Teacher

It is said that we can learn much from children. Maria Montessori, in fact, designed her schools around multiple-age groupings, with the intention that the children learn from one another. Is the following "teachable moment" what she had in mind?

Her parents were late in getting to the bus stop after school, so the driver asked if the 5-year-old could get off with my girls.

Despite the four-year age difference, she was having so much fun playing with my daughters that I told her parents there was no need to rush over here to pick her up.

So I gave them a snack. While they were eating at the kitchen counter, I went to the other room to get a bottle of water for myself. After having been gone for less than a minute, I returned to overhear a single-track conversation. Rather, instruction:

"Ass," she said. My girls dutifully repeated, in unison: "Ass."
"Ass," she said again. My girls again repeated: "Ass."
And they said it all over again.

Surprised at what I was hearing, I asked: "What are we talking about?"

The five-year-old said, "Ass is a bad word."

"Yes, it is. But why are you saying it?"

"Well, I was just telling the girls."

Sigh... Yes, even [my] children have so much to learn from the young.