Rug Etiquette

School is in full swing, and Ian is loving it!!! It's incredibly difficult to get ANY information out of him which is really frustrating. But, I did eventually find out that Tuesday he learned about the classroom rugs.

I'm sure that sounds weird. Allow me to explain. At his school the kids don't work at desks. Part of the  Montessori method is embracing the fact that small children learn best while in motion. Their young bodies truly need movement in order to learn. So instead of sitting at a desk while working on a lesson, children have rugs they lay on the floor and that is their work space. Personally, I adore this! Can you picture your child just sitting in one place while they played with their toys? No way! They need to move around, so why expect them to be any different when learning?

The rug is sacred space in the class room. No one is allowed to walk on or across someone else's rug. No one is allowed to touch any of the materials on the rug unless invited by the rug's "occupant." The rugs are stored rolled up in a basket. In order to use a rug, the children carry it under their arms to where they want to work, unroll in, and then roll it up again and carry it under their arms back to the basket when they are done.

I had Ian give us a lesson on rugs, after I finally realized he'd learned about the rugs. He even invited Eli and I to join him on his "rug."

A little lesson in rugs before school this morning.