CABIN FEVER

THOUGHTS DURING A DAY I'M FORCED TO STAY INSIDE -AGAIN-BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER!

CABIN FEVER :

March is the time of year when our class is very much a little family. The newness of each other in the fall is over and long winter months spent inside bring a keen awareness of everyone's idiosyncracies. Cabin Fever starts to settle in and the children, especially the kindergartners, start to call attention to each others' faults. This is why I like to get on my "Be Kind" repeating theme in March. The children hear me repeat, "If you want a friend, you have to be a friend; if you want kindness, show kindness; to be respected, show respect; to be liked, be like-able, and to be at peace, be peace-full." It becomes my mantra, and I encourage it to become yours!

Kids can get on our nerves, too, when so many hours are spent inside and the TV only lasts so long. I usually have my grandchildren (ages 9,6,and 4) over during the summer when we spend every available minute at different beaches, but recently I had them over the weekend, one of those miserably cold weekends when we couldn't endure the outdoors for very long. Fortunately, when they became bored with a movie, I was prepared for inside activities by thinking of my own life as a child: we played marbles in the living room(I actually had to teach them how!); beaded necklaces and bracelets, then pulled them off the strings and started over again; spent half an hour each day reading quietly alone or to each other; each cooked part of a meal; and put puzzles together. The three-some did spend time outside, sliding down our hill and shoveling and playing with Sam the Basset. We went to church on Sunday and then had breakfast out in public. I knew the weekend couldn't hold a candle to our usual beach trips, but boy, was I surprised when the eldest called me up on Monday night wondering if I had packed the marbles for them because they wanted to play a game in their living room!

And finally, March is the season for prospective parents to come visit our classroom to see what Montessori education is like. I must confess, with several visitors per week, I always wonder what the children will be like, for one never knows how the day will flow. But the children prove over and over to me that they conduct themselves admirably and find a lot to do in the room. We just finished painting a paper mache "tree" for a play by the Ks for the end of the year celebration; we've seen an onslaught of map-making by the Ks recently, and the preschoolers have moved out of Practical Life and into the Language, Math and Culture areas of the room. Yes, everyone seems to be moving to a higher, more concentrative direction, and this is what the visitors are seeing.

Yes, Cabin Fever is moving towards the finish line and spring is starting to show with bits of grass and sunshine. I am eternally the type who sees the cup half full, and refuse to think the ice and snow outside my window today will stay for long.