The Children's Meeting House Montessori School community will celebrate International Peace Day by participating in Pinwheels for Peace.  Each student will make a "peace pinwheel" as a symbol of their role in creating a peaceful world.  Pinwheels will be planted by the whole school on Friday, September 21 at 11:00am.   Parents and community members are welcome to attend this peaceful celebration!

Dr. Maria Montessori, educational philosopher recognized children as the redeeming factor in the evolution of humankind. In order to bring about a world of peace and tolerance, she believed it was important to teach peace early. Having a peace curriculum in the Montessori classroom is a sure way to prepare your children to be peace-seekers. Dr. Montessori said “…we must gather together all the elements of the world and organize them into a science of peace.”

The essentials for peace education are inherent in every level of the Montessori curriculum.

• Ages 3-6: Continent and Peoples of the World studies provide a global view of life and humanity’s part in it.
  
  
• Ages 6-12: This is the age of reasoning, abstract thinking, and an imaginative state of mind. Students continue their study of Peoples of the World, learning about the Fundamental Needs of Humans. They learn that the fulfillment of these needs varies by not only historical time periods but also by geographic location. Montessori students begin to realize that they are not separate from the rest of the world, but are an integral part of creating a harmonious world.

Montessori believed education was the most powerful and universal way through which to reconstruct society; a way to transition from war to peace. Therefore, it is necessary to think of education as peace, not education for peace.

At Children's Meeting House Montessori School faculty and staff realize that it is not enough to simply talk about peace. creating an environment that will promote the development of peaceful individuals is essential. Joined by parents as partners in their children's learning, CMH is a school community that strives to create peace in our lives, in our home, and in our workplace.

"As significant adults in our children's lives, we hope to constantly model peace in our interactions with each others," states Dana Dale, 9-12 teacher at CMH. She continues, "We are teaching and nourishing the peace keepers of the future."