Is it summer break yet?

I'm an assistant Montessori teacher in the two and half to three year old class. For those of you know that know montessori you already know there is something wrong with that sentence.

The school I work at is...interesting to say the least. It's more monte-something than montessori. The school is located in a very expensive area. Nothing illustrates this better than the mind-set of many of our parents.

Today one of our parents asked when their child would be writing and oh yes when could the expect to start seeing addition and subtraction worksheets sent home?

It took everything in my power from telling this parent exactly what was on my mind. If this was a isolated incident, I could handle it much better. Sadly most of the parents only see montessori as a way of having a prodigy as a child. They want little programmed robots to show off to their friends and family.

I'll be leaving at the end the summer to go back to school.

I'm not going to miss this next fall. I won't miss parents that seem to think their kids are akin to a designer bag. I won't miss having to fight tooth and nail for things like sick days, vacation, and health insurance.

I will miss the seventeen little face smiling up at me in the morning. I'll miss the hugs and hearing my name called out in delight.

For six years I've worked with small children, but I think it's time to move on.