It’s the first official day of summer and my girls have mixed feelings… !! Of course they are excited for camps, activities, and all that summer has to offer, but for the first time in their lives, they were sad to leave their school, their friends, and their teachers. I find them on the weekends, at play dates, replicating their school “work” in the form of activities they create for themselves to discover and teach themselves about various interesting topics. They left with a prayer and a blessing from all the parents and teachers and blew us away with their praise and worship and love of God. This is the power of combining a Montessori Approach with a Christian Perspective, one that honors the whole child, and develops their love of learning…. My children are “seen” here, challenged here, and LOVED. This is the spirit at work in our lives. The girls have role models as teachers they look up to, and real, deep relationships and friendships based on trust and compassion. The benchmarking and comparison and subtle thread of this lack of “heart”, this “fight or flight” environment that I resigned as “just part of the education system”, no longer exists for our family. Hand in Hand Christian Montessori Wayzata West Campus is where learning became fun again for them.  They no longer dread and resist school, and for a family with dyslexia and ADHD, this is HUGE. Many days they would ask to go in to school early. And we are SO grateful.