Be Like the Little Children

Back when I was a catechumen, I nannied for a family with 4 daughters (now 5).

     One evening, I was standing in the living room talking to their mother when the youngest at the time (she was 2 1/2) came up to me and started pulling on my arm. She was saying something, but I don't know what it was.
     Finally, I pulled myself away from her mother and knelt down next to her to see what she wanted. She placed a grey Crayola colored pencil on my forehead and said, "The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit." She then did the same on each one of my hands. And that was it.
     I think we can all agree that a 2 1/2 year old child is incapable of rationally understanding the concept of being a catechumen and the theological significance of those outside of the Church needing to receive the gift of Holy Spirit in order to become a part of the Church.
     Maria Montessori tells us 2 1/2 year olds are still working with an unconscious mind. They don't deliberately recall information in order to make connections between situations the same way an older child or adult capable of logical, rational thinking can (more of her discussion on the unconscious absorbent mind can be found in her book The Absorbent Mind*).
     So what compelled this little child to do what she did? How did she know my status in the Church and what was still needed? A spiritual father would be able to answer that question much better than I, I'm sure. For me, remembering this experience drives home all the more that inner spirituality of the child. It's there from birth, from conception even, as St. John the Baptist and St. Sergius of Radonezh's examples of spiritual exclamation in utero would suggest.
     To me, this mystery of the child's spirituality it is one of the greatest mysteries of our Faith. Maria Montessori wrote an entire book dedicated to what she called the Secret of Childhood*, a common theme in all of her writings. She observed the children engaging in activities, especially those with spiritual elements, and becoming completely lost to the world. In it, but not of it. Become like little children indeed.
     I don't mean to place Montessori on a pedestal next to our spiritual fathers, as if she has the all the answers to understanding and educating our children's spirituality. How could she? How can anyone, really, for that matter.
     I do believe that she cannot be matched in terms of her understanding and response to the physical and mental development of the child. However, she was only ever able to see half of the big picture of the spiritual component. What she observed is human life. God created all life, therefore I see no reason her observations can't be considered valid. However, her conclusions do not carry the entire weight of the Faith. That, in my opinion, is what Catherine has rectified in her work, inasmuch as any lowly man is able. How important that is, now in this world, for us to be able to educate all components of our children's development with constant reference to our Faith. And how beautiful.


*The Absorbent Mind and Secret of Childhood are two of Maria Montessori's classic works. I would suggest reading the Secret of Childhood if you're more interested in anecdotal explanations of her work, and The Absorbent Mind only if you're feeling very philosophical and open to wading through seeing her interpretations in light of her historical time period (1870-1952), her status as the first female doctor in Italy, the fact that she met with a lot of resistance in her work and thus felt she had a lot to prove (which she did), and the fact that her works were in Italian so we also have to consider the translator's interpretations of her work as well.
   

2012 Clergy Laity

     Last week, I had the pleasure of assisting Catherine Varkas in exhibiting her course, Orthodox Christian Spiritual Formation, at the 2012 Clergy-Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.


     We enjoyed meeting a number of priests, educators, parents, and representatives of Greek Orthodox churches from around the country. They shared stories of their children and their parishes, relating both the good and the bad that they've seen, and they shared with us in our desire for an approach to teaching the Faith to our young children that truly transmits the beauty and essence of our Faith.
     Our particular approach to transmitting the beauty and essence of Orthodoxy to the young children (3-6 year olds) is based pedagogically on the methodology and observations of Maria Montessori and Sophia Cavaletti, theologically on the teachings of the Fathers of the Orthodox Church, and has been refined over the years by Catherine's dedication to the child and to the Church.
     My task at the congress was to relay who Orthodox Christian Spiritual Formation is, what our curriculum includes, where we're located, etc, etc...so of course, over the course of the few days we were there, I began to feel like something of a broken record, as I pretty much recited the same little speech in some fashion to everyone who approached us.
     It went a little something like this:


"We're a teacher education center that provides teacher training for Sunday School, preschool, kindergarten and homeschool teachers. It's a hands on, experienced based approach to teaching the Faith to young children. This curriculum is a three year curriculum for 3-6 year olds that basically groups preschoolers and kindergartners together and works in the context of a once a week Sunday School classroom or daily preschool or homeschool setting. We offer a course at Hellenic College every June. It's 90 hours spread across 10 days, and it teaches how to interact with the young child and how to give every presentation that the 3 year curriculum contains. If there's a demand for it in your parish or metropolis, we can also come to you."


     If the person engaged in a conversation with me, I usually got around to sharing how it's also a catechism for adults because in order to teach the Faith, especially to young, impressionable children who retain everything they hear and see, you have to really know what you're talking about beyond what you're actually saying.
     For example, in my previous post about the boy who wanted to go to the Mystical Supper, if the teacher hadn't understood that the Holy Communion works outside of time and is truly the Mystical Supper, she wouldn't have been able to respond to his statement the way that she did. He wouldn't have come to that realization and understanding that brought him so much joy.


     I also liked to share how when I work with the children, sometimes they end up giving me a much deeper understanding of the Faith than I was trying to give to them.
     And wouldn't you know, it happened at the Congress.


     There was this 3 1/2 year old boy who was just smitten with all of the materials we brought. He came over and at first was a little hesitant, so I told him he could touch what he was looking at. He started kissing the icon figures on the table, and asking about the angel. We chatted a little bit about Pascha before he went over to the model Holy Table.
     I was all set to show him what was there and give him a sort of abbreviated lesson because of course, I was the adult who knew everything, and he was just some 3 1/2 year old kid who didn't know what anything was and was just going to start playing with the materials if I let him be.
    However, he quickly reminded me that I know a whole lot less than I think.


    Before giving me the chance to do much of anything, he turned and raised the Holy Gospel, opened it and read it, and set it upright on the Table. He "lit" the candles, he scooped up his imaginary Prosphoron and placed it in the Holy Chalice, he poured hot water (which we didn't have represented on our model Holy Table) into the Holy Chalice, he mashed the Holy Spoon down into the Holy Chalice (the same way the priests do) and brought everyone Holy Communion, he brought around the Blessing Cross for everyone to kiss, and on and on, motioning every little detail he could remember from the Liturgy (which amounted to much more than I could've remembered), all without saying a single word, before putting it back exactly the way he found it.
     And all the while, he was absolutely sincere and solemn. He wasn't playing a game. He wasn't silly or disrespectful. He was engaging in something, experiencing something that everyone on the outside just couldn't fully see. 
     It was beautiful, and it relayed the intensity of the child's inner life in a way that I could never convey with words.

Everybody Knows How to Love God

A few days ago, I was sitting in a classroom at Hellenic College and listening to Catherine Varkas give a lecture on Baptism, the nous, and the spiritual nature/development of children.
     She started by simply quoting the Philokalia, "The spiritual faculty, the nous, of the baptized infant knows God through immediate experience".
    We all sat and tried to absorb that concept, contemplating the many ways it presents itself in our Church and in our work.
    This is a lecture I've heard more than once, as this is the third time I've sat in on the Orthodox Christian Spiritual Formation course, but every time I hear it, I receive it differently, with different impressions, observations, and questions.
     This time, I internalized a spider web of connections between that quote from the Philokalia, Father Meletios Webber's book Bread & Water, Wine & Oil, the letter Montessori dictated on her death bed, and something a 3 year old once said to me.
     Father Webber writes that "fragmentation within the human personality is observed essentially as the division between the mind and the nous".
     Montessori urged teachers on her death bed to "protect in [the child's] development those natural energies implanted in their souls by the guiding hand of God". Protect. Not enlighten. Protect.
     I once left work (a Greek Orthodox Preschool) during my lunch hour to run up the street for confession. Since I was going to church, I changed into a dress, and when I came back, I didn't have time to change again. Of course, the children noticed. One in particular was very curious about it, and the following conversation occurred:
          "Miss Anna," she asked, "why did you change your clothes?"
          "Because I went to church."
          "Why did you go to church?"
          "I went to see Father for confession."
          "What's confession?"
          "Well, I talked to Father, and he told me how I could love other people better and how I
           could love God better".
    Here she stopped and looked at me with a confused look on her face before saying,
          "But everybody knows how to love God. You know how to love God, Miss Anna."
       
     The child isn't fragmented. Not like adults are anyway. Her mind and nous exist in harmony within her. She comes to us this way. She experiences God before she is even old enough to recognize anyone other than her mother, and even her she recognizes only by sensation. She is a child, and yet she inherently loves God so much that she can't fathom that someone wouldn't know how. And that is indeed something that I desire to protect in every child.

I Wish I Could Be There

     Earlier this year, we did a presentation of the Mystical Supper work. We sat down on the rug as a group, and listened while one of the teachers read about the Mystical Supper from the Holy Gospel.
     After she finished, she took out 13 icon figures - 12 disciples and Christ, a table, and small models of a chalice and loaf of bread.
     As she read the Mystical Supper passage again, she moved the icons around the table while the children sat watching intently. There were 15 children, and not a single one made a sound.
    Even after the conclusion of the presentation, everyone sat stilly and silently for a few moments before one child, a 5 year old, stood up and somberly said,
     "I wish I could be there."
   The teacher walked over to our Holy Table work (used to teach nomenclature for all the items we see in church), picked up the model Holy Chalice and said to the child,
      "But you are there! Every Sunday, you get to go to the Mystical Supper."
    I wish I had a pure enough heart to approach Holy Communion with the kind of joy that illumined his entire being upon hearing that.

The first time the teacher reads the Gospel passage, she reads it from the Holy Gospel itself, with a candle lit and making the Sign of the Cross before and after. The second time, when she reads while moving the icon figures, she uses this Scripture Booklet, which contains only the passage that is needed for this work.
That way, when the child does the work, those that can read can read the relevant Scripture to themselves or ask an older child or teacher to read it for them.

Orthodoxy in the Montessori Classroom

          A Montessori environment is concrete. It's experiential. It's full of beautiful things for the children to touch and explore, and so is our church. The children get to kiss icons, light candles, smell fragrant incense, and participate fully in our church using all the faculties of their bodies.
          In the Montessori 3-6 year old classroom, the children frequent activities known as Practical Life activities, which are indeed exactly what they sound like.
         They are based in the practical actions made in life such as pouring water, squeezing sponges, scrubbing tables, tying shoes, dusting, etc. Anyone who has ever observed a Montessori classroom has surely seen children doing these things, and perhaps, if no one had ever explained it to them, were befuddled by the seeming futility of the activities. I'm sure many parents peek through windows of Montessori classrooms and walk away thinking, "they want $15,000 a year to let my three year old run around pouring beans?" Because of this impression many have, I would be remiss not to mention that the actual point of these Practical Life activities isn't to aimlessly occupy them. These materials exist to bring the young child's awareness to his hands, to their ability to move, and his ability to master their movements. They allow him to focus intently on his work and thereby develop concentration. He has to decide whether to cut the flower stems and place them in the vase before or after filling the vase with water - a choice. He has to consider his entire body and a complete sequence of events while trying to complete one seemingly simple task. I could go on and on about Practical Life, as what I've mentioned barely begins to cover the vast importance of the most central area of the 3-6 classroom, but I'm not an expert on the Montessori Method and this is supposed to be about Orthodoxy in the Montessori Classroom, not pitchers and shoes.
          Well, actually, it's about both because Orthodoxy is incorporated into the Montessori environment most simply by means of Practical Life. For us, our Faith is practical life. Our Faith is not simply theoretical and conceptual, it is concrete and experiential. We practice it every day. And our children can experience and practice our Faith in any way we make available to them. One child cleans a window, another an icon. One scrubs a table, another polishes a cross. A child who has learned to scoop, pour and level makes leaven as described in the Gospel of Matthew. Another plants a seed after hearing the Parable of the Scattered Seed. And yet another practices making the Sign of the Cross over and over, meticulously staring at his fingers until they start to come together just right.
          All of these scenes I hope to paint for you as I continue working with the children and am able to share with you what they share with me.

The children polished a silver icon of Panagia until there was not a single trace of tarnish remaining. We took the icon from the work and hung it on the wall, replacing it with some other miscellaneous silver for them to polish instead. They went and took it off the wall, completely disregarding the tarnished cups and pitchers we'd given them. 
They just wanted their Panagia.

One of the twenty or so children in our Sunday School room lighting a candle as she comes in after church.

After having heard the Parable of the Leaven, this 3 year old child works at combining 3 measures of meal and 1 measure of leaven. He'll later set it aside and observe it as it rises.