What is next?

Let’s say you have at home all those nice real life things for the child to develop. Now what? You have to ask yourself does my child know how to communicate with other people: old, young, and in between? Does my child know how to wait for a turn, how to say politely “go way” or “you are not my friend anymore”? When to help, how to help? Does he or she practice those skills every day? Does he or she have experience in leadership?

Montessori classrooms are alive!  Children are free to interact with each other, help, and solve problems. You have to go to school and sit for 30 minutes to observe (just watch) children flowing around. If you have questions, any directress (teacher) would be glad to explain after your observation.

Socialization is one, and academics are the second reason why you want the child to enroll in Montessori school. Maria Montessori developed a full program including sounds, names, geography, writing, reading, and also math. These are not replicable for home environment. To buy these materials would be too expensive and you have to attend Montessori training to know how to give a presentation. It is just cheaper to attend the school then to do it yourself.

Here is an example of the way they learn math. At home you can count beads, rocks, marbles up to 10, 20, maybe even 100. At school they add and subtract 4 digit number beads. 4532+2365= that many beads they actually put together to obtain the answer. What about multiplication tables? At school there is a special multiplication board when they take the same quantity over and over again to come up with their answer.

All I am saying is take time to look at not one, not two, but three Montessori schools around you. Compare the schools to make the decision of what is best for your child.

What academics you can do (ages 3 to 6) at home

Start by counting to 10. The goal is to count up to 1000 as many times as possible by the age of 6. Look at books on how people live in other countries. It is good for language development and geography. Name all of the things around you: trees, tools, flowers, spices, artists, composers, etc. Collect cards about objects like nature, animals, art, etc. Color within the lines with precision until they have a good grip of the pencil. Then start writing beginning with letters all the way through sentences, and stories by the age of 6.

When the child grows you should now

At about age of 6, then they begin to lose their baby teeth, they have essentially developed their brain which is not going to change much more. Now it is time for fairy land make believe and computers. They will leave reality as they know it and go above and beyond to explore unreal world possibilities. Heroes, astronomy, and imaginary things are very good. Actually they will tell you what they need. Age 6-9 and 9-12 is the best academic study time. They are peaceful cosmic learners.

After, they will enter the teenage period (12-18). Once again they will need to figure out how to fit in the world. Their bodies are changing. They do not know how to communicate with each other, and how to behave. It is the worst time for academics, but best time for reality based experiences like running a business, or a farm. They have to have their own money, to know the value of it and how to treat everything around them with respect.

And finally, they are almost adults. Age 18-25 is the young adult’s time to participate, and find his or her way to give back to the community. Welcome a new generation!