Looking For A Daycare Or Preschool? 3 Reasons You Should Consider A Montessori School

Posted on: 11 November 2015

If you are like most working moms, you might worry about what your child is actually doing when they are at daycare or preschool. As you start looking for a center, you might notice that some schools are strict and offer a rigid atmosphere, while others seem like a free-for-all completely devoid of learning opportunities. Fortunately, Montessori learning might help you to strike the delicate balance that will help your child to grow. Here are two reasons you should consider a Montessori school:

1: Hands-On Learning Approach

If your children are small, they might not have the patience to sit still and listen to a long, drawn-out lecture on how to pronounce the alphabet or plant a seed. Fortunately, one of the main elements of any Montessori education is an integrated curriculum and a hands-on learning approach. Instead of learning about one subject at a time by listening to the teacher, instructors will show your children how different systems work together.

For example, instead of simply explaining the alphabet to your child, a Montessori instructor might let your child handle letter shapes, talk about the sounds they make, and then work with kids to count the letters. By integrating subjects and using hands-on approaches, learning becomes more fun and kids can see the big picture.

In addition to making it easier for your child to understand real-world examples, research has shown that kids, especially younger kids, actually absorb information better when teaching is more hands-on. Because the right side of the brain—the portion that controls creativity—develops rapidly between the ages of four and seven, younger kids learn easily through spatial and visual activities. However, the left side of the brain—the portion that controls speech and analytical skills—doesn't fully develop until age ten or eleven, which is why those lectures probably won't sink in.

However, by enrolling your child in a Montessori day care or preschool, you will be taking full advantage of their developing spatial skills—while showing your kid that learning can be fun.

2: Relaxed, Natural Environment

Does your child have a difficult time keeping up with traditional curriculum? One of the great things about Montessori schools is that the school day is structured a lot differently than traditional learning institutions, which helps everyone to learn at their own pace.  

Instead of a teacher standing at the front of a classroom and teaching the entire class, children receive individualized, private instruction. After the child understands the lesson that they should be working on, children are free to move about the classroom, check out different lessons, or pick up materials that they left the day before. Instead of sitting in desks and working on their own, kids are encouraged to collaborate, teach each other, and ask questions. In addition to bolstering social skills, this method also helps kids to learn to work in teams like they would in real life.

Because each child has a curriculum customized to their learning style and current level of understanding, kids who attend Montessori school have been shown to out perform their peers who go to traditional public schools. For example, one study showed that five-year-old Montessori students were better at reading and math and twelve-year-old students wrote more impactful, creative essays using advanced sentence structures.

If you are worried about your child staying on task, you shouldn't be. In addition to receiving a standard teaching certificate, Montessori teachers are also required to obtain specialized Montessori training, which helps professionals to recognize education problems and guide your child in the right direction. Believe it or not, it is common for Montessori teachers to obtain Montessori training as part of a Master's in Education program. The extra training that it takes to become a Montessori teacher can help to improve the classroom and teach your child more effectively.  

By enrolling your child in a Montessori, they might be able to enjoy their childcare experience while learning vital social and academic skills. Contact a professional school, such as Miniapple International Montessori School, and inquire about their programs and enrollment today.

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