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Letter From A Parent |
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When I met with Jan, I was crushed, bewildered, and I had no one to turn to. I had fought with the schools and I had grown weary of trying to keep my sweet son happy as he started to dwindle away. Jan smiled at me, probably feeling the anguish in my heart and she said that he would be welcome and she assured me he would fine. Well, she was right and how great these past three years have been. Each educator over the years has stood by his side cheering him on as he started to blossom into the intelligent young man I knew he could be. My son has become wise, kind, and most of all humbled by the family he has in all of you. I have watched the middle school grow; I have watched children who had no direction become self-learners. I have watched children who did not want to learn, start to help others who did not quite get it. I have watched you take hold of all these children and not let go of trying to develop new ways for everyone to be an achiever. I have watched educators take children aside who were acting out and instead of pulling them aside and telling them all the things they did wrong, they asked them why they did what they did and how could they act differently and how would they want others to act towards them. This was asked in a question and not a command. These children today have become respectful, calm, and wanting to learn with everyone else. They have become my son’s friends and in the few years the teachers worked with them, they have become independent thinkers and much better young adults. I know sometimes it seems that many parents don’t understand what is going on, but they are like I was three years ago, a little confused. I was educated in a private school, a strict, private, conventional school. Montessori is much different and unless the parents came to meetings, parent nights, and get-togethers they would not have the benefit of seeing that the difference is good. I have watched in awe at the time the educators take with the children to make sure they can reach the goals that they set out for themselves so, at some point they can reach higher goals without even knowing. My son is in the planning stages of college already, as you already know. He wants to do whatever he can to help the environment, build grand airplanes, buildings, and communities that help orphans. He wants to study ways to change education and in doing this, he will make sure all orphans have a good education so they can succeed in life. He wants all the countries’ leaders to get together and try to figure out their differences so everyone can get along. Sound familiar? This sounds a lot like what he has been taught at Island Village. The children are taught to be independent thinkers, they are taught to think beyond the basic core classes to the world around them. The children are taught the valuable lessons of life skills so they can make the world around them a better place. They are taught that they can achieve as long as they put their minds to it. I know I play an important role in my son’s life, I know he can succeed and I stand by him through everything. I know, though, that he has learned the most valuable lessons at Island Village. He, like the other children who want to learn, have been taught to be self-directed learners, they have been taught to respect others and themselves. They have learned that the educators around them care about who they are and who they will become. Our children are faced with so many more challenges then we were faced with, they are forced to succeed at a higher level then ever before. It is wonderful that you have created this learning environment away from the chaos and at the same time ahead of the demands of our children. You have lived up to what you talk about all the time; you have lived up to helping our children succeed as independent, accelerated learners. Where else would my son find a language arts teacher who helped him find his talent and encourage him to keep going because she knew what he was capable of. Where else would my son find a principal who just hangs out to chat and who listens with excitement at his many, many ideas and dreams, who encourages him to expand on these ideas until they become a real world vision. Where else would he find a math teacher who has stood by his side and helped him with math through lunch and who kept telling him not to give up. His math teacher taught him eighth grade math and ninth grade math, and was even willing to work over the summer. There is truly a difference between teaching children to learn just to get by and move on in school, and teaching children to look beyond the words and numbers in front of them. The child that learns grammar and decides he can be a writer has a great teacher. The child who learns history, and is asked to create a land of culture, religion, vegetation, trade, and government, and who continues to create far after the assignment is over, has a great teacher. The child that is taught Benjamin Franklin’s theory on electricity and builds his own experiment using batteries, wires, and basics in electricity has a great teacher. The child who struggled in math and is now two grades above his level, and who wants to be an engineer has a great teacher. It is how the educators at Island Village look at the children and their possibilities to make it a uniquely wonderful school. We will miss you, Kym, and the many wonderful educators at Island Village. Please don’t ever give up and always remember those children who have excelled beyond what they would have anywhere else. Remember that your vision is an important one and so many of our unique children need you. Take care Kym and know that my son and I are never far away, SC
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