Dear Friends,
Do you remember how you used to play? The world lent itself to your imagination. You never walked. You danced or skipped or tumbled your way from one place to another. No tree was just a tree. The red maple in my backyard had the power to make anyone who touched it invisible. If you have forgotten how to turn a bush into base during a game of tag, or how to transform the grass under the monkey bars into volcanic lava, come on by and visit The New School Montessori during recess. You will be reminded how joyfully our minds and bodies can metamorphose our surroundings into new planets, deserts, forests, and oceans. You will see students challenging invisible obstacles, bartering honeysuckle sticks for rock dust, developing rules to new games that constantly shift — break apart — and then rejoin.
It is a world too many of us have forgotten about, yet know deep down it is a world worth protecting. For nearly 50 years, The New School Montessori has provided the time and space for children to creatively play in nature. As far as I know, we are the only school in the city that offers a 45-minute outside play time for all 1st through 6th graders and nearly 2 hours for our 3- to 6-year-olds. We know firsthand how important this time is for social/emotional and cognitive development in children. We have known it for 50 years, and now there is plenty of research to back it up. As Einstein said, “Play is the highest form of research.”
Thank you for helping us honor this precious time and space by supporting updates to our play scapes. If you ever feel the need to hang upside down for a few minutes, or build a hut out of fallen branches, feel free to come on by. I’ll be there too. (You just might not see me with my hand on the red maple.)
Playfully,
Jeff