The Children’s House, Part 2

Right, so by now you know that Faye works at a Montessori Kindergarten.

Periodically, I come to visit in order to a.) see her in her place of work and b.) take photos of her children for scrap-booking purposes. I enjoy the opportunity mainly to see her daily life in action (a career much different than my own) as well as contribute a little something to the organization.

I’ve become such a common figure that I’m now well acquainted with her boss, fellow teachers and assistants. They’re intriguing people — but then again it takes a special type to move half-way across the world just to teach kindergarten while making an able life for yourself.

Montessori is a unique teaching philosophy. The gist of it is, in a nutshell, enabling children to be independent in an environment designed to maximize their interests and curiosity. As the promotional poster observes, “The best time for a child to learn is when he/she wants to,” or my personal favorite, “What do you mean I cannot touch? Touching is the way I learn.”

Responsibility is a key concept — children prepare their own snacks, and must clean up (to the best of their ability) their own messes when accidents occur. And boy they happen.

The school is a warm environment. I envy the kids (normally between 2-6 years of age) for the experience. It is structured but not in a way that gives you the feeling the kids are being denied their childhood or having too much knowledge forced upon them at such a young age.

Anyway, here is a few select images from Faye’s class:

On a personal note, I must note that it is indeed very hard to take respectable shots of the entire classroom without having the quality feel “snapshot’ish.” Wide-angle lenses do not remedy the situation. Tight-in or panned out, it’s a struggle to capture the “big picture” in a confined environment.

Further, working with young children is a keen reminder how intimidating my Cannon 70-200mm L lens is to many people. Undeniable image quality yes, but it’s a lot to have shoved in your face.

I took more than an hour before the children were quasi-comfortable with my presence.

(Or maybe they’re just better judges of character than we “adults” give credit for.)

April 17th, 2009 in Journal, Photography | No Comments »