A Toddler Community

I am preparing for a Back to School meeting with my parents next Tuesday; since we have already had the quick overview of the day/what to bring to school meeting a few weeks back I'm not really sure what to say.  For my returning parents, they know how the day flows more or less and for my new parents we just talked about it so what do I do at this meeting.  I want to go a little more in depth into what exactly is a Montessori toddler community and how to bring it all together at home.  My concern is that there is so much I'd want to say that I might come across as preachy or long winded (definitely worried about the long winded, as much as I despise public speaking, if it is a topic I am passionate about, I tend to go on and on...) and I'm not wanting to keep parents there for three hours so I am trying to figure out the best way to go about it.

I think I want to start with the basics, how the environment presents itself to the child and how that differs from what the adult sees.  Almost every adult that comes into the room to visit dubs it, "cute".  The small furniture, the child size cleaning tools, the small utensils, etc.  Yes, it is cute and seeing the children within the environment working and using the materials is "cute" as well.  But there is so much more to it than that, and that is one of the big things I want to convey.  How very important everything the children do in the class and how if offers so many things to them, even the simple task of walking in, carrying their own lunchbox and putting it away on their own.

The other big point I want to talk about is the importance of time; time to observe, time to step back, time to let go and time to slow down.  Slowing down I think is one of the most difficult aspects of parenting...at any level.  Even with children 6 and 9 I find myself at times forgetting how differently the world moves to them than it does to me and trying to find a balance between the adult time frame and the child' time frame.  Especially when the child is only just begin to discover the world and their place within it.

So I think this is where I will start and as I write I hope to get my thoughts posted here and perhaps to receive some feedback from others, Montessorians/parents/and friendly visitors curious about Montessori alike.  What would you want to know more about if you were a parent just beginning your journey in Montessori?