Bringing the World to Our Playground: Our International Festival
On Saturday, November 14, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM, Wayland Montessori families are turning our school playground into a celebration of the cultures, traditions, and heritage that shape our community. Each family booth shares a country, a culture, or a family tradition through clothing, music, crafts, and cultural objects. Then we'll gather around a shared potluck table, where each family brings a dish that represents their culture or family traditions.
Montessori learning moves from the concrete to the abstract. In our Children's House, children meet the decimal system through the Golden Beads. They hold a single bead, then a bar of ten, then a square of one hundred, then a cube of one thousand. Long before they work with large numbers on paper, they have held them in their hands.
Culture works the same way for a young child. In our classrooms, Cultural Studies sits alongside Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, and Mathematics as part of one integrated learning experience. At the International Festival, culture becomes something our children can hear, touch, and taste. A country becomes the music playing at a friend's booth, the pattern on a traditional garment, the photographs a family chose to share, and a dish brought from home.
The people sharing it matter too. Our children will spend the afternoon learning from families they know: their classmates, their classmates' parents, and grandparents. When a child's own family hosts a booth, the whole school gets to see and celebrate what that family treasures.
Families often tell us the close community is what they love most about Wayland Montessori. The International Festival is that community at its most joyful, with our families leading and our children learning from one another.
Wayland Montessori families are welcome to bring the friends and family they invite. If you're a family exploring Montessori education for your child, we welcome you to schedule a tour and see our classrooms for yourself.