Montessori Moms: Planting the Seeds of Growth

Montessori Moms: Planting the Seeds of Growth: What Happens After Montessori : So your child attended a Montessori school for preschool, now what?  Will they have difficulty transitioning to traditional schooling, will ...

So your child attended a Montessori school for preschool, now what?  Will they have difficulty transitioning to traditional schooling, will they have friends since many of the local children went to a traditional preschool, will they be behind academically........these are many of the questions I have been asked over the years about the children leaving our program and moving on to kindergarten or first grade.  Every child is different, but it has been my experience that most of our students transition with little difficulty to a more traditional setting, however the lifelong skills they learn from their time at Montessori will be benefit them time and time again. My children all went through Montessori and completed the 3 year cycle.  Upon entering first grade I was honestly a bit nervous.  We had been teaching them based on their ability, interest etc and was a bit worried what would happen when faced with an "assignment" they did not want to do or a time frame given to th

What is Montessori? Truth be told the first time I stepped into a Montessori classroom I felt like I entered a whole new world.  I was not prepared to work with children who could sit where they were comfortable and do their work, choose work that interested them or even prepare their own snacks.  Having a very traditional schooling background my first thought was “this educational philosophy is way too alternative for me”, but I needed a job.   By my second week of working as a teaching assistant I was applying to a teacher training program and rethinking my career path.  That was 18 years ago and I am still in awe at times at what children are truly capable of given the right environment. Montessori to the untrained eye can look a bit “chaotic” and unstructured.  The opposite is actually true.  The teachers are trained to observe and teach to each child as an individual.  We plan activities and lessons based on each child’s development.  Materials are made to be self cor