Dear Cathie,
How important is it to keep my child in the Montessori class through the kindergarten year? After all, she will have to transition to her neighborhood school at some point. Isn’t it best that she do it when all of the children are entering the local elementary school? If we don’t transition at kindergarten, how will it be any different at first grade?
—A PRAGMATIC DAD
Dear Dad,
I think you are raising an issue that many parents consider. The short answer is that the best time to transition to traditional school is after the kindergarten year. It is best to complete the three-year cycle in the Montessori 3-6 program.
The public or non-Montessori kindergarten teacher meets each child as an unknown entity. She has to begin from scratch learning about what your child knows, how your child behaves, how your child learns, and what your child finds interesting and motivating. Not only does the teacher need to learn about your child but every other child in the class as well. The teacher does this at the same time as establishing the school and classroom routines, as well as keeping all the children busy by giving them ‘activities’ and ‘work’ that keeps the entire class busy regardless of their knowledge and skill level.
These activities are probably not interesting, fun, or challenging to children who already read and have mastery of the basics of academics. These are probably even less enticing for a child who has been academically challenged in a Montessori environment. It takes a teacher a significant amount of time to figure out the learning style and knowledge base of each child in the class and, by the time this has occurred, many weeks will have passed, and your child will have lost that learning opportunity and have begun to form an opinion of school.
Contrast this with the beginning of kindergarten in a Montessori school. When your child enters kindergarten in the Montessori school, her guide knows her well. Your child’s guide knows what has occurred in the class in previous years, what is challenging and what is enjoyable. From the first day of the kindergarten year, your child’s learning progresses according to her own pace in all aspects of the curriculum. She is viewed as a leader by all members of the community and enters the classroom with joy and confidence. She chooses work that she enjoys.
The local traditional kindergarten also teaches to the average child in the class. The teacher is responsible to make sure that each child masters the learning objectives of the local school district and often the Common Core curriculum. While there may be some grouping made for children who are advanced in language or math skills, much of your child’s day will be spent learning with the class as a group mastering those basic skills. Children have little chance to follow their passions and learn about the things that interest them.
In the Montessori kindergarten, children progress at their own pace in all aspects of the curriculum. Once a child has mastered the basic skills of the kindergarten level, she seamlessly moves past that level and is introduced to more challenging work in that area. If children show interest in a particular subject or area, they are introduced to work in that area on their instructional level.Thus, each child is constantly challenged based on their individual level of functioning.
By first grade in local elementary schools, children have been grouped academically, and all children are familiar with the basics of the school routine and the expectations of school. Now your child can slide into the class, be placed into an instructional group that is appropriate for her functioning and lose much less time academically. There will definitely be a transition. Traditional schools function much differently than Montessori schools, and that is important to discuss with your child as she prepares for the change.
There is no doubt in my mind that the third year in a primary Montessori class is well worth the time and money! Parents often tell me that it is the most worthwhile year their child has spent, and children look back on it with the most joy and fondness! It lets your child have the chance to be a leader in the classroom and contribute to the classroom from which she received so much when she was three and four years old.
Tomorrow’s Child / April 2016 / p 34
