School Days

A couple of months ago, Orin started going to school.

I wasn't planning on starting him so early, but a friend of mine

knew a Montessori teacher who had just started up her own school

and was enrolling new students.

Orin and I decided to go check it out and fell in love with the place.

Here it is from the outside:

And the inside:

This is the classroom (angle one)

(angle two),

the kitchen,

and, most importantly, the fish tank.

It might have been the fish tank that sealed the deal,

or it could have been the fact that we both instantly adored

his teacher, Ms. Jessika, but either way, we were sold.

Orin has been going a couple times a week ever since.

The Montessori style emphasizes self-directed
(the children get to pick which "station" they would like to work at
and the amount of time they would like to work on a particular task)
learning through movement
and focuses on teaching children "real world" things
like cooking, gardening, and problem solving.
Here are a few pictures of Orin and his classmates in action:

I decided to finally post about his school today because

a. it was the first time I remembered to bring a camera

and

b. this afternoon was the class Valentine's Day party.

As soon as I arrived I was greeted by the
usual swarming mass of children

led by Orin, who later became way too interested in his pink cupcake

to sit for the class picture.

After we ate our cupcakes, there were valentines to share
and more candy to be eaten before we collected our little paper hearts,
washed the pink frosting off our faces, and headed home.

While Orin is not at school,
he spends his time monkeying around

or just hanging out.

More to come...