerable and yes let that little one touch your heart. You will end up learning even more than they do. Children are a gift from God. Ok Barbara I could go on all day, and take up your whole page, so I will continue on my own blog, thanks again! My favorite subject!
blessings, Penny Raine
http://www.pennyraine.com/blog
Posted by: Penny Raine | February 16, 2008 10:20 AM
Thanks so much for this post. I am struggling hard with the upcoming transition from fulltime employee and mommy to fulltime mommy. It's not that I don't want to be one, but I have had to quash the desire for so long that I seem to have buried the desire DEEP, DEEP down. Even my hubby is afraid that I'm going to wake up one morning and scream, "I have to go back to work!" But your reminder to search for that love that was so deep at first and reclaim it, I can identify with that.
Thanks again, Barbara!
Posted by: Ceci | February 16, 2008 1:12 PM
Barbara,
I would first like to say, "Thank You" for your blog. I have been a reader for some time. I recently bought your book (Mommy, Teach Me) and have enjoyed reading it. It has given me some good ideas. I am a stay at home dad of three and our oldest daughter (4 years old) has DS. Again, thank you and welcome to the Catholicism.
Posted by: Steve | February 16, 2008 10:56 PM
Barbara, I really enjoyed this part of the book especially!
I'm looking forward to your sharing about the importance Fairy Tales you mentioned will be coming up sometime. I hope soon. :) It is an area I grapple with understanding which tales are good and which are harmful for little ones. I have my own experience to draw from favorite fairy tales, but there are more I wonder about.
Posted by: Angela | February 18, 2008 6:21 PM
