The Thanksgiving and winter holidays invite us to reflect on all that we are grateful for. It is also a time of year where we are most inspired to share what we have with those in need.
Showing gratitude is an important part of who we are as humans. It strengthens our relationships and our connection to our community.
In a Montessori environment, gratitude is a key component of peace education. Maria Montessori believed in the value of fostering a grateful nature in children to help them become compassionate citizens. Children can quickly learn to say please and thank you, but it takes time and guidance to help them learn to be grateful.
Montessori teachers spend significant time demonstrating grace and courtesy to their students: the polite way to greet teachers and friends; how to ask for help; to wait their turn when someone else is speaking; to treat others the way they would like to be treated; to return classroom materials to where they belong and to have respect for those materials while working with them; they practice peaceful conflict resolution. While these things may seem small, they are incredibly important in developing a peaceful and respectful community at school. Learning to care for their classroom, for their classmates, and for themselves helps children gain appreciation and develop gratitude for the people, places and things in their lives.
As children learn respect and kindness in their everyday interactions and lessons at school, they are also learning how everyone can play an important role in making the world a better place. A simple thing like picking up a piece of trash helps the environment. Setting out a bird feeder provides nourishment for the birds. These actions help students become aware that there are many things that they can do to contribute to the world in a positive way, and that there are different types of needs among the people in their community.
Cherry Hill Montessori has been celebrating Pajama Day for more than 15 years now. Students get to wear their favorite pair of pajamas to school all day, and are asked to bring a new pair of pajamas in their gender and size to school as part of our donation to St. Joe’s Pro-Cathedral in Camden. Additionally, this month we are holding our food, clothing and toy drives to benefit less fortunate families in Camden. Our school is a big part of the giving program at the church and we are always happy to be involved.
Students learn that every effort to help others, whether big or small, is worthwhile. They become empowered, seeing that they can, and do, make a positive difference in their communities. Through these activities students learn that when people work together, their efforts make a positive impact. Working together to better the lives of others is at the center of Maria Montessori’s vision of peace through education. Cherry Hill Montessori strives to keep this vision alive, especially at this time of year.
