Yesterday, I attended the Library Event sponsored by Region VIII ESC in Mount Pleasant, Texas. Patty Duke is in charge of the program, and as usual, she did such a great job. I rose at 3:00 a.m., was on the road by 4:00, there by 7:30, left at 12:45 after the program ended, and arrived in Monroe about 4:30 just in time to do a couple of errands and teach my class at Delta at 5:00.

This morning at 10 a.m., before my Academic Seminar Class at Delta, I’m showing various musical instruments and performing some songs for my grandson Mason’s Montessori class.  The Monroe school is called Nature’s Way and I can tell attending the school has been a good experience for Mason (who is now three years of age). My daughter Rachel made a good point: The cost of Montessori instruction differs little from the price of good day care for little ones, so you might as well place the children in a nurturing and educational environment.  If you are unfamiliar with Maria Montessori’s philosophy of education, you can read about it here

You can read about the Nature’s Way school in Monroe and its philosophy here:

Teaching in a Montessori school must be much like teaching gifted students (in the public schools that still believe in REALLY serving gifted children and when they let you develop them).  I’ve talked to many parents that have used the Nature’s Way school and they are very pleased and vocal about how the school helped their children.

AUTHOR EVENTS: I’m to be working with the Honey Grove, Texas ISD this Friday. It has been nearly a year since I’ve been to the schools there, but I remember I had such a grand time.  Beverly Ann Herriage is the district librarian.  This town has an interesting history. According to the city’s homepage, There is a legend stating  “in 1836 as Davy Crockett was traveling to join the Texas Army at San Antonio, he camped in a grove just west of the present town square, on the bank of Honey Grove Creek. In letters he wrote to Tennessee, he told of the ideal place where he had camped, the “honey grove.” It was so named due to the abundance of honey in the hollow trees.

In 1842, the first settler, Samuel Erwin, arrived to make the “honey grove” his home. Erwin was a friend of Davy Crockett. In fact, Crockett performed the marriage ceremony for Erwin and his wife. B.S. Walcott came to Honey Grove in 1848, laid off the town and sold building lots, and progress really began to speed up in the tiny town. Honey Grove was incorporated in 1873.”