Through the Generations

Thoughts & Reflections

A few weeks ago, we received a rather lovely email from a member of our community. He was interested in donating his mother’s sea shell collection. Primarily, he wanted to see if we would be receptive to the idea, and perhaps more importantly, he wanted to see if the sea shells would be put to good use.

Well, as you can see from the picture above, we happily accepted this beautiful, exotic and extensive collection of sea shells, which was accompanied by many great references books and classification cards. This has already become a treasured activity for many of our students.

As it turns out, this generous man was a Montessori student himself. Many years before, he had attended a primary classroom in Minneapolis. Of course, it was his mother who had sent him.

As he delivered the collection of sea shells, we invited him into the school. Walking through the classroom, you could almost see the memories come alive beneath his footsteps. Activities, long forgotten, suddenly seemed to call out.

This experience was a great pleasure for us on a number of levels, not least of which was seeing how Montessori extends beyond the classroom, and through the generations. Maybe one day in the future, one of our students will enact this same kindness in a new school, in a different part of the world.