The Gift of Patience

"Let us send the children out into nature to learn from nature just what patience is and how important it is for them to learn patience."

- Bernard Shaw

According to my dictionary, patience is “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset”.  In my experience, being patient is much more difficult when there is some kind of gratification involved as the end product.   In that case, waiting can become an endurance.  

In today,s western society, many young children struggle with patience.  They cannot wait and they demand instant gratification. They are used to being entertained and in some cases they get served upon instantly.  

The children at Montessori Children's House are taught the meaning of patience, not just knowing how to wait for something, but experiencing patience through hands on interactions and experiences.  Our children are given time and space to be outside, in nature, in our garden  to watch the birds, the animals, the insects, the flowers, the trees, the clouds, the wind, the rain, the falling snow, and everything else that is part of nature’s life theatre.  

They learn to be patient when they plant seeds, and wait for the seedlings to grow into plants with beautiful white flowers that grow into yummy red strawberries.

They wait patiently when they place food on the bird feeder for the wild birds to visit, picking the seeds, and giving a live show of tricks. 

They discover what patience means when they care for the lovebird who sits on the nest for three weeks, until they arrive at preschool one morning and find little hatchlings peeking from beneath mother bird.

They are patient when they observe the caterpillar turning into a chrysalis and one day emerge as a beautiful monarch butterfly. 

And the ultimate patience is taught when they plant an acorn and wait to finally one day identify a green sprout that resembles an oak!

Instead of playing with computer games or watching tv, commodities that deliver instant gratification, the children at our preschool are outside, engaging their hands, their hearts and their mind in the ever changing life theatre of nature.  Patience is a gift for life, our children deserve it!