When a Child Just Isn't Listening

Or are they?


A Montessori principle to which CGS adheres is movement separated from words. We read a passage from the Scriptures, then we move the corresponding figures; we make the gesture from the Mass, then we read discuss, make the gesture, read the prayer, make the gesture, and meditate on it. Only with older children do we bring the words and the movements together - in the case of the gestures, the child might be 5, but usually it is someone else saying the words while a child does the gesture.


I have a video of my son and two of my daycare children - all around age 2 - processing around our apartment with statues held over their heads, chanting, "Ah - la - la - la." It was SO beautiful! They were imitating what they saw at Mass. Then they went up and down a half-flight of stairs: "Ah - la - pause - la - pause - l - pause - a." Their little bodies had to focus on the stair stepping, then they continued to chant.

Didn't bother them any! As far as they heard in their minds it was a continuous chant.


Around this time, in the level 1 atrium, I was leading a presentation on the Last Supper. This was our second year, and we had had sessions through the summer, so some of the children involved had already seen the Empty Tomb. One young lady in particular, age 3 1/2 was attending atrium with me twice a week due to the timing of RCIA for her parents and another commitment on Sundays. On this particular morning, she sat next to me, with 4 other children in a semi-circle around the Cenacle. All of the children were entranced - and fixed onto every single word. This young lady COULD NOT HOLD STILL.

I kept quietly asking her, "Do you need to use the bathroom?"

"No - no." She kept saying.

But I thought for SURE. Yet she was so insistent and I couldn't get the attention of my assistant to come get her.

So I continued. But I thought something was wrong because her head started flopping around and her hands were bouncing on her lap - I was thinking seizure, tourette's, autism.... but it wasn't LIKE that. I placed my hand on her knee while continuing the presentation with the children and trying desperately to get my assistant's attention - to no avail.

When it came time to light the candles, she was absolutely still - gazing at the candles with a smile on her face.

I do not now recall how we ended the meditation and dismissed the children, but I do recall her dashing off to the art area. Ok, I thought - she just really wanted to do artwork and was impatient with me!

She was fine!

About 20 minutes later, she was STILL working on one piece of artwork. I observed her work from behind and I heard her talking under her breath. What I heard was astounding! She was reciting the Scripture passages from the Empty Tomb (heard 5 days earlier) and the Last Supper.

After a few minutes, she adjusted position in her seat and saw me; she started to speaking to me (and I cringed - thinking I had just ruined the moment!), narrating what was going on her picture.

Before I go on - I have to say that sadly the picture came up missing. At the end of atrium, I asked her mom if she would give me permission to send a copy to CGS NA. She said yes, but I didn't have a form on hand. We placed the picture on top of one of our shelves so I could get the permission form and copy the picture on Tuesday.

When we came back - it was GONE.

I am so thankful for the notes I DID take while she was speaking.


She drew a semi-circle with a straight line at the bottom for the tomb. It was colored mostly in black with yellow clearly trying to cover the center of the tomb.

Extending from the tomb she had what appeared to be a "speech bubble" and on it were two small shapes.

She had a crude drawing a figure in the middle of the page, all in yellow. There were two figures to the right and another just below them.

She had other bright colors. And while she speaking she added lines for the candles, with crude orange-yellow flames, but I get ahead of myself.

As I said, she was reciting the Scriptures to herself, over and over and over.

When she spoke to me it was with the following, spoken while continuing to draw and color and add - and occasionally look over at me while pointing to something:

• this is Jesus' tomb. He was buried here but He sure didn't stay. See Jesus in the cloth (pointing to a scribbled set of circles in the middle of the yellow section - she goes over it again) - this is Jesus with the cloth on. But it didn't stay. 
• THIS is the cloth (pointing to the "speech bubble"). And it has Jesus' Body and Bluuhd (I love how she pronounced it!). We use this cloth in church. On the altar. 
• It looks like bread and wine. 
• Someone is drinking the Bluuhd. Jesus life. 
• (added the lines pale yellow lines and orange-yellow squiggles for flames) We have the lights on the altar because Jesus is with us. The light was there too. 
• It wasn't really dark in the tomb because Jesus was there (said mostly to herself). 
• (pointing to the figures on the side) - The women going to the tomb. 
• (scrunches her face and pauses) No it's not. Well, it is. But - it's you and me.
• Jesus loves us so much. 
• He wants us to be with Him. 
• (adds some markings all around the Jesus figure in the middle)
• we belong to Him. He knows us. (recalling the Good Shepherd? were those shapes sheep?)
• (pointing to the two figures again) These are my sisters. Here's me (pointing to the figure in the corner. 
• I help them.
• (She pauses, looks at her picture for a moment. And adds the cross with a squiggle on it - above and to the left of the tomb)
• Jesus on the cross. 
• (Draws a figure below it.)  That's the girl. 
• (she continues to add colors in various places, filling the cross in brown). I quietly asked, not expecting an answer, "I wonder who the girl is."
• "She loves Him."

Tell me that child wasn't listening! She was listening so intensely, her body just shut down.

Those children who were outwardly listening and transfixed? They worked with other materials. But it didn't hit them as intensely as it did this young lady.



Food for thought.


Further food for thought: 
Almost all of what she said, I did not say in the presentation. I never said, "Jesus Body and Blood look like bread and wine." We didn't really "explain" the Scriptures too  much. We spoke beforehand about what it feels like when we are sick - we don't want to eat. But as we get better we get really hungry, because we are full of life again and we need food for our bodies to have life. One night, Jesus gave us a special gift that would become food for our souls." A *child* responded, "So our souls would be full of life!!!"
Yes! I said. Let's read what happened!

Early in the Morning My Song Shall Rise to Thee

Psalm 92:1-2 “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.”

Hm. See - a morning person I am NOT. Unless you count going to bed just before dawn giving love in the morning ;) And at that point I have been faithful all night! 

This image is far later in the day than it is as I write this! 

Our home schedules are shifted later in the day - our scheduled activities are typically mid-afternoon and later, with one online class late Tuesday morning for my son. We arrive back home from evening activities around 8 p.m. and I do NOT want to ship my son off to bed already. We both need our down-time, re-settle time, story-time, prayer-time, prepare for the next day, some quiet time before going to bed and sleeping restfully. So it is much closer to 10:00 for him. By then, my night-owl-ness has firmly kicked in and I work for several more hours - the number varies throughout any given month depending on many factors - but it can be assumed that I am most productive while burning the night candles ;) 

When I rise, usually about 6 hours later, I rise with the sun, and am well-rested and ready for a full, productive day layered in our built-in prayer times. 

So what does this have to do with the atrium? 

There are two things that get me out of bed in the pre-dawn hours of late. One of them is occasional enough to be only a minor nuisance (tae-kwon-do belt tests and tournaments) - but what could POSSIBLY get me out of bed so early in the morning that the birds haven't yet spoken - one day a week every. single. week. ???? 

As I type this, the rain is pouring down heavy, the clouds are so thick, I think the sun should be peeking around about now, but it is still just about pitch-black outside. And I am awake. And I'm ok with it, although that bed is still calling my name! 

The level 3 atrium starts at 9:00 this morning (the morning I type this - though I schedule it later) and I like to be there at least an hour early so that I can be collected and ready - and typically there is someone (a parent, a catechist, an early student) who wants my attention for something - and I want to be available for that and still have my own needs met. 

But I am so tired, I can't even eat, which means I likely won't eat until after atrium. So Sunday mornings are days of fasting for me. 

But what makes it all worth it? The children! Yes! Sharing with the other adults! Yes! 

But more than that? 

Stepping away. To a different place. A place out of time (just ask the children who are routinely dismissed at least 5 minutes late!). A place where the worries of the outside world have slipped away and I have no commitments except to BE. To BE with the children. To BE with the adults. To BE in the presence of God and simply serve Him in the immediate needs and relationships of those people around me. 

When I go back home, it is back to e-mails and orders and deadlines and post office issues (don't get me started! as I type this another early bird is sending me a message that her package appears delayed at the post office) and neighbor noise and traffic and bills and debt and clutter I just want gone and homeschooling and all those typical worries of the average American. We don't NEED all these worries - we just need to be present to people. Yet, I pile it all on myself. 

I pray, this Advent, that the spirit of the atrium will be allowed (by me!) to pour out into the rest of my life. That I can peacefully work through the issues at hand and truly BE PRESENT to those around me. 

That is the lesson I receive from the atrium every time I sacrifice my morning sleep hours. And it is so worth it. 

Thus on these mornings, I can truly sing, "Early in the morning, my song shall rise to Thee!"

Just as soon as I get the frog out of my throat ;) 

Blue Unity - versions

Several years ago, my catechists and I created this Blue Unity strip for the start-up of a new level 2 atrium:

At the time these photos were taken, the space photos were missing :( They've been found in the meantime!

Over the last 2 years, this material has been updated to include actual boxes of actual objects, and the photos have been substantially cut back - to the point that the material looks more like the suggestions in the materials manual.

Yes, I said "suggestions" ;) Because in an exploratory work like this, it is more important to offer "keys" in general than it is to offer the children a material you just don't have easy access to, thus choosing to NOT present, or to present but have the sense of the material not being authentic. The children pick up on anything that is not authentic - and they respond!  It is much less important to have a "perfect material" than it is to have a perfect heart-sense that you are presenting keys of exploration. If you have a photo of a piece of iron ore but no object of iron, you must still LOVE this material enough to present it in a genuine fashion.

Today, I reviewed this presentation with someone and we worked through updating just a few more of the materials - so it makes sense to everyone who uses it and it is easily utilized by the children. Frankly, the original organization was perfect ;) It is attempting to match a perfection that doesn't exist that causes problems, which are slowly being resolved.


I am looking forward to reports of wonderful success with this material again!

Parousia: Clues to the Mystery Found in the Bible

Two weeks ago, in our combined level 2 and level 3 atrium, some of the 3rd, 4th and 6th graders were with me doing a review of the gestures of the Mass and their significance. We made some connections between the gestures and what we pray for in the Our Father when we pray, "Your Kingdom Come."

The children then said, "This reminds us of the Parousia - that we are praying for Parousia to come now."

WELL. Our emphasis has always been that this history is a mystery - and any real mystery has clues to guide us. The clues for THIS mystery are found in the Holy Bible.

A small group of the children were really intent on studying Parousia. They asked so many questions and one of the children asked, "What other clues do we have about the Parousia?" AH! I have a material to answer just that question - I, as catechist, do not need all the answers - I just need to connect a child with a material and get out of the way of the Holy Spirit!

So, for those 4 children, a work called "The Holy Bible and Parousia" was pulled off the shelf and they explored it. This material is a set of Scripture verses from various books of the Bible, both prophets and apostles. The children are to match the Scripture passage with a title that seems to fit it. They can read them all from the Bible or all from the cards; there is one card that requires going to the Bible because it is quite a bit longer than the paper holds. The children chose to read them all from the Bible.

The prophets have no hair, the apostles do.
Why? Just to keep the symbols different. 

This work was not complete by the end of atrium, so they pulled it out again the following week. One boy made this chart as they worked:


He differentiated between the prophets and the apostles and he just wrote the titles. So as soon as I take back to the children photocopies of this chart, they will have a chart showing what topics the prophets and apostles spoke on when it comes to Parousia.

There are MANY more passages in the Scripture as clues to the Parousia - these are the twelve most prevalent.

I wonder how many more there are!






Sample of the material in another atrium - same idea:

History of the Gifts of God: A Twist

Last school year, we had a set of 3rd graders who had spent 3-4 years in the atrium (K and 1st grade in level 1 and 2nd/3rd grades in level 3). Due to a variety of circumstances, they were struggling a bit to work deeply. They wanted to do so, so very much.

One of the things the catechist introduced just for the oldest children was the use of communal prayer - the children ate it up!

Another insertion were command cards correlating with the Books of the Bible work, but that required them to pull out the full Bible, read and copy passages, and truly begin to analyze various components of the Bible and how they fit together. This was a work they took very seriously and the laminated cards with which they received instruction showed a beating by the end of the year!

And two girls in the after-school atrium planned a special treat for the atrium children towards the end of the school year. They took each card from the History of the Gifts and selected a food item corresponding with that particular gift.

They prepared note cards to tell the story and place the food items in place of the usual boxes and trinkets. When all was said and done, instead of a figurative "it was like a banquet prepared for the people", it was a literal "banquet prepared for the people!"

Parousia muffins - corn muffins with a cross drawn
with a sharp knife dipped in turmeric. 

star cookies, candy hearts

Had to have the French fries! see below!

Each of the children wrote a prayer
or an offering they could make on their own blank page

The funny thing is... it all started with the OLD History of the Gifts material. This is the original Gifts strip, made by myself and two catechists almost 5 years ago. But at the time, we put together just laminated images for each of the gifts, with very few objects. It's what we had readily accessible at the time. One of the photos, showing plant life that we use for food (vegetables) was yellow string beans.

The after-school atrium children usually arrived right after school, with many hours between themselves and lunch - and several were just plain hungry! One girl, who usually came a bit early and visited with me in my Montessori co-op room across the hall from her atrium commented that she "liked to get this work out because of the French fries." They made her less hungry somehow ;) Well, I didn't know WHAT she was talking about. I had to laugh when she showed me the photo - it could truly look like French fries to a hungry child! I did explain they were actually beans and much healthier than French fries. She didn't care, she just thought we should have a "French Fry-day" (instead of "Friday" since class was on Thursday at the time). Well, one thing led to another and soon enough she and her friend were planning a new History of the Gifts presentation complete with real foods, of which my son and I were privileged to help make some!

It was funny - but it was also very reverent! And it got the children thinking about the gifts of God in their own day to day lives - on a new level from just this grand presentation we give that DOES lead them to think in terms of their own lives - but somehow, this food thing made it that much more immediate. They were hungry! Physically! And, on this one day, they were nourished!


EDITING 9/12/13 - the girls who initially planned this presentation are 2 of my current 5th graders. They want to do it again! I am going to suggest real grapes with the crucifix - and maybe something bitter too - Death (bitter) and Life (grapes to symbolize the wine that becomes His Blood).

Creation Ramblings of My Own

Totally random thoughts expressed on Facebook to a friend:


We've been studying the work of creation - and its ensuing typology with the 9-12 year olds - it is all prompting a study into the Hebrew language - and I just found a resource to share with the children at the next couple of classes about the Hebrew language's use of the SAME word for "thing" and "word" - so what comes out of one's mouth is a something - God breathed into Adam (who came from "adamah") and He "said" (spoke) and creation came into being - and things were done (waters separated, etc) at this "Word" ----- short story to say - from the MIND of God, comes His WORD and BREATH that became ALL of creation.

So I wonder - if we come to truly know ourselves, would we then know the mind of God? Therefore, we will never truly-truly know ourselves until we are with Him in eternity?

I didn't even get into "bara" - the Hebrew word for God's power of creation, used only in reference to creation found in Genesis.


For reference, one site I found that I really like so far is here: Learn Hebrew - Words Matter

Atrium as Prepared Environment

The atrium is a prepared environment in the Montessori sense - an environment with everything a child needs for this plane of development - everything there is corresponds to his needs and nothing present that he does not need at one point or another in that plane.

In considering the various atrium spaces in which I "reside" at various times throughout the week and month, and those which I frequently visit - I hope to observe more carefully and intentionally the outcomes of the prepared environment. I found this in editing my primary Montessori album, and want to apply it to the atriums.

What about you, readers? Your homes? Your atriums? Your Montessori spaces? Do you see these outcomes? Not just in the children, but in the adults as well? If so, what a blessing! If not, what could be improved? What needs and tendencies of the children are not being met, that are blocking these outcomes?
Human Needs
Human Tendencies

Results of the Prepared Environment

                The results of the prepared environment are many and varied and are not limited to the following:

• functional independence
• acquisition of skills
• community and social cohesion
• care of the environment
• confidence
• competency-based self-esteem

-      not the 'I am special, You are special' false outer self-esteem

• respect

-      for other children

-      materials

-      other life

• peacefulness
• concentration[1]
• keen sense of developed order –

-      carries over into other areas of life

• feeling of security
• sense of belonging –

                to something outside themselves

• refined, graceful movements
• love for learning
• strong academic foundation

-      language, math

-      how the world operates (through sensorial)

• strong connection to reality
• able to follow-through – complete task
• responsible
• keen observers
• appropriate risk takers –

-      not afraid to make mistakes

-      secure and safe environment

• appreciation for nature
• appreciation of other cultures

-      and for other types of differences

• refined senses
• joy
• adaptability to new situations later

---

[1]  (“all learning depends on the ability to attend”)