Why Montessori for the Kindergarten Year?

It is re-enrollment time again, and in thousands of Montessori schools all over America, parents of four and five year olds are trying to decide whether or not they should keep their children in Monetssori for kindergarten or send them to local schools.

The advantages of using a local school often seem obvious, while those of staying in Montessori are often not all clear. When you can use the local schools for free, why would anyone want to invest thousands of dollars in another year's tuition?

It's a fair question and it deserves a careful answer. Obviously, there is no one right answer for every child. Often the decision depends on each family's priorities and how strongly parents sense that one school or another is the right match for their children.

So here are a few answers to some of the questions parents often ask about Montessori for the kindergarten child.

Q. In a nutshell, what would be the most important short-term disadvantage of sending my five year old to the local schools?

A. When a child transfers from Montessori to a new kindergarten, she spends the first few months adjusting to the new class, an new teacher, and a shole new system. This, along with the fact that most kindergartens have very different expectations for five year olds than most Montessori programs, severely cuts into the learning that could occur during this crucial year of their lives. In a few cases, Montessori children in kindergarten may not look as if they are as advanced as a child that has been in a very academically accelerated program, but what Montessori kindergarters know they usually know very well. With reinforcement as they grow older, it becomes internalized and a permanent part of who they are. When they leave Montessori before they have had the time to internalize these experiences, their early learning often evaporates, because it is neither reinforced or commonly understood.

Q. What would be the most important advantages of keeping my five year old in Montessori?

A. Montessori is an approach to working with children that is carefully based on what we've learned about children's cognitive, neurological, and emotional development. Although sometimes misunderstood, the Montessori approach has been acclaimed by some of America's top experts on early childhood and elementary education as the most developmentally appropriate model currently available. One important advantage that Montessori offers the five year old has to do with how it helps the young child to "learn how to learn."

Q. Since most children will eventually have to go to the neighborhood schools, wouldn't it be better for them to make the transition in kindergarten rather that in first grade?

A. The American Montessori Society tells of a father who wrote, "We realized a child usually does his best if he has good learning habits, a sound basis in numbers and math, and the ability to read. We realized that he has had an excellent two-year start in his Montessori school. If he were to transfer now to another kindergarten program, he would probably go no further that he is now; whereas if he stays in Montessori, he will reap the benefits of his past work under the enthusiastic guidance of teachers who will share his joy in learning." By the end of the kindergarten year, Montessori students will often have developed academic skills that may be beyond those of children enrolled in most American kindergarten programs, however, parents should remember that academic progress is not our ultimate goal. Our real hope is that the children will have an incredible sense of learning, and feeling of being closely bonded to their classmates. We want them to honestly enjoy school and feel good about themselves as students.

Once children have developed a high degree of self-confidence, independence, and enthusiasm for learning, they normally can adapt to all sorts of new situations. While there are wonderful and exciting reasons to keep a child in Montessori through elementary school and beyond, by the time they are in first grade, they will typically be able to go off to their new school with not only a vibrant curiosity but also an excitement about making new friends and learning new things.