It's Elementary

"If help and salvation are to come, they can only come from the children, for the children are the makers of men." - Maria Montessori

It was a busy day today, with our youngest grades coming to the LMC for some stories and a book exchange.

The little ones are still excited by their library visits. They enjoy both the "true stuff" and the "made up stuff". They can barely contain their comments during listening time. Many of them beg me to sit and read their chosen books to them; when I oblige, a few friends drift over to join our impromptu session.

There is an astonishing range of skills evident: a few barely know their alphabet while others are already reading three grade levels ahead. Their classroom teachers are challenged daily to keep each child involved and motivated.

While I love my time with the high school classes, it is satisfying to be one of the grown-ups who shares books with the littlest scholars.

"Children learn to read by being in the presence of books. The love of knowledge comes with reading and grows upon it." - Horace Mann

"All children’s books are about ideals. Adult fiction sets out to portray and then explain the world as it really is; books for children present it as it should be." -Humphrey Carpenter