I know that we should always try to live in the present, but there are some days that I’d honestly rather be back in the carefree days of preschool, especially if that school happens to be Midtown Montessori in Santa Cruz. My daughter has been attending this amazing school for about 6 months now and I had the privilege of spending a few mornings hanging out with the kids to capture their educational environment for the school’s advertising and website re-design. These kids definitely have it good, really good; a fully certified ‘green’ school, amazing educational activities, organic snacks, an organic garden, and the most friendly, loving and beautiful teachers that a child could wish for. I love the Montessori approach for allowing each child the freedom to develop as an individual, as they focus on their unique interests. You would think there would be pure chaos with that many kids having that much freedom, but I was amazed to discover a classroom filled with a sense of order and effort, as each child seemed engrossed in their work. The teachers manage to give each child a lot of one on one attention, and they include them in all of the activities from cooking lunch to cleaning up. I think I’m going to have to bring a few Montessori principles back home…starting with putting the kids in charge of the doing the dinner dishes. Thank you Midtown Montessori for opening your world to me and reminding me how awesome it is to be a preschooler.