Whoops.

I actually forgot that I even had a blog. Seriously.

Let's see; I'm in my last week of classes (how did that happen??), and I can't wait to come home. I've absolutely LOVED being here, being so immersed in philosophy and discussions, but I miss my husband, plain and simple. And air conditioning. And my coffeemaker. And real food. But I will miss everyone I've met here, being able to go to Manhattan every weekend, the cool weather, and counting the most fireflies I've ever seen per square foot.

As my books and notes and more books are spread across my desk, it reminds me that I still have a lot to do before I leave. But hopefully next week, as I try to return to the real world, I can think back on this experience and reflect a little more. I need to keep this passionate and clear mindset when I'm in the thick of things during the school year.

Edison's Day

I love the video of Edison's Day (has anyone else watched this?). It's about a 20-month-old boy named Edison, and how he spends his day in his incredibly-Montessori home.

It's inspiring. :) And slightly intimidating.

That's all I've got time for tonight!

"Here's why babies are officially awesome."

I think that's what this course should really be titled.

Anyway, classes have been intense, but good. Seeing actual children in our environment was really great; I was amazed how comfortable the 5 infants seemed (ages 3 mo. to 11 mo.), even though they had 17 adults sitting in chairs and staring at them (but carefully avoiding eye contact, even if they were attempting to crawl through your legs). We had prepared the environment the night before in lab, so it was interesting to see what activities got used, and which didn't. We get to see most of the same children again today, so I'm curious to see what, if anything, changes about their interactions with the environment (and each other)!

Besides class... Friday we had the day off; of course I still woke up at the crack of dawn, and decided to at least be productive and do my laundry, so I could get into NYC at a decent time. Walking to the station took a little longer than I anticipated, but I caught a train with no trouble. I spent most of the day in the Museum of Modern Art... and it was amazing. I tend to gravitate towards modern art anyway, and this place at 6 floors of it. Chagall, Picasso, Van Gogh, Pollock, Klimt, Miro, Kandinsky, Dali, Warhol... and this neat performance art sort of piece, where the museum staff basically measures everyone's height, and writes the date and their name beside it with a black sharpie.

It created this cool effect that naturally emphasized the museum-goers' average height, with the outliers above and below.




(side note: while I was waiting in line to get measured, I actually found another Monica who had visited the museum already that very day! But she was shorter than me, so I figured I'd get my own measurement.)





























So after the museum and a really amazing latte, I had the splendid opportunity to visit the B. family! :) The girls used to go to our school back in Texas, and I've missed them so much since they moved back to NY. M. and S. seemed to have fun showing me their room, and Q. kept bringing me toys! Anyway, we walked to dinner nearby, and I had a really great time catching up with the whole family.

July 4th was a mix of me attempting to get some work done, and failing miserably. Eventually I gave up, and went out to dinner with some folks from the program. We drove to City Island, and ate at this really neat place with a quiet garden patio out back.



After we got back to New Rochelle, a subset of us walked out to the harbor to watch the fireworks! From our vantage point, we could actually see 6 different firework displays across the water, each for a different little town of the area.

Sunday was just plain productive. Fortunately, the weather was beautiful, so I spent a lot of time outside, too. :)

Anyway, I really have to get going, if I want to eat breakfast before class! Hope everyone is doing well, and I miss you all!

Told you so.

With the onset of Infant-Toddler classes, I have become much more occupied with assignments, typing up notes, and lots of reading and studying. Hence, the lack of daily postings. But I will try and catch up, at least once a week.

To summarize my feelings about the class so far... I'm loving it. We are starting out focusing on infants (though talk of toddlers always seems to come up as well), and it's just fascinating. I never knew what huge amount of development goes on just in utero, and how MUCH the newborn is already capable of doing and experiencing. The environment it is born into is SO important; of course the planner in me is already worrying about that for when Toby and I have our own children! But we won't get into that.

Our class is about 15 students, with 5 more joining us for the second half of the program (they split the training up into two summers). It's a nice size; small enough to feel like a discussion group, but not so small that I feel a lot of pressure to always contribute something. Over the next few weeks, we will get to go observe at the Burke Center a couple times, and one of our instructors has organized a trip to the NICU in White Plains.

We also will get to see actual children tomorrow, so I am looking forward to that! I miss the children at my school, and keep wondering how they're doing and everything! (Anyone want to take some pictures of them for me? So I'll still recognize them in August? :) Anyway, we have a few infants coming in (with their parents) so we can observe them in our environment. We're supposed to pay attention to what each infant is focusing on, and for how long, so we can learn not to interrupt a child's concentration (even as an infant).

In non-academic news, I spent the day in NYC on Saturday! We took the train in, walked around Times Square, Rockefeller Center, explored the Metropolitan Museum of Art, relaxed in Central Park, and I split off to spend some time with my cousin, Joachim. We had smoothies in Bryant Park and just caught up on each others' lives until yet another downpour ensued. Then I met up with a new friend from the program, and we grabbed a quick dinner at a Turkish restaurant in the Theater District and saw Mary Poppins! Awesome set design and choreography. Then we caught the train back to New Rochelle, and I slept really really well.

Anyway, I have to run for a full day of classes (including an extra lab this evening), so I'll leave you with some quotes.

“Be flexible… ‘cause you never know what’s gonna happen.” (Concerning interactions with infants and toddlers)

“Children reach with their eyes before they reach with their hands.” (Talking about infants' focus and attention)

"It's not so much what you do, but how you do it."