Clearing Obstacles

"Before elaborating any system of education, we must therefore create a favorable environment that will encourage the flowering of a child’s natural gifts. All that is needed is to remove the obstacles. And this should be the basis of, and point of departure for, all future education." - Dr. Maria Montessori

Dr. Montessori left detailed instructions in creating a prepared environment for holistic education for small children. Her philosophy for the education of Erdkinder (children of the land) is in all but 3 appendices of From Childhood to Adolescence. 

This means there is a lot of interpretation for setting up a prepared environment for work and study on the land. She taught that we shall be good stewards and respect the habitat of each living thing. She offered frameworks for organizing tasks and tools logically similar to a chef's mise en place for effectively focused work. 

One result of our modern-material era is overwhelm. This is the time to re-evaluate our values and re-structure our approaches. 

​As we approach the farm with stewardship and preparation of the environment, we are creating lists and images of our goals for our projects on the farm this school year. Here is a guide I offer to consider acknowledging & clearing obstacles to our own lifelong education development. 

I will be sending forth drawings of our lifelong-learning discoveries, and hopefully you will, too. You are invited to tag @joyful.plant and #lifeschool #erdkinder #stewardship, etc. (We could create a list of key terms that guide our learning., keeping in mind your central question to your education mission.)

Pura Vida, 
​Elise

Clearing Obstacles Guide