Montessori preschools take a child-centered approach to learning, promoting independence and cooperative learning. They are not a copyrighted or trademarked term, meaning any school can use the name without following the principles. There are 20 reasons to choose a Montessori preschool for your child’s educational experience, with a focus on the Montessori approach.
The most important question in selecting a Montessori school is how well it matches your sense of what kind of education you want for your children. No one educational approach will be right for all, and if you want to help your child become a self-directed individual with a love of learning, sending them to a Montessori preschool may be the best choice.
Some distinguishing factors of the best Montessori schools include being child-friendly, inviting, stimulating, encouraging freedom in learning, providing ample positive social interactions, having respected teachers, having an uninterrupted work cycle, having AMI-trained or equivalent guides, using full complement of Montessori materials, and having spacious classrooms.
Teacher qualifications matter more than professional development, as they prioritize what they prioritize and what direction they take. Montessori classrooms should be inviting, with shelves of organized trays and baskets and plenty of floor space and tables to work with. The most important question in selecting a Montessori school is how well it matches your sense of what kind of education you want for your child.
A Montessori classroom should be peaceful, quiet, and filled with natural materials. To identify schools that truly adhere to Montessori principles, it is essential to delve deeper into each school’s philosophy, curriculum, and observations.
📹 MONTESSORI AT HOME: How to Choose a Montessori Preschool
MONTESSORI AT HOME: HOW TO CHOOSE A MONTESSORI PRESCHOOL // Discover the most important, key attributes to look …
Which Montessori accreditation is best?
The American Montessori Society (AMS) is the highest level of recognition for the Montessori community, requiring a rigorous, multi-year process that includes examination and documentation of all aspects of a school, including governance, curriculum, policies, facilities, health and safety practices, teacher preparation, and learner outcomes. Approximately 15 member schools have successfully undergone the process, indicating compliance with global standards of excellence. When considering a Montessori school, it is essential to ask if it is AMS-accredited, as it signifies the best of Montessori education.
How do I know if Montessori is right?
Before choosing an early learning facility, consider your child’s needs and preferences. Do you believe your child should be independent, polite, and self-motivated? Do you believe they can benefit from learning practical life skills like gardening or cooking? Do you want your child to be guided by older peers? Do you want your child to develop interests and choose activities that interest them? By assessing these factors, you can make an informed decision about the best early learning facility for your child. There are various daycares, preschools, and kindergartens available, but it can be confusing to choose the best fit for your child’s needs.
How do you evaluate a Montessori child?
Montessori schools employ observation as a primary method for assessing student progress and development, with minimal reliance on standardized tests, except in instances where licensing authorities mandate their use.
Why Montessori is not for everyone?
Traditional educational methods, such as homeschooling or schooling, often require a child to rely on grades, tests, rewards, and a strict curriculum. This can make it difficult for a child to adapt to the Montessori method, as they may seek adult approval and concrete measurements like grades. Montessori schools typically don’t accept children who are completely new to Montessori above 3rd grade. Homeschooling families may have more success with older children, as they can gradually introduce Montessori methods and materials into their homeschooling framework. However, this may not allow for the full Montessori approach to be applied.
What are the 4 C’s in Montessori?
The Four C’s, or critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication, are essential skills for 21st-century education. These skills cannot be taught through memorization and repetition but must be developed through rich learning experiences that inspire mastery over time. Research has shown that students need to develop these skills to be attractive to digital age employers, and ensuring they possess these skills is a crucial issue for 21st-century education.
What are the 5 key areas of Montessori?
The Montessori Curriculum is a systematic approach to teaching children five key areas of study: Practical Life, Sensorial, Mathematics, Language, and Culture. Each area is taught using Montessori materials that teach specific knowledge or skills. Through repetition and practice, children develop a foundational understanding of each material and master core competencies within each area. The curriculum progresses at a child’s own pace, based on their development stage and interests. Montessori educators present key lessons to introduce each material’s name and learning outcomes, and children work independently to practice, explore, and connect to the key learning outcomes.
What is not allowed in Montessori?
Montessori schools discourage the introduction of fantasy to young children under the age of 5 or 6, limiting their use of play kitchens, dress-up areas, and books featuring dragons and fairies. This has led to the misconception that Montessori education stifles imagination and creativity. However, this misconception is false. Fantasy and imagination are two separate concepts. Fantasy is stories and ideas drawn from a non-existent world, while imagination is the ability to conjure images or scenarios in one’s mind, separate from present sensorial input.
For example, a child pretending to be an eagle on the playground or playing “family” to practice modeled roles in their homes may not be as engaging as fantasy. Montessori education should focus on fostering creativity and imagination in children.
What are the four qualities of Montessori prepared classroom?
The Montessori prepared environment consists of six main elements: freedom, structure, order, beauty, nature and reality, social environment, and intellectual environment. These elements encourage children and adolescents to learn in a hands-on environment. The characteristics of Montessori classrooms play a significant role in fulfilling these principles. The principles, as outlined by Kingsley Montessori School, are essential for educators to understand what their classrooms should include.
What type of child is best for Montessori?
The Montessori classroom is a unique environment that can work for any type of child due to its small class size, individualized learning plans, and self-guided learning. The design takes into account the child’s needs, with no lines of desks or strict teacher lectures. Instead, students are allowed to move around to various learning stations throughout the day.
The number of students in the Montessori classroom is intentionally kept small, allowing for consistent interaction between the teacher and students. This allows for a variety of students to thrive, regardless of their age or interests. Teachers can recognize problems, struggles, questions, or specific needs as long as the number of students is kept low.
In Montessori programs, the teacher develops an individualized learning plan for each student, taking into account their interests, learning style, and needs. This design allows for all types of students to thrive in the Montessori classroom, as learning is individualized, and there is no concern about what to do for a student who is ahead or falls behind. The answer is always to adjust the child’s learning plan to meet their changing needs.
In summary, the Montessori classroom is a great fit for most children due to its small class size, individualized learning plans, and self-guided learning approach.
📹 How to Choose a Montessori Preschool
In this video, I share tips on how to choose an authentic Montessori nursery (preschool). It is for parents who already know that …
My daughter is 19 month now and we are planning to send her to a Montessori school or a christian school. your article definitely helped me for choose a Montessori school. i really enjoyed perusal every single article your family has posted and have been waiting every Thursday for your update on the Montessori series. Keep up the good work!
I’m a certified new born care specialist and I’ve worked as a childcare teacher for 12 years. I recently started my family childcare business and I’ve learned so much about different philosophies when studying for my CDA but I really like Maria Montessori philosophy so much! I’m now looking to get my Montessori teaching credential.
Glad you’re putting this out there. I didn’t know that the name can be used however they like until I put my son in a “Montessori” toddler program and discovered that it was pretty terrible. I felt that my son was neglected there (and it was a very small class!) and I also felt that their treatment of him was punitive (at 20 months old!) so we didn’t stay in the program. That school is closed now, thankfully.
So much to consider! We sadly don’t have any Montessori schools near us. I’m not a fan of the selection of preschools in general (Montessori or not) so we’ll see what happens with Gemma next year. Probably still going to homeschool. I’m glad you found a preschool that you are excited about (at least that’s what you mentioned in a past vlog!)
After perusal this I started searching for Montessori schools around Lisbon, but I could only find 2 that seem really nice. This is probably going to have a big impact on where we decide to move to in a few years. But wow those schools are expensive! x__x They have the extra benefit of being bilingual, though. Our families are going to think we’re crazy (I think they already do anyway XD) but at least my partner got on board with the Montessori thing!
I worked at a “Montessori” preschool once. I used quotations because I’m pretty sure there was nothing Montessori about the school. 3, 4, and 5 year olds were expected to sit quietly for hours at a time- no talking during lunch/snacks. The toys/materials stayed on the shelf because the teachers preferred to have the kids sit and watch Youtube nursery rhyme cartoons. When the materials were allowed out, they consisted entirely of flashcards/language cards. No manipulatives or anything like that.The kids were taught to recite “1 and 1 is 2. 2 and 2 is 4” but they had NO understanding of what that meant. When reciting the number of oceans, not only were they given outdated information, but they never even had the opportunity to look at a globe or map.It was all rote memorization that meant NOTHING. They DID do writing practice, which involved rough hand-over-hand guidance and harsh remarks to “do it the right way.” Many of the kids were spoiled/lazy and refused to feed themselves. They would sit until a teacher spoon-fed them their lunch (again, the youngest in the group had JUST turned 3). Between that and the way the teachers encouraged misbehavior by telling the children not to listen to me when I redirected them from dangerous activities (standing on the radiator, running out into the parking lot, etc) or even bribing them with candy if they called me names, I got out of that place ASAP.
I watch all your articles and have for quite awhile now and I love this series so much! There is one aspect of Montessori that I still don’t quite understand. In a traditional school setting where teachers are instructing kids on what to learn I feel like they all do the basics of like…colors, the weather, songs, counting, the alphabet, etc….but Montessori as a whole seems more focused on life skills rather than specific knowledge. When you are “following the child” how do you know when to introduce all these basics? Is it just something that naturally happens since they are learning everyday things with you? If I ever have a child I really want to implement Montessori principles, but I feel like it is a bit overwhelming and I don’t want them to miss out because I didn’t do it right. Hopefully that makes sense. I adore your articles and your family and I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that we greatly appreciate your content 🙏
What would be your advice for kids with special needs? Specifically, my 2 year old daughter has Down’s syndrome . She currently attends preschool 1 at a research child center and I can totally identify many of the montessori characteristics that you mentioned. I would like your opinion in this topic since the typical path here in OK seems to be that kids with special needs go to public school to keep receiving speech and physical interventions. Her therapist has told me that public schools have the resources to attend their needs and that private schools have limited resources in this regard. Dou you think a montessori school environment is beneficial for a kid with a mild developmental delay like mine? Thank you.
Hi, maybe weird question here, but as much as I admire Montessori methods I found the experience of viditing Montessori schools kind of itimidating as it was very quiet and almost without any emotions from kids – no laughing, not much speaking, very silent speaking, not much teamwork interactions. I know that concentration is probably the reason and these things are just outcomes of that. Although, dont you think, that not expressing that much emtions as it is in usual for pre-schoolers isnt a something that impact kids negatively?
Ashley, this article is so helpful, thank you. I’ve been perusal you since my daughter was a baby and now she’s 4 and we’re looking at preschools. I do have one question: I’ve noticed that a lot of Montessori schools only enroll up until 6th grade. Will my child not struggle with transitioning to a more public/traditional school after 6th grade if all she’s ever known is Montessori?? Thank you for your help.
This was a very helpful article as I have a tour set up with a school later this week. My husband and I are new to Montessori and I did some research on how people felt who had gone through a Montessori type school after the fact. Some of the things that I had a red troubled me a little bit because the school I’m looking at only goes up to grade eights and so my child would need to transition to a normal public school more than likely there after and I’m worried about how that transition will affect her at that time. She’s only 10 months now and we’re looking at the preschool level along with some adult and parent classes once a week prior to preschool. However, some people who were taught at a Montessori school and then went on to graduate from a public or even a private school that was not Montessori lead had a very difficult time transitioning from student led curriculum into a large group teacher lead setting. So I’m not sure exactly how I would assist in the beginning of the Montessori journey if it leads to a very large shift and change in her mid teenage years. Is this something that you have dealt with or you know a little bit of information about? I’m really just scared to put her into this Montessori school knowing that in the future if something changes she may have to transition out in which case I feel that it would either be too difficult for her to adjust or that possibly she would not be learning to the same quality as she was with the Montessori school. I’m also just wondering how to keep a balance between her leading her own Education in terms of what she chooses to do and her interest being the main focus to also making her understand that even something that she does not like still needs to be learned?
Hi Ashley! I came across your website a few weeks ago and I’ve been binge perusal all of your articles. They’re so educated and inspiring. Thank you so much for making them! I have a question related to montessori school. In my area, I only find 2-3 montesorri schools that accept children under 2, and there are almost 3x as much that accept older kids, for example 2.5 – 4 yo and on. Would you recommend that I send my daughter to non-montessori pre-school until she reaches 3 years old? Or is it crucial to get her exposed as early as possible? My original plan wast to send her to one at 18 months of age. In other words, what age group is crucial fora child to attend a montessori school to get the maximum benefits and a strong foundation? Thank you!
I dont implement montessori fully as i work full time and cannot dedicate my time for that. but i am considering and very much interested in putting my 2,5 year old in a montessori school when he turns four. What is your take on this? Would you recommend montessori school when the children are not raised with the principles (at home)? Thanks very much.
Hi Ashley, I’ve been perusal your articles for about a year now and they are so inspiring to me! I have a 16 month toddler and I’m starting to teach him words now. Do you have any suggestion for raising a child in a bilingual environment? Can I include both languages on the flash cards without overwhelming my kid? Thanks!
Hello! There unfortunately is only two AMI Montessori schools in WA state 🙁 but I am seeing a bunch of places saying accredited by Montessori Institute of America. I am not finding much information other than a Facebook for what that is. Would you say this would be a fair substitute? I’m a little weary of this accreditation as I know AMI is the gold-standard.