Early Education Expert

 Q. How does Montessori education differ from traditional schooling?

A.  Many parents who come to visit a Montessori Academy say that there is just no comparison to other, traditional schools they have visited. We believe that starting your child off in the Montessori environment will have a lifelong impact on your child. 

The first thing you may notice upon walking into a Montessori classroom is that the children are not seated at desks. Movement is a key component of the Montessori environment: Children work individually and cooperatively on a variety of lessons, and are encouraged to actively explore the classroom. In a traditional school, the children are passive, sitting for hours listening to a teacher.

The three year age range per class allows for special bonds to be formed between the children and their teachers. The younger friends look up to the older friends, learn from them, and dream of the day that they will be the leaders. The older friends model appropriate classroom behavior and the younger friends emulate them.

To the casual observer, the Montessori environment may seem unstructured; however, the classroom is comprised of students who are working on highly individualized lessons.A key difference between Montessori and traditional schooling is in the way the teaching staff views the students: Montessori students are viewed holistically, with their cognitive, social, psychological and spiritual development taken into consideration on a daily basis. The teachers truly know each student and recognize and value the individual personalities and gifts that each student has.  In a traditional school, all students are expected to adapt to one core curriculum.

Overall, the main way in which Montessori children differ from traditional students is that Montessori children love to learn.  It is that passionate love for learning which separates Montessori students from traditional students, and leads them to succeed in life.

 Q. My child has suddenly been telling me he doesn’t want to go to school.  What should I do?

If you’re a parent, it’s almost inevitable that you’re going to be faced with your child not wanting to go to school at some point. The most important thing is that you identify the problem correctly. Is it workload, peer pressure, or your child’s individual way of coping?
It’s vital for parents to look at your child’s situation closely: does he require more sleep or is there a social problem? Or is this a kid who lacks sufficient problem-solving skills to help him solve the problem of getting out of bed when he doesn’t want to? Sometimes kids are afraid of a bully, and actually, avoiding school is one of the first signs that your  child is being bullied, so be sure to investigate that possibility.

Not going to school becomes another avenue of acting out for them. In all of these cases, it’s important for you to understand that the kid’s refusal to go to school is his way of solving a problem that’s real to him. As we see over and over again with some children, the way they solve problems gets them into more trouble. That’s why it’s very important that you help your child develop problem-solving skills on his or her own, so that when problems arise on any level over anything, your child will be able to think of a way to figure it out successfully.

Your child may also complain of being bored of school. Some research indicates that when some kids say they’re bored, that they’re actually mildly angry. And you know, kids do get angry with school, it is boring sometimes. But parents have to be able to tell their kids that it’s their responsibility to go to school. You need to say, “You have to go to school even when you’re bored. That’s your responsibility.  It’s not about your mood, it’s your responsibility. If you want it to be less boring, find some more interesting things to do there to balance it out.”