Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

"The child loves us with all his heart and follows us with all the devotion of which his little soul is capable; nevertheless, he has something within himself which governs his inner life: it is the force of his own expansion. It is this force, for instance, which leads him to touch things in order to become acquainted with them, and we say to him "do not touch;" he moves about to establish his equilibrium, and we tell him to "keep still," he questions us to acquire knowledge and we reply, "do not be tiresome." We relegate him to play at our side, vanquished and subdued, with a few tiresome playthings. He might well think, "Why does she, whom I love so dearly, want to annihilate me? Why does she wish to oppress me with her caprices? It is caprice which makes her prevent me from developing the expansive forces within me, and relegate me to a place among vain and wearisome things, merely because I love her."

-Maria Montessori, 1918

To celebrate Valentine's Day in the Children's House, the children prepared a special snack of Linzer tarts. In true Montessori fashion, the children set the tables with real glass cups and plates, and prepared their own cookies. When they were finished, they washed their own dishes and joyously swept the floors and cleaned the tables.