Why Montessori is a Better Choice for Any Child
Is Montessori the right choice for your child? As parents decide which daycare or preschool to put their faith in, they need to consider their child’s individual personality and needs. Will the daycare your child attends be the right fit? What if there was a school that asked the same question?
The beautiful thing about Montessori programs is that they are designed to work for each child’s unique development. At its core, the Montessori philosophy is child-friendly and it meets each student exactly where they are.
Why Montessori? Montessori differs from traditional education in a few unique ways that meet the children’s needs.
Montessori is Child-Friendly
Montessori schools are centered around concepts of child development. The materials and educational philosophy are based on how kids learn most naturally.
Traditional schools often focus on arbitrarily chosen subject matter and require children to sit for long periods of time. This can affect how much kids learn and even turn children off from learning for the long term.
In Montessori, opportunities for movement and freedom of expression are encouraged and each material was carefully designed by Maria Montessori herself to be used during children’s successive developmental stages. Teachers learn about the sensitive periods that every child experiences and they are trained in how to enhance these phases to maximize learning and enjoyment.
More Hands-On Learning
Because the materials in Montessori schools are designed with children’s natural inclinations in mind, learning takes place in a tangible, hands-on way. The kinesthetic approach is more engaging to young learners and it allows them to learn and discover quite advanced concepts while having fun.
Traditional schools do not have the sensorial curriculum that Montessori offers and there is often too much abstract thinking expected before a concrete understanding is complete.
Montessori Education is Individualized
In traditional education, the whole class learns one topic at a time and works on the same projects. This leaves out the fact that children of the same age are at different developmental stages as well as the fact that kids’ individual interests differ.
In Montessori, each child is on their own unique learning path. The teacher observes each student’s development and decides when they are ready to move to new activities. There is not a big concern of whether a child is “behind” or “ahead” because it is recognized that they are all different. What matters in Montessori is that every child is just where they need to be to learn best.
Respectful, Positive Discipline
Montessori teachers do not use blame or shame to manage students’ behavior. Instead they follow a positive discipline model that assumes the best of kids. While traditional schools may send kids to “time out” or have them run laps, Montessori schools do not use arbitrary punishments such as these. Montessori teachers use a respectful approach to teach children appropriate behavior in an encouraging way.
Montessori Promotes Independence
Children of Montessori schools learn to do things for themselves and to think for themselves. Because they have been offered choices and allowed to learn practical life lessons such as how to chop a banana or how to wash dishes, they grow up to be kids who take initiative and rely on themselves. They are confident and capable.
Deciding which childcare center is best is a big decision that every parent has to weigh out for themselves and their own child. The truth is, however, Montessori is a great fit for all kids because it’s inherently designed to meet each child’s unique needs.
