Why We Pay Cameron's Teachers

This morning, Cameron and I decided to try out a Montessori work in our very own home! Cameron had been raving about penny polishing and it sounded like an easy undertaking. We gathered some tarnished pennies, rustled up a few Q-tips and filled a ramekin with lemon juice and salt. Cameron lamented the lack of a tray, but we made do. With pride, he showed me how to dip the Q-tip in the lemon juice mixture and rub the penny with a circular motion until it looked shiny and new. I gave it a try, but in all honesty it was . . . boring. I need more immediate gratification. "Hey!" I said to Cameron. "What if we dumped all the pennies right in the bowl of lemon juice!" He looked dubious, but I was enthusiastic. "Here!" I said, depositing the pennies in the juice and handing it to him. "Swirl it around!" And in no time, we had a bowl full of bright shiny pennies! Success!

Cameron was particularly excited, as he had promised to bring in money and give it to a kindergartener today. The kindergartener -- lets call him Ozzy -- is a very big boy whom Cameron seems to alternately admire and mildly fear. Apparently, Cameron decided to buy Ozzy's friendship with a few quarters earlier this week. On our drive home, Cameron had told me with pride, "I gave Ozzy some quarters today. And I told him how the money comes from my brain and out my ear."

"Really," I say. "And what did Ozzy think of that?"

"He told me to try and get more money from my brain to give to him."

Hmm. Should I be concerned? Is my four-year-old paying off a kindergarten bully before he's old enough to have lunch money?

So these freshly polished pennies were perfect. Cameron quickly stashed them in his backpack, excited to show (read: give) them to Ozzy.

This evening, I asked Cameron if he gave the pennies to Ozzy. "Yep!" he proclaimed with satisfaction. "And he said to try to get more for him. But I told him he had enough!"

That's my boy! You tell 'em!

So, with thoughts of pennies in my mind I logged on the computer for a little blog time. Out of curiosity, I googled "Montessori penny polishing" and found an 18-step penny polishing procedure that I had glibly thrown out the window. Evidently, the tedious, circular-motion polishing teaches all sorts of skills, including care of environment, motor planning, self-confidence and preparation for writing. Whoops. I guess swishing the pennies about in lemon juice kind of misses the point . . .

I'm just glad his teachers know what they're doing, 'cause Mommy doesn't!