Week 10, Term 2
“How much fuller and richer life would be if we saw the child in all his greatness, all his beauty, instead of focusing on all his little mistakes”
Maria Montessori
This week is all about reflecting on the past nine weeks of term.
What have you enjoyed most about it? The use of a notebook could be such a lovely tool to start using to note your thoughts and observations. Definitely a way to take time and a beautiful opportunity to role model to your children.
Things you might have learnt this term that we covered;
Montessori was a person. Dr Maria Montessori developed the pedagogy referred to as Montessori over a hundred years ago. The relevance of her teachings have not been lost over the years as she was ahead of her time basing all her works around child development. In fact much of her work is coming to the fore now as modern education starts to consider child development more in systems that were primarily set up to teach reading and arithmetic.
We delved into the importance of connection, recognising the needs of the child and ourselves. How consistency in our actions helps the child feel safe and free to learn.
Making arrangements seemed an odd topic until we uncovered how valuable conscious parenting is. Making decisions around values and family rhythm.
The child under three has what Montessori refers to as an Absorbent Mind. They don't have a conscious mind until they are three so all their learning is through absorbing the world around them.
We discussed how observing the child, not just watching, allows use to have moments of joy as we see the little ones make new discoveries that can otherwise be missed.
Every discussion reflected not just on the child but on us as the parent too. With the topic of big emotions there was an opportunity to find compassion for ourselves and the rollercoaster of emotions we can find ourselves on as parents. It also opened discussion on the unrealistic expectations of children managing their emotions and how often the adult's language can negate a child's emotions.
The term scaffolding was new to most in terms of parenting. We learned that it is a great way of viewing how we can support the child's learning by giving them support at the same time as freedom to discover, breaking down learning new skills into simple steps.
There was a lovely opportunity to reflect on the environments we all live in and how we can always connect to nature whether in the city or more rural areas. In turn we discussed how valuable the connection to nature is for us all.
Finally we paused; to reflect, to listen, to rest and to breathe. Paused before responding and paused before stepping in. Pausing is not doing nothing but, in fact, pausing makes us do everything a little bit better.
Thank you for your contribution to the community. Whether you are intending to return, choosing to leave or returning to work we wish you all well and hope that you were able to take some gems to use on your parenting journey.
Recipe of the week:
Something warming for the winter, Mushroom Gravy Pie with Garlicky Kale Mashed Potatoes
https://thefirstmess.com/2017/10/04/vegan-mushroom-gravy-pie-recipe/
Ingredients - serves 7
2 cups chopped kale
½ cups dry French lentils, rinsed
600g potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp milk
S&P
1 small onion diced
2 tbsp fresh herbs such as sage, rosemary and thyme
1kg of mixed chopped mushrooms
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp tomato paste
1 cup vegetable stock
1 tbsp cornflour
Optional; grated cheese
Method
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, drop in kale and simmer for 1-2 mins. Retrieve kale with a slotted spoon, place in a bowl and run under cold water before squeezing out excess water and putting it to one side.
Put lentils into the same pan of water, bring to the boil and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Put potatoes in a pan of cold water with 1 peeled garlic clove. Bring to the boil and sinner until tender, about 20 mins.
Drain the potatoes, add 2 tbsp of oil, 2 tbsp milk and plenty of salt and pepper, then mash until smooth.
Roughly chop the kale and stir into mash.
Preheat the oven to 180c and grease a 23x33cm baking pan.
In a large heavy pan heat 1 tbsp of oil and cook onions until soft and translucent.
Add 2 cloves of garlic minced along with the herbs and cook for 30 sec before adding mushrooms. Stir and place a tight fitting lid on the pot and cook for 2 mins.
Remove lid, season and stir before replacing lid for another 2mins.
Mushrooms should reduce in volume. Add lentils, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and tomato paste - stir well.
Add stock and bring the mushroom mixture to a boil. In a small bowl mix cornflour and 2 tbsp milk to combine before stirring into the mushrooms and simmer until the surrounding liquid is slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
Pour mushroom mixture into the baking dish and top with dollops of potato mash. Gently spread the mixture to cover the whole surface.
Drizzle over olive oil and pepper (grated cheese is also an option).
Place in the oven and bake for about 25 mins until the filling is bubbling. Cool slightly before serving.
