Reflections on Sussex Montessori’s April ParentCamp
Written by: ParentCamp Coach Jay Posick
It was an honor and a privilege to assist with Sussex Montessori’s most recent ParentCamp on April 25th. We had 35 attendees who began the evening with a chance to learn how to ParentCamp before moving on to the four sessions for the evening-
- Structure, discipline, order and natural consequences in the home and Montessori settings
- Empowering student voice- How to as for help setting boundaries, speaking out, and standing up for yourself and others
- Supporting students with IDEA systems (IEPs, 504s)- What is the process?
- Meeting student needs- supporting vs. enabling
Each of these sessions had strong conversations led by facilitators who kept the dialogue moving and this happened in both sessions of each topic. Choice and voice, along with an opportunity to spend as much time discussing a topic, provides all in attendance the chance to be heard. It always amazes me to see how the same topic can lead to different conversations when the group of individuals having dialogue changes. The facilitator uses the same guiding question but those in the group change leading to conversations that can be very different.
One example of this were the two sessions on supporting vs. enabling. I was able to listen in on the first session made up of individuals who weren’t spouses or partners. The conversation was lively and everyone shared their thoughts and ideas about whether they felt they supported or enabled their children. Honestly it appeared to depend upon the activity the child was taking part in. The second session was just plain amazing. While I did join, I didn’t stay for long once the participants, two pairs of spouses, had an enthralling conversation about supporting and enabling their children. The lively conversation had some good natured back and forth and all participants left smiling with a better understanding of themselves and each other.
Once the sessions were completed, we returned to the barn to have dinner and debrief from the evening’s conversations. We ended the evening with some great raffle prizes and a group picture or two. The Sussex Montessori ParentCamp team has a focus on providing great opportunities to connect about topics that are interesting to families and staff alike. We look forward to seeing you all on July 11th for our final ParentCamp of the year with a cookout!
On a related note, as we look forward to next school year, please mark your calendars for the four ParentCamp dates, all of which are Thursdays- October 24th, December 12th, February 6th, and April 3rd. We hope to see you there!
