I’ve been having some conversations with individuals about what it means to choose challenging work, as well as what it means to find a work partner who inspires challenging work.  A few days ago one girl started working with lessons to help her learn multiples and she came up to me excited to recite the multiples of 7.

The other highlight of the week was talking with observers.  A couple had spent about an hour watching the classroom and afterward I had a chance to answer some questions.  The dad commented that it seemed that our community never has conflict.  For some reason this comment really resonated with me.  We definitely do have conflict among our 28 six- to- twelve-year-olds.  But the idea is that we help these young people manage the conflict – be able to say what’s bothering them, what they feel, what they need.  

Conflict in our lives is inevitable.  What we want to do is help our future generations learn how to navigate conflict.  Today’s observers didn’t realize that three older students were negotiating how to collaborate around a self-directed project to convert a novel to a play.  Of course, this negotiation happened amongst a whole classroom of students wholly engaged in their own pursuits.  Ah, the joy of Montessori.