Montessori at The Beehive
At the start of my life, I need guidance and care
So my parents they gave me an experience quite rare.
“Montessori is special”, they said, “when they chose,
We’ve heard that it’s wonderful – life really flows”.
I’ve got to agree – since I’ve been at this school,
I’ve learnt such a lot and it’s really quite cool!
The classroom is peaceful and calm to the ear,
I work on my own or with friends I hold dear.
It’s a place where we work to suit our own pace,
No hurry, no pressure to win like a race.
Our interest is caught by the challenge, you see,
To master whatever we choose – we feel free.
I learn, for I want to, and that’s the neat trick,
The foundations built slowly with brick after brick.
No matter what subject, the method’s the best,
I’m shown how to do things, then left to contest
With my own limitations until I succeed –
Inhibitions behind me – that’s when I’m freed.
It takes all my efforts to finish the task
But I’m determined to do it – right up to the last.
I love to learn things – I’m curious, you see
I soak up the facts with maximum glee.
Then once I’ve completed, I’m in my own zone!
“I’ve done it”, I’m thinking – “all on my own!”
With amazing materials to challenge the mind,
I learn without knowing; fresh talents I find.
Sandpaper letters for sounds are a case –
For reading and writing they are a firm base.
I’m learning to read without really knowing
And suddenly, wow, I know where I’m going!
Grace is a choice where we learn to be neat
Courtesy teaches us how friends to greet.
For practical lessons, it’s just hard to beat,
This hands-on learning’s right up my street.
I love the materials, special and light,
Buttons, zips, buckles and polishing bright.
When it comes to a snack, I’m really quite good
At pouring my drink and sorting out food.
And when I’m all done and its time to clear up
I fold up my napkin and wash my things up.
[Oh Mum, you’ll be proud but don’t go too far –
I return to being me when I get in the car!!]
We learn about animals, insects and birds
Fishes and life-cycles and all the right words.
Continents, countries and flags that are flown,
Customs and festivals, history and poem,
Music and dancing are right up my street
And I get to bang drums and sing songs to a beat.
My senses are challenged in so many ways
Matching colours and sounds and things on bright trays.
We feel things in bags and we learn all their names
And have textures and towers and cylinder games.
We learn lots of ways to describe what we find
Match pictures to words and to thoughts of a kind.
Science is fun and it fills me with glee
For I get to use magnets and filings, you see;
With sound and with light, we probe a bit further,
Fix up a battery and run a propeller.
Maths is another great subject we learn,
Geometry, counting and sizes by turn.
In the garden outside, the equipment’s a dream
For play and for learning a lot it would seem.
A sandpit, bikes, slide and a climbing frame, too,
Plus water play and play house to name but a few.
A border in which to grow all sorts of plants
And a patio where we can all have a dance!
Independence is what is desired for us all,
Achieving the things that make us walk tall.
We learn at the speed which is best for each one
And we’re given the means to get the job done.
Our teachers are warm and supportive to us
They want us to blossom and find life a plus;
They value us all – if the truth I’m to tell –
And they teach us to value each other as well.
For us to learn and succeed is the aim of the team,
To develop our gifts and our own self-esteem.
I’ve told you my view, so now come and find out
Just what it is that I’m raving about!
Written by Bill Nelson (Lyndsey Nelson’s father)