a montessori birthday

This is my bear with her preschool teacher, Kai.  Maya's birthday was January 3, though celebrating it right after winter break is a near impossibility.

I was invited to the classroom, and I brought Sir Finnegan with me, and also a photograph from her birth, as well as the photo books I made of her first twelve months.  Along the special carpet was a candle she decorated with her classmate Dylan, and I brought treats.  The kids all sit in a circle, along with the child's special guests, and she holds a globe as she walks it around the inside of the circle, her classmates singing along.  Have you heard the birthday song?  It's the sweetest:

The earth goes round the sun,

  The earth goes round the sun,

  It takes 12 months for the earth to go around the sun,

  And then Maya was one…

The earth goes round the sun,

  The earth goes round the sun,

  It takes 12 months for the earth to go around the sun,

  And then Maya was two…

The earth goes round the sun,

  The earth goes round the sun,

  It takes 12 months for the earth to go around the sun,

  And then Maya was three…

The earth goes round the sun,

  The earth goes round the sun,

  It takes 12 months for the earth to go around the sun,

  And now Maya is four!

And my little bear walked around that sun, so rooster-proud of herself.  (And I sugared up the kids and got to leave.)