Greetings Montessori parents,
"Developing independence and pursuing one’s own interests in the context of a caring community fosters a strong sense of self in each student, and encourages pride in one’s own unique individuality." - American Montessori Society
Our children have been superstars this whole COVID year. They should not be required to continue to wear masks at school in an environment where we promote individuality and personal choices. Children need and want to see each other’s faces, see their teachers faces and learn nonverbal cues. Learning is amplified through lip reading, facial expression, and imitation. As a strong Montessori group, we are conscientious of our peers and respectful of our communities right to determine health decisions for our families.
“The only true freedom for an individual is to have the opportunity to act independently … there is no such thing as an individual until a person can act by himself.” —Education and Peace - Maria Montessori
Independence and choice are at the heart of this decision and voting for mandated masking violates the core values of the Montessori way. This signed petition is to support optional masks for the 2021-2022 school year. Let each family decide what is right for them.
“Free choice is one of the highest of all the mental processes.” Maria Montessori
Please sign if you are in support of an optional mask policy at Montessori Private Academy for the 2021/2022 School year.
Masking inhibits social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication skills that are being critically formed at young ages. The difficulty to communicate through masks and inability to read facial expressions and other non-verbal cues stifle the learning process. Children may have problems with emotional recognition due to masking, as facial musculature is obscured. Masks make it difficult for children (and adults) to recognize people. Most importantly, masking increases difficulty for speech recognition through muffled sounds and lip and facial reading. These Early Childhood Montessori kids are trying to learn proper language skills, including phonemes and linguistic sounds—masking makes this problematic. Allow masks to be optional and let's get on with the learning!