Sometimes My Daughter's School is a Little Weird

TinyE goes to a wonderful Montessori school near downtown St. Paul. For the most part, we have been really pleased with it and with her development there. She starts Kindergarten in the fall, and Mrs. Duf and I both agree that she is ready for the next challenge.

But there are some things about it that are a little weird. Some examples:

Kids like TinyE who don't take naps are given "studio time" in another room so they won't bother the kids who are resting. At least twice a year, my daughter acts up in Studio (maybe she needs a nap) and the punishment is no studio the next day. For those of you who don't know much about toddlers, punishments the next day are not terribly effective.

Another example - three or four times a year we have family nights, a way to bridge school and home by having parents come to the school. On family nights, parents and kids usually do a craft together, and the crafts usually benefit the classroom (a mural or some such thing). The last time we did this, we made artworks related to rivers, and I kid you not, among the itmes we could use to craft our art were buttons, small sticks, and (wait for it) bits of broken glass.

No, I'm not kidding. They weren't terribly sharp, but still c'mon.

Last example - as a craft, the kids made walking sticks to bring home. The walking sticks are three feet long. Our house is not a museum, but a child and a stick is a bad idea in most environments. I know this now.