The love of learning is a powerful gift to give any child. And one of the greatest benefits of enrolling your child in an authentic Montessori classroom is the way it enriches your son or daughter’s learning experience. The students who attend Primary Montessori Day School come out of our classes with more than skills and knowledge; they also develop a thirst for discovery that leads them to a lifetime of growth and success.
Montessori teachers use a rich curriculum and an engaging range of activities in the classroom to bring out the best in your son or daughter every day, in any area of study or interest that appeals to them.
Sparking a Child’s Interests
A key tenet of Montessori education is that encourage every child to pursue their interests. This helps them develop discipline and self-awareness as well as allowing their natural gifts and interests to rise to the surface.
While encouraging your child to choose their own learning activities, also pay close attention to their interests and talents. Give them opportunities to do more of what they love, such as inviting them to:
- Write a song if they love music
- Write a story or a play about a person or place that has caught their interest
Guiding Them to New Interests
As appropriate, guide your child to try out activities they may not have chosen on their own—activities believe will spark their love of learning in a new way. For example:
- They May introduce a student to a counting game they have not yet tried, making it fun so they learn to appreciate numbers.
- Lower elementary students meet with teachers daily to confer on the activities they will do that day.
- Students and teachers share a dialogue by writing back and forth on daily study plans.
Practicing Independence
Children love to tackle activities they can do on their own—and giving them chances to do so helps them develop a sense of independence and competence. The montessoi teachers encourage students to:
- Put away their own shoes, jackets, and book bags
- Help prepare and serve snacks
- Water classroom plants
- Feed birds and fish
- Use the copying machine
- Put away learning materials when done with them
Developing Confidence and Enthusiasm
Joyful learning and interacting with the world are the result of great lessons. Montessori teachers know they play a key role in providing the hook between our classroom environments and your child’s active learning experience. To aid in this process, they’ll help spark joy in your son and daughter in all kinds of everyday activities:
- Young children get to play with activities such as dusting and stacking bowls, which encourages them to perform these activities joyfully at home.
- While studying math, students play stamp booklet games and are encouraged to write their own math problems.
- Cultural studies are made fun to spark your son or daughter’s interest in learning more about a culture’s music, art, and food.
- When your child expresses such interests, our teachers encourage them—letting them know exploration and growth are valuable.
Taking on Leadership Roles
The earlier that children step into leadership roles, the earlier they learn how to work effectively in groups and appreciate their own inner voice. With teacher guidance, your son or daughter enjoys many leadership opportunities in our classrooms:
- Older children assist younger children during arrival, dismissal, lunch, and other transition times.
- Children work independently and in groups to prepare and share snacks and lunches.
- Students are invited to help teachers by gathering supplies and caring for the classroom.
- Our students run the pizza club and assist with the uniform table.
- Leadership activities are rotated from child to child so everyone can participate.
- Kind Conversations and Gracious Interactions
As your child moves toward successes in the greater world, having the ability to be kind, considerate and gracious is essential. In our classes, the Montessori teachers model positive interactions and promote active practice in positive teamwork.
- Teacher-student interactions—Montessori teachers provide positive, encouraging comments and invite self-evaluation, such as:
- “I noticed you working hard on that math activity.”
- “Which part would you like my help with?”
- “What do you think about your work?”
- Student-student interactions—To encourage social graces and collaboration, children receive teacher guidance in how to approach teamwork and resolve conflicts. We:
- Invite students early in the school year to discuss and share what they want the class to be like—“I want friends,” “I want to share my ideas,” etc.—and then use this discussion to guide the year’s activities.
- Remind everyone to use their inside voices when talking.
- Point out what works, such as, “Look how fun that activity is when everyone listens to each other.”
- Have a “compliment circle” every afternoon so children can share what they enjoy about each other.
- Encourage students to take the “talking stick” before talking so they actively practice sharing the conversation.
Equip Your Child for the Joys of Discovery
You care about your child’s achievements and successes in life — and it all begins with equipping your son or daughter to love learning. The montessori teachers are passionate about guiding children into a lifetime love of learning, social graces, and leadership skills they can use anywhere they go.
