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Montessori School - Right For Your Child?
Thursday, February 02, 2012 by Jeannie Fleming-Gifford
When I first began considering preschools for my child, I never would have thought of a Montessori school. Quite frankly, I didn't know much about Montessori schools although I had learned about Maria Montessori in college.
As it goes, I was with a group of friends, sharing our adventures of parenting, when someone brought up that they were looking at sending their toddler to a Montessori school.
First implemented over 100 years ago by Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and educator, the Montessori educational model is practiced at an estimated 20,000 schools internationally.
The Montessori curriculum is designed to support learning in children from infancy to 18 years of age. Montessori schools provide activities created to fuel independence, support a learner’s freedom within limits, all while respecting a child’s natural psychological development and their natural curiosity to learn.
For me, I imagined my child's preschool years to be filled with dress-up, finger painting, and circle times filled with stories and songs.
Then, my friend's description of a Montessori program got my attention: real objects in the classrooms vs.toys, gardens just outside the classroom door which children helped end to, and a few chickens and goats at the school. I had to see this place in action.
Marching home that day, I made a call to a local Montessori program and scheduled my visit.I remember walking into a classroom of toddlers, as young as 18 months, and being blown away as I watched them - so quietly - engage in activity. The room was filled with unique materials, materials I would have never even thought of having my child work with.
After that visit, I was psyched. I wanted a Montessori education for my child. I filled out an application and she started that fall. She was 18 months old.
The year of Montessori education was a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Not only were we working through those first days of her attending a program independently, I wasn't sure if this was the right fit for her after all.
At the end of the year, I did make another choice for her. I returned to a more traditional preschool classroom, one where her days are filled with dress-up and finger painting and circle times that are filled with stories and songs.
What about you? Are you or have you considered a Montessori school for your child?
