We Need Peace

"Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war". Maria Montessori
 

It’s small but so important. This is our little peace table. Every Montessori classroom in the world has one. Peace Education is a fundamental part of the Montessori curriculum and is given the same importance as Math, Language or any other subject.

The Peace Table is a place where children go gather their thoughts, think about a problem or discuss a conflict with their friends; they often find something on it that brings them calmness, like a Zen garden, a stress ball or a beautiful art piece. They’re free to sit, lie down or even sleep on the special rug that usually lies here if they become relaxed enough (and often do).

The Peace Table isn’t time-out, the teacher can’t send a child there who is misbehaving. It’s a place the child goes to voluntarily, he/she is given lessons on how to meditate, how to make silence, how to understand his/her own feelings and how to share thoughts like sadness, frustration, anger, etc. Complex concepts like empathy, community, justice, and love, are introduced during these lessons, and it's amazing how quickly and clearly young children understand them.

I could write a whole other post about how much I’ve learned about peace from the children, and the list of definitions is endless: once a little boy told me Peace was when he finally found shapes in the clouds; another one said Peace was when her baby brother stopped crying at the mall. Ask a child what peace means to them, get into the conversation early, why does it matter, how can we achieve it?

This September 21st is International Peace Day, but instead of the usual white doves, peace signs, and other crafty activities, I will do my best to make sure that the peace table is used often this school year.

I will try to give the children the lessons of life that are most important: learning to love themselves, and sharing that feeling amongst their peers; like giving a hand when another is in need, like speaking up when they think someone (even the teacher or a parent) is wrong, finding beauty in our differences, in nature, in the mundane. But I will also let myself be inspired by them… we all need it this year.

“The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind” Dr. Maria Montessori