It wasn't the first time a child was missing from my little class, but I think it was the first time the other children noticed. They're just beginning to realize that these other children are going to be with them all the time. They're starting to learn names and occasionally match them to the correct face!
This is something else that differentiates Montessori from most mainstream preschool programs. Though of course some programs have children who seem to be there whenever the place is open (especially in lower income areas), many higher income parents choose to have their children attend preschool only a few days a week. This leads to children coming an going, and a class where the community dynamic changes daily. This is actually one of the reasons I really recommend the Montessori approach to a lot of families. Regardless of where you want your child to be academically most parents can agree that they want their child to have friends and other children they feel comfortable spending time with.
The classroom down the hall was missing six students today. Not only did it make a huge dent in the student to teacher ration (lunch was done almost 10 minutes earlier!) but who was playing with who also shifted. At recess I noticed a few children, drifting lost without their favorite playmate to engage with. Meanwhile others where more adventurous and branched out to newer friends.
It's not that it's something bad, or even necessarily good, it just is and it will be a part of life. These children will cycle through friends their entire life and they're just now starting to realize what that means to them and how they're going to deal with it.
We're not dealing with eternal children here, we're watching adults being formed.
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