Grace, Courtesy and Peace

In the Montessori classroom you will hear the term Grace and Courtesy often. This is what Maria Montessori titled the lessons which focus on our social interactions in the world around us.  The lessons can include taking care of our bodies i.e. how to blow our nose, cover our cough, ask for/seek out something to eat or drink. As well as how we wait our turn to speak, how we greet a friend, how we move in our classroom, what to say if we bump into someone.  We ask children often to say 'please' and 'thank you', but do we often stop to show them an example and explain why we do this?  Grace and courtesy lessons break down the steps for a young child to practice and then use naturally with success, making our classroom community a harmonious place to be! 

Peace is something we cultivate in our classroom in order to spread peace throughout our home, town, and someday the world!  We find peace within ourselves by learning how to find quiet, away from noise and distractions.  We offer peace to our friends by respecting their space, bodies, emotions and mind.  We cultivate peace in our relationships: how we speak to one another, how we only use our hands for helping, not for hurting.  Dr. Montessori believed that by cultivating peace in the young child we could work towards peace in our world. It is not connected to a religion or belief system, but rather connected to being human and sharing our beautiful planet with one another.