Mary’s School Blog

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/26/AR2008042602126_pf.html

I feel obliged to comment about a part of your “Looking for Preschool” buyer’s guide from you February issue. I thought it did a good job of a sweeping overview, and was surprised to realize that I have never seen another like it in all “those” parenting magazines, in all those years…

I am going to keep it for my own reference. I am often asked about “what about this…”, as I am a…preschool teacher. Specifically, a Montessori teacher. Have been one for 15 years.

Fortunately for me, your issue makes my points for me. One: that Montessori observed that what we figure out and master for ourselves gives us deep joy. This is the point of children helping each other, and fewer adults around, as well as the “you aren’t supposed to do that” comment of the typically tactful five year old in the article. A great example of this is the toy featured on page 106: My Quiet Book by Pockets of Learning, which is modeled on the Montessori dressing frames (circa 1907), and which allow a child to practice those practical life skills involved in dressing which fascinate them, and are meaningful to their lives, to their hearts’ content. Two: that the job of an adult in childrens’ lives is to empower them so that we(the adults) can get out of the way. (Think about what you want your child to understand and feel confident about as you drive away from leaving him/her at college…) This is beautifully illustrated by the quote on page 59 by Dorothy Canfield Fisher: “A mother is not a person to learn on but a person to make leaning unnecessary.” Fisher is credited with bringing the Montessori philosophy to the US, and was an advocate for it all her life.

Montessori was asked by Mussollini, before WWII, to have Montessori schools be part of the Fascist system. She refused, and all Montessori schools were closed at that point. She was interned in India for most of the war because of her Italian Citizenship, and for many reasons, did not ever really return to Italy. I often wonder what part that plays in the rise of the Reggio system, but that is another story…

Sincerely,

Mary Willis
Boone, NC

“A GREEN ROOF AND A CAKE WITH NO EGGS

If we had a green roof, we would be doing our part to reduce rain run-off and the flooding it causes. Moreover, our house would look pretty, with the flat portion of the roof in front crowned with flowers. Of course, people who need everything to look alike might not enjoy it, but most of them are probably fed up with us already: I think we lost them when we had our house painted five different shades of purple. You know how these things go: we just couldn’t choose between the beige and the ecru, so we went with the purple.

A green roof must be flat. You cover it with a waterproof membrane and then with flat containers for lightweight soil, and you plant succulents up there: juicy fat-leaved plants that store water in their leaves, so they can handle the hot sun and don’t need to be watered a lot. Your green roof catches water and also insulates beautifully, helping your house stay cooler in summer and warmer in winter. And it probably makes your house look a little like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves live there, and who wouldn’t want that?

Around back, there’s another flat roof. We could put solar panels on that part. We could heat all our water with it, and maybe other things, too. This is New Jersey, not Key West; it’s not sunny every day here. So we would keep our expectations modest. But our solar panels, as expensive as they are, would eventually pay for themselves.

We could get a rain barrel or two and catch water for the garden. We can do that now.

And we could put up a clothesline. The people who want everything to look alike haven’t gotten much of a toehold in Metuchen, so there’s no law against clotheslines. We’d grandfather ours in — there’s hardware for it out there already: I’ve been hanging plants and bird feeders on it for years, but it could easily revert to shirts and underwear.

We could do all of these things, and I’ll bet we will: some now, some a little later. That fine, calm feeling will kick in that a person gets from having made a pot of wonderful soup from a leftover chicken, or a cake with no eggs in it. I am self-reliant, it says. I can manage. I can make do. I’m creative enough not to have to be wasteful.

When God gave us the earth to care for, it was with the understanding that we’d be creative like that. Careful like that. I think we’re built to be that way — lots of other animals are, and we’re supposed to be smarter than the other animals. God is like that, in fact — careful, reusing things. In God’s elegant world, nothing is ever wasted; everything is used up completely, one way or another. So when we act like that ourselves, with care and restraint, we are godly. And, because godliness carries with it its own delight, we are deeply satisfied.
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A Cake With No Eggs ( Also called “Depression Cake”)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13″ baking pan.

Combine in large saucepan:
1 cup shortening
2 cups water
2 cups raisins
1 tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice
2 cups sugar

Bring to boil, reduce heart and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool 30 minutes.

Whisk together:
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda

Stir into raisin mixture. Do not beat. Pour into baking pan. Bake 45 minutes. Serves 12 or so.
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Want to see a green roof in action and read more about them? Visit Sustainable South Bronx at
www.ssbx.org. ”

The Almost-Daily eMo from the Geranium Farm Copyright © 2001-2008 Barbara Crafton - all rights reserved