Questa è la mia vita: Montessori Professor

Saturday morning was a lazy morning. Nick was feeling a little better, but not great. So, we did not have to be anywhere until noon, so we just relaxed and hung out! When we did leave, we had a nice walk to the office of a professor who is a Montessori expert. He teaches at the University in Rome, but also the satellite school in Gubbio. I have been speaking with him via email over the past few months, so I was really excited to meet him! It was a really nice day outside as well; the sun was shining, which made it beautiful, despite the colder temperatures.

When we arrived, we had to wait just a few minutes for him to finish the class he was in. When he came in, he was super friendly, and we started talking right away! Thankfully I had my translator with me becaus I immediately became frozen in my Italian, and then throughout the conversation there were things I would not have understood without having Nick there. I would have understood about 60% of it, but that would not have been enough to get all of the incredible ideas/thoughts he had for me. I started with the best question I had for him: Why is Montessori not very popular in Italy? This question opened up the floodgates to a lot of information and perspective that I feel very fortunate to have from one of the top Montessori experts in all of Italy. He talked to me about how the Americans (the Montessori people) have reduced Montessori to a method, which she would have never intended to happen! He feels very strongly that Montessori was ahead of her time, a brilliant and insightful woman, who was not meant to be viewed as a method. He feels that most of the world has now reduced Montessori to a method instead of looking at the ideas and writings of Montessori herself. He had a lot to say about Montessori and her writings/ideas/intentions. She really was a brilliant woman, but all that he had to say about her and the curent "method" that she has been reduced to, left me wondering if we should simply study Montessori as a theorist of sorts rather than a preschool "method/curriculum". It seems that this is how he approaches it these days. He said that you cannot just read Montessori, but you need to talk to experts, and these are becoming fewer and fewer, and training courses that lead to becoming a teacher in a Montessori school are becoming weaker and weaker. He said that they used to be life changing, and now they are viewed as a way to become certified and get a job. He suggested some things I could read, and I will certainly do this. He also talked about how Italian children will try to make irregular verbs regular, and it was fun to hear someone talk about language development in the same way we do! So, as an American child might say, "I goed" instead of, "I went"; the Italian child will do the same with their own irregular verbs. Anyway, the whole hour was just really interesting and insightful. It turns out that the lady from the school in Perugia is the other top Montessori expert, and these two just returned from a trip to China where they were asked to speak about Montessori and her influence. I was left with a lot of questions and thoughts, but I plan to email him, so that I have more time to think things through, and to translate them! Overall, it was an amazing opportunity to speak with him and get some much needed insight.

After this, we walked to the far away grocery store. The sun was shining and it was beautiful! Sweet Nick listened to me all the way there hypothesize about Montessori, child development, early childhood education, ece curriculum, etc. etc. He is so sweet to listen, ask questions, and offer insight when possible!! We bought a few more things at the store, and then headed back to his apartment for a light lunch and rest for him! Poor thing still was not feeling well! We watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" on dvd, and then he took a nap! I went to pack my stuff, and get organized.

After I did this for a while, I decided that I needed to get out of the apartment. Nick was sleeping, so I left him a note telling him that I was leaving. I just started walking, and took a random path that led me to a place we had been before (the place where we had to climb over the fence). It was beautiful because the sun was setting, so I was able to take a few pictures of the sunset over Gubbio!

Upside down, for my Nick Crown!

THEN, I decided to go to la piazza e' nostra to take some pictures.

It was a gorgeous sunset! I walked around and looked in the shops, and decided to buy something from the handmade stuff that they have in the different stores. Well, it is all hand painted and some of it says Gubbio on it. I bought a little thing that you might use with a tea set to put creamer/milk in when serving tea. It is painted navy blue onto a white background, and it says Gubbio. It is really small, but a nice, hopefully long-lasting memento from Gubbio!

When I returned home, Nick was still asleep! SO, I started washing dishes, which he specifically told me NOT to do...but let's be real...they were piling up! Then Anna Paola called to see how everything went, and we talked for a bit! I love her so much! I wish I could have her too! Then, Nick woke up and came down to join me! He was feeling a bit better and then we started goofing off. One of my favorite things about him is that we can be super serious, super academicy (my made up word....), have deep theological discussions, OR we can be super silly/ridiculously dorky, and incredibly funny!