The True Tale of Casa Two…
… and the adventures of the 2019-2020 school year. Some might read this and think it is fiction but it truly happened!
As we enter each new school year, we never know what to expect. Children grow immensely over the summer and classroom dynamics change. Ms. Zoe joined us and new children, some who had never been in a Montessori classroom. We spent September settling in and getting to know each other. Everyone worked to make a contribution to becoming a Casa 2 community. October brought exciting times: glass and water in our Practical Life area. Never question the sheer joy this brings a Casa classroom! It is amazing to watch their attention and care to ensure they don’t drop anything! Our annual Halloween party was met with excitement: Casa 2 does like to dress up and participate in a party! We had our first field trip in November to Pedro St James and the children (as predicted) loved the ride on the bus and wanted more! We enjoyed our run-up to Christmas and loved all the arts and crafts we did and practicing for our concert. We were tired and were looking forward to our Christmas break!
2020 began with us just loving being back after all the fun and excitement of December. We settled into our little groove and January was going great: Lots of learning, fun, interactions. On January 28th our world was literally rocked by an Earthquake that hit Cayman. It was surreal; we all looked at each other and said “Get under the tables now.” The children were amazingly calm. In February we visited the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park and learned about amazing local fruits and plants and a new dance!
So we thought our 2020 surprises were over and we settled back into school… not so! Covid-19 snuck up, and who would have thought that on Friday, March 13th, we would have our lives transformed! If we had known then, what we know now, we would have just enjoyed our class being together for the last time this school year.
Although remote learning was a huge learning curve for us all, we felt connected not just with the children through the screen but their whole families. Whilst Montessori is very hands on, we learnt to adapt with paper versions of our materials and proved that Montessori children are adaptable and creative.
Whilst we are sad we didn’t get to finish our year together in the classroom, we are so very grateful for your support and words of encouragement whilst we all learned to adjust to our new normal. Thank you Casa 2 for being so resilient during a very unusual and unforgettable time in our lives!