One of the things I love about Montessori early childhood education is the birthday celebration. It's all about the Birthday Kid on their celebration day. They really make it special for the kids. Part of my appreciation of this has to be genetic-- my grandmother was a freak about her own birthday. She never cared about age as long as their was a party in her honor. I grew up this way and, while my grandmother was a bit to the extreme, I definitely think it's a special day and should be celebrated as such.
Truitt's school celebration started out with him making his birthday crown to wear all day. Of course this drew a lot of attention and he had plenty of help.
Friends love to celebrate with the Birthday Boy (BB). There is also a little jockeying for position- wanting to sit next to the BB on line or be in his circle during the birthday dance. Truitt's usual suspects were right by his side.
The celebration kicks off the day at school. On line, the teacher reads from a poster (parent made) talking about each year of the child's life. After each year is discussed, a candle is lit and the BB gets to carry the Earth around the Sun, symbolizing the year of their life that has gone by, while they sing "the Earth goes around the Sun Tra la la la la."
After they go through the years of the BB's life, he gets to put out the candles.
While all of this is happening, the kids on line are eating their morning snack. I love these little crumb catchers the kids use to clean their area. In a Montessori class, the students are responsible for almost all the clean up and organization of the class. It's so cute to watch!
Everything is clean and read to go. Time for THE BIRTHDAY DANCE!
It was so much fun and something we were so happy to participate in. After the dance was over, it was back to normal and Mommy and Daddy left. The fun continued for the BB, however. On his celebration day, the BB gets to be first in line and other positions of honor. There is a special snack (Tru chose cookies). He also gets to do whatever work he wants all day long. Tru was headed straight for Art as we walked out the door. Smart kid!
No comments:
Post a Comment