On a completely separate note, i have been spending a lot of time in a Montessori school lately for observations for school. Bizarre. Completely bizarre. The first day left me totally bewildered as to the purpose of this type of education, but I will admit to backpedaling a little bit after this morning. The instructor today was very helpful, and he was careful to show all the students the purpose behind each “work.” (A work is a project that the kids work on during class. In first observations, they all looked like a bunch of games to me.) This instructor was very good about explaining how to use the projects, but also the goals that were supposed to be attained. Class #1 merely left the students to use them how they felt was appropriate (I guess independence is a key component in Montessori education), but I noticed that most of the students turned this opportunity into sheer playtime. It was also explained to me that all of the normal teachers are on summer break so the school is filled with subs. I guess this could also explain the total chaos that I have been experiencing there!