Turning the Key

We had our first "Parent Partnership"  meeting last Thursday.  We are focusing on Alfie Kohn's book, Unconditional Parenting, but also leaving time for guest speakers and Montessori education.  We will meet once a month.  We devoted the first third of the meeting to finding out what parents are looking for and to an overview of the book.  The last two-thirds of the meeting was an overview of the environment, with lots of pictures.  I sense that the Alfie Kohn material will provoke a lot of good discussion, as parents who were already reading the book had some emotional responses to the material.  Of course, the parents love seeing photos of their children doing the work in the environment and learning why it is important.  We showed many photos of children concentrating.  Concentration is so amazingly important to the child.  Once the child begins to concentrate, the real work of developing the intelligence can begin.  We guides have the responsibility to find the work that helps the child turn the key and open the door to concentration.