Back to School

Miles missed 2 weeks of school, although with the Easter Holiday he actually missed 8 days. He was assigned some work to take on the trip with him. He attends a private Montessori elementary school where they value experiences outside of the classroom. As an educational approach, the Montessori method's focus is on the individuality of each child, respecting their needs or talents as opposed to the needs of the class as a whole. His teacher is a wonderful example to the children. She knows so much about so many topics and shares her knowledge with all the kids in the class. She is also genuinely interested in what each child is excited about. She was very open to the idea of Miles sharing the experience of this trip with the class. One week after we returned, Miles did a 90 minute presentation of his trip. He picked out the pictures he thought represented the trip the best to him and we made a picture board. He wrote a report outlining the trip and presented it to the class as well as explaining each picture on the board. He also brought Nori wrapped rice crackers and japanese cookies for the class to sample. He showed the class a japanese enamel tray and hand painted platter. He also brought a couple children's books. Lastly, we gave the class an origami lesson. Each child made a swan to take home. After the presentation, the children had many questions. These kids are so great, many raised their hands just to tell Miles that they thought he did a great job on the presentation. I heard a couple kids tell Miles that it was the best presentation they had ever seen. We brought back japanese bookmarks and yen coins for each child. It was a really great experience for Miles to realize how much he had done and learned on this trip. He did a great job sharing it with his friends and teachers.