Fabulous Day Trip to Albany

What glistening metropolis lies a mere 10 miles distant from Corvallis?  Why, Albany, Oregon, one-time hub of the verdant Willamette Valley.  Albany was once the center of transportation due to the confluence of the Willamette and Calapooia Rivers.  Home to one of the first, if not the first, lumber mills in the area, Albany still has much to offer.  I propose for those of you with small children, the following itinerary:

First stop: The Albany Carousel Museum on First Street.  Cross over the bridge and take a right.  It's at the end of First on the right.  A famous German carousel-making family of several generations donated the machinery for an enormous carousel.  Area townspeople are being trained to carve and paint the animals which will one day ride in majestic circles.  I recommend this because the animals that have already been created are the most beautiful, fanciful and ornate I have ever seen!  Donors commission each individual animal and proscribe what it shall be and what meaningful details will embellish it.  There is an alpaca, an orca, a dog, a fox, a salmon and many more and many more to come!  There are drawings on the walls of animals that have yet to be entirely manifested.  If I recall correctly, the artist of the drawings is a Pixar animator.  One can often see the sculptors and painters at their artistic endeavors, all volunteer, all inspiring.  The museum is closed on Sunday.

2nd stop:  Frogs and Pollywogs toy store.  Also on First.  It's a very nice toy store, akin to The Toy Factory in Corvallis.

3rd stop:  Lunch.  I recommend Sam City on Pacific Blvd.  As if you were heading to I-5 N on Pacific Blvd, you'll find it on the right.  It has a nice pan-Asian menu.  I like the Pho as well as the spicy chicken.  The salad you get with many meals has a wonderful, possibly peanut-y house dressing.  My granddaughter insisted on Ranch.  Her loss.  They also feature a mean-looking burger and fries.  The menu is a bit confusing to look at, I'm afraid.
Or you might stay downtown and go to First Burger.  I haven't been, but I understand the burgers are yummy.  Also downtown at 2 River's Market on the corner of 2nd and Broadalbin is a casual teriyaki place.
Or you  might go to Burgerville on Santian Hwy.  I love Burgerville.  Yes, it's fast food, but they use local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients and grass-fed beef.  They even have gluten free buns now.  The halibut fish and chips are excellent and there are several veggie burger choices.  You may want to get your lunch to go and head to our next stop.

4th stop: Waverly Lake at Waverly Park on Pacific Blvd on your left as you head to I-5N.  You can have your picnic there and then you can walk ALL THE WAY AROUND THE LAKE!  My dog and I can go around in 20 minutes.  Even the smallest child, going at her own pace, stopping to see the waterfowl along the way could make it in less than an hour.

Enjoy your fabulous day trip to Albany!
Best regards,
Doni

Long Overdue

Pauline is so good about writing a little tribute to each family when their child graduates.  She enumerates their contributions to our school.  To not do so would just not be right!  But there is one individual who has contributed so much, yet is never thanked beyond an off-hand spoken expression of gratitude.  This individual gives so much of himself year after year, but never leaves, thank goodness.  Therefore, he has gotten no write-up.  This individual is Allan Rack, Pauline's husband.

Allan has been here, just as Pauline has, since the beginning of our school.  Allan accomplished the greatest share of creating our schoolyard and it's facilities.  He built our bead cabinets and all of our shelves and tables.  He regularly makes repairs to our materials.  Safe to say that without Allan there would be no school.  He has served as the assistant and the substitute teacher over the years.

Allan is here at every work party, every fundraiser, every potluck and social event.  He is the first to arrive and the last to leave.  He acts as if he still owns the school. (Once upon a time, the school was a profit enterprise and privately owned by Pauline and Allan.)  Thankfully for us, he still has that feeling of ownership.  (Nobody tell him otherwise, please!)  And on top of all this, he makes Pauline's lunch every morning!  I know his machinations behind the scenes help keep Pauline on top of all she has to do, too!

So thank you, Allan!  Thank you, thank you from the bottom of our collective hearts.  We simply could not do without you.  You are the foundation upon which this school is built.

Best regards,
Doni

Back to School Breakfast!

Welcome to another school year! Although blessings abound with the return of the school routine, I know that one universal challenge is getting everyone up, brushed, dressed, fed and out of the house in a punctual manner.  I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite school-day breakfast ideas.  These "recipes" are helpful in that much of the preparation can take place the night before.  This serves the purpose of speeding the family out the door and it also provides a calm, fun, engrossing family activity for the children to participate in in the evening.  Evenings, which should be a period of winding down for children who must rise early the next day, often find children spiraling out of control as they become fatigued at end of day.  A structured activity can sometimes keep things on a more even keel. 

This first dish is chillaquilles and no, I'm not sure of the spelling.  I ate this for the first time at a resort in Cancun and I make it all the time at home now.  It consists of eggs, torn corn tortillas and grated cheese.  You also need butter for the pan and you can easily add salsa or cut-up veggies such as zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, etc.  Putting this together allows children of different skill levels to participate.  The most challenging parts are cutting up veggies, if you desire some, and grating the cheese.  I suggest the cheese is grated right into a large mixing bowl.  No cutting board and minimal mess.  Then the eggs can be cracked and scrambled in that same mixing bowl.  Any veggies can be cut up and added at this time. The tortillas can be torn into small pieces by a very young child and this is great fun.  Place the egg/cheese mixture in the fridge overnight and store the torn tortillas in a re-used bread bag or other storage container.  In the morning, melt a pat of butter in a large skillet on low to medium low heat, combine the tortillas with the rest in the mixing bowl and pour into the skillet.  Cook slowly, stirring and turning often until cooked to your liking.  This is a tasty hearty dish, easily adjustable to accommodate the number of family members.  I use 3 eggs, one large tortilla and perhaps 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, but adjust it as you see fit.  You can't go wrong and you can make a lot or a little.  There's grating, cutting, mixing, tearing and stirring to be done.  Something for everyone!

The next dish is a smoothie.  I like to cut up bananas into thick slices and freeze them in a gallon ziplock bag.  Do this ahead of time.  In the evening, place berries or your favorite cut-up fruit (I leave the peels on most everything) in a blender along with some plain yogurt and a generous splash of any kind of milk.  Add your favorite sweetener.  I've been using stevia lately, but I also think honey adds great flavor.  Place the blender carafe in the fridge.  In the morning, add  frozen banana slices and whir in the blender.  Delicious!  You can add peanut butter or protein powder to make it a bit heartier.

Preparing these dishes the night before helps your child to look on the morrow with anticipation.  After the dishes are prepared as much as possible in the evening and the clean-up is done (preferably with your child's help) you can cast about for other steps to take that will make tomorrow morning easier.  "Shall we fill your water bottle and set it by the door so we don't forget it?"  "Let's check the weather report on-line for tomorrow and set out an appropriate outfit!"  "We forgot your raincoat today.  Let's place it by the door, too, so that doesn't happen again."  "We even have enough time to pack your lunch for tomorrow.  Would you like to make the sandwich or pack up your carrot sticks?" 

My hope for you is that mornings are less hectic, that your child feels like a valuable member of the family and that he/she builds the ability to organize and plan.  I wish you all a wonderful school year!

Best regards,
Doni

A Shout-out

I wish to briefly salute our wonderful assistant, Marjie, who attended to a medical emergency in class today.  One of our kids had a severe nosebleed that went on and on.  Marjie stayed by his side and followed all her first aid training to stem the flow.  The bleeding, however, refused to cease even after ten minutes.  Marjie noticed a bit of blood trickling from the child's eye and alerted the head teacher to this anomaly.  Since this was so out of the ordinary, we called 911 immediately.  They came so quickly!  Being so close to our local fire station affords us a great deal of comfort and security.  A whole battalion of EMTs, firefighters and police officers arrived.  The child remained calm as did Marjie.  The head teacher, remaining staff and children went (pretty) serenely about their business as the professionals did theirs.  The child's mother arrived and picked up her child to be seen by his pediatrician.  We are certain that all will be well.  I am very proud of the staff and particularly Marjie for handling this (thankfully) rare situation so well.  We are are truly fortunate to have her on staff.

Best regards,
Doni

An Exciting Opportunity

Next Thursday, May 17 at 6 pm at Corvallis Montessori School, Dr Kathleen Lloyd will be presenting a lecture entitled "Creating Pathways for Self-Regulation: A Secret of Childhood."  I have heard Dr. Lloyd speak on this topic before and it is riveting.  She is a relaxed, personable speaker with many years of experience teaching young children in a Montessori setting and she brings not only her personal stories, but much clinical research as well.

Her research and experiences illustrate how important it is for children to have opportunities to lose themselves in an activity and become thoroughly engrossed.  This very act leads them to a more highly evolved state of being.  We see this in the classroom regularly.  A child who has just finished a task that is meaningful, engaging and developmentally appropriate is momentarily transformed into a child who is satisfied, kind, peaceable and motivated to find another stimulating experience.

Many adults, however, do not recognize and respect the importance of a child's concentration.  Many of us think nothing of interrupting a child who is focused and engaged.  As a matter of fact, children who are in this concentrated state emit such lovely, entrancing energy that they are more likely to attract others and therefore be interrupted.  How often do we see a baby looking intently at something and break their gaze by calling their attention once more to ourselves.  "Are you looking at the horsey?  That's a pretty horsey, isn't it?"  Yes, to be sure, conversing with an infant, introducing vocabulary and bonding on an emotional level are vital, but it can wait until the child terminates her engagement herself.

Dr. Lloyd will provide fascinating information for all of us who care about human development.  Not surprisingly to Montessorians, we find that the opportunities for children to devote themselves to self-chosen work that abound in our classrooms brings out this phenomenom again and again.  Dr. Montessori was aware of this dynamic 100 years ago.  It is exciting to see modern-day brain research corroborate her observations and those of us who follow in her footsteps.

Back from Break!

What a wonderful day it was in the classroom today. Today being our first day back after a very rainy/snowy spring break, one never knows how things might go. But the children were all obviously very pleased to be back in their little world at school. There were two individuals who were, in contrast, quite displeased to find themselves back at school at the moment they were manually placed across the threshold by their firm, but loving parents. These two little guys were some of the busiest little beavers in school today! They found one beloved activity after another and became deeply absorbed in each of them. All of the children were thoroughly involved in their work today.

Two of our oldest children worked with deep concentration on Practical Life tasks and repeated them many times right after lunch. In fact, all of the afternoon children fell to working right after lunch as if they had a hunger of a different sort to satisfy. A little boy who often persistently resists the whole idea of "going to work" was very active in his self-direction today. Another child who prefers to observe and socialize was nose down in his own business this morning. Yet another little girl came to me to ask me for some ideas about what she could do. She took my first suggestion and never looked back. She was on a roll after that! And the readers! They read, read, read! How wonderful that our library mom had supplied our library with fresh books for their voracious appetites.

My point? Well, I'm just saying it's nice, that's all. It felt great today to see that everyone clearly enjoyed being back at school. Now... tomorrow it will begin to rain again. Someone will get on my nerves. There may be strife, discontent, mayhem. But for today.....today was a good day.

Speaking of the Spirit

In our class, we often speak of spiritual matters. Whenever we explore a country and its culture, we learn about one of the primary religions of that country. In our biome materials, there is a set of cards that depicts how indigenous people of that biome satisfy their human needs. One of those needs is for spiritual experience. For the uninitiated, a biome is a large geographical region of the earth with a particular soil and climate and the flora and fauna that live there are well-suited to the biome. The biomes are: oceans, mountains, deserts, wetlands, grasslands, polar regions and temperate and tropical forests. The biomes, though very different, all share the same parts. They all have soil, water, air, flora, fauna and energy. The energy all comes from the sun, nourishes the plants, which nourish the animals who eat them, who nourish the larger animals who eat them. Then the plants and animals die and the energy makes its way into the soil, where it nourishes the plants again. The cycle continues and the energy itself never dies.

Right now we are studying Brazil, so we have been learning about the Yanomami of the tropical forests of South America. Their spiritual needs are partially satisfied by visiting other tribes, dressing to the nines in body paint, feathers and flowers and performing the Dance of Presentation for their hosts. Then they spend the night. We have also been learning about Catholicism, as that is the dominant religion of Brazil. We know about the practice of giving something up for 40 days to observe Lent. When we studied Egypt we talked about fasting from sunup to sundown during Ramadan and we have made the connection that many religions have some aspect of sacrifice.

Two of our kids, Ben and Clare, have a wonderful dog, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, named Guinness, who is their parents' firstborn. Guinness is a beloved family member who is plagued now by kidney failure and the children understand that Guinness will one day die. The other day at group, Clare, the older of the two kids, told us that her family had been stargazing the previous night (we also study constellations) and they had found Orion and the Dog Star. "Maybe when Guinness dies, his spirit will go up to the Dog Star!" Clare said quite cheerily. "Oh! Maybe whenever you see the Dog Star, you will think of Guinness," I replied. She nodded her assent.

At another group, shortly thereafter, I was telling the kids how my sister, who is very spiritual, but not Catholic, was giving up complaining about her husband for Lent. I told them I thought that this was a terrific experiment because not only has it done not a speck of good for my sister to complain, but it would be interesting to see what happens when she gives this up for 40 days. "Where will all that energy go?" I wondered aloud. Another little boy, Jude, who is 3 (and 3/4, he would want you to know) who had recently had the lesson about the parts of the biomes, said,
"Maybe the energy will go up to the sun!" When we study the energy cycle, there is no part that returns the solar energy up to the sun, but you have to admire the kid's logic.

People regularly ask us if Montessori has a religious perspective and for us, it does not, but I feel privileged to converse with the children about matters of the spirit and aspects of our lives that are unseen. I think such discussions prompt more questions than they do answers and and they entice the children to wonder. And isn't that wonderful?