❊

©Tomorrow’s Child Magazine Winter 2006 5

When a child transfers from Montessori to a new kindergarten, whether in a public or private environ-ment, she spends the first few months adjusting to anew class, a new teacher, and a whole new system withdifferent expectations. This, along with the fact thatmost kindergartens have a much lower set of expecta-tions for five-year-olds than most Montessori programs,severely cuts into the learning that could occur duringthis crucial year.

TheImportanceof theKindergartenYear in theMontessoriClassroom

ontessori is an approach to working with children that is carefullybased on what we’ve learned about children’s cognitive, neurologi-cal and emotional development from several decades of research.

Although sometimes misunderstood, the Montessori approach has beenacclaimed as the most developmentally appropriate model currently avail-able by some of America’s top experts on early childhood and elementaryeducation.

One important difference between what Montessori offers the five-year- o l dand what is offered by many of today’s kindergarten programs has to do with

by Tim Seldin, President

The Montessori Foundation

6 ©Tomorrow’s Child Magazine Winter 2006 • www.montessori.org

how it helps the young child to learnhow to learn.

Over recent years, educational re-search has increasingly shown that stu-dents in many schools don’t really un-derstand most of what they are beingtaught. Howard Gardner, Harv a r dPsychologist and author of the best sell-ing book The Unschooled Mind g o e sso far as to suggest that, “Many schoolshave fallen into a pattern of giving kidsexercises and drills that result in theirgetting answers on tests that look likeunderstanding. Most students, from asyoung as those in kindergarten to stu-dents in some of the finest colleges inAmerica, do not understand whatt h e y’ve studied – in the most basicsense of the term. They lack the capaci-

But won’t my five-year-old spend her kindergarten yeartaking care of younger children instead of doing her own work?

No, not at all! When older children work with younger ones, theytend to learn more from the experience than their “students.”Experiences that facilitate development of a child’s independ-ence are often very limited in traditional schools.

Most five-year-olds have been waiting for the longest time to beone of the “big kids.” The experience of playing the leadershiprole does wonders to reinforce the five-year-olds’s sense ofautonomy and self-confidence.

One important difference between what Montessori offers thefive-year-old and what is offered by many of today’s kindergartenprograms has to do with how it helps the young child learn howto learn.

A great deal of research shows that, quite often, students in tra-ditional programs don’t really understand most of what they arebeing taught.

❊The kindergarten year isa critical component ofthe three-year EarlyChildhood Montessoriprogram. This is the yearwhen children’s earlierexperiences are inter-nalized and reinforced.When they leaveMontessori beforekindergarten, many oftheir earlier learningexperiences may be lostbecause they are notreinforced or completelyunderstood.

7©Tomorrow’s Child Magazine Winter 2006 • www.montessori.org

As a “developmental” approach, Montessori is based

on a realistic understanding of children’s cognitive,

neurological, and emotional development.

Because Montessori teachers are developmentally

trained, they normally know how to present informa-

tion in an appropriate way.

What often happens in schools is that teachers are

not developmentally trained and children are essen-

tially filling in workbook pages with little under-

standing and do a great deal of rote learning.

S u p e rf i c i a l l y, it may appear that they have learned a

l o t, but the reality is that, most often, what they have

learned was not meaningful to the child. A few

months down the road, little of what they ‘learned’

will be retained and it will be rare for them to be able

to use their knowledge and skills in new situations.

More and more educational researchers are begin-

ning to focus on whether students, young or adult,

really understand or have simply memorized correct

answers.

ty to take knowledge learned in onesetting and apply it appropriately in adifferent setting. Study after study hasfound that, by and large, even the beststudents in the best schools can’t dothat.” (“On Teaching For Understand-ing: A Conversation with HowardG a r d n e r,” by Ron Brandt, E d u c a t i o n a lLe a d e r-ship Magazine, A SCD, 1994.)

The value of the sensorial experi-ences that the younger children havehad in Montessori are often underesti-mated by both parents and educators.Research is very clear that young chil-dren learn by observing and manipu-lating their environment, not throughtextbooks and workbook exercises.

In a primary classroom, three and four-year-olds work with theconcrete Montessori learning materials, gradually forming a men-tal picture of concepts, such as: How big is a thousand? How manyhundreds make up a thousand? And what is really going on whenwe borrow or carry numbers in mathematical operations?

continued on p. 8 ...

8 ©Tomorrow’s Child Magazine Winter 2006 • www.montessori.org

The Montessori materials give the childconcrete sensorial impressions of ab-stract concepts, such as long division,that become the foundation for a life-time of understanding.

Montessori gives children a founda-tion for abstract understanding, but theprocess is anything but complete as theybegin kindergarten. Two-, three-, andf o u r- y e a r-olds absorb impressions fromthe world around them like sponges.Their learning is generally unconscious.

Fi v e - y e a r-olds are beginning to reflectupon the world. They pay closer atten-tion, notice more details, ask more ques-tions, and begin to explain the world intheir own terms. The kindergarten yearis a time when the child begins to inte-grate everything she learned in the firstfew years.

Although many parents have heard,and on some level appreciate, that theyears before first grade are the most im-p o rtant years in a child’s education, deci-sions about a child’s preschool and kin-d e r g a rten often receive less objectiveanalysis than goes into selecting a newc a r. There is a tendency to assume thatthe local schools are fundamentally goodenough. In doing so, parents underesti-mate the amount of learning that take splace in the third year of Montessori.

Learning to be organizedand learning to be focusedis as important as any aca-demic work. Doing work-sheets quickly can beimpressive to parents, butthere is rarely any deeplearning going on.

By the end of age five,Montessori students willoften develop academicskills that may be beyondthose advanced beyondthose. Academic progressis not our ultimate goal. Ourreal hope is that they willfeel good about themselvesand enjoy learning.Mastering basic skills is aside goal.

Have you ever heard the

quote, “All I ever needed to

know, I learned in kinder-

garten?” I’ve seen this quote

many times before, and, as

most people, I have read it as

an innocuous statement of

someone’s judgment,

dismissing it before ever

really appreciating it. But, the

other day, in an airport, I came

across this statement. Be-

fore dismissing it, as I had

previously, I actually took

a moment to ponder the

statement.

Where Are They Now ...

Chelsea Howe

Graduate StudentLoyola College (MD)

Production Assistant The Montessori Foundaton

10 Years in Montessori The Barrie School, (Silver Spring, MD)

©Tomorrow’s Child Magazine Winter 2006 • www.montessori.org 9

In a few cases, kindergarten Montes-sori children may not look as if they arenot as advanced as a child in a very aca-demically accelerated traditional pro-gram, but what they do know they usu-ally know very well. Their understand-ing of the decimal system, place value,mathematical operations, and similari n f o rmation is usually very sound. Wi t hreinforcement as they grow older, it be-comes internalized and a perm a n e n tp a rt of who they are. When they leaveMontessori before they have had thetime to internalize these early concreteexperiences, their early learning oft e nevaporates because it is neither rein-forced nor commonly understood.

Montessori is an approach to work-ing with children that is carefully basedon what we’ve learned about child de-velopment from several decades of re-search.

If you are a former Montessoristudent or know someone whois, we’d love to hear from you tofind out how Montessori affectedyour life. Contact Chelsea attcmag@aol.com.

hat did I learn in kindergarten,and where was I when I was inkindergarten? I was sitting in

Patti and Susan’s class on a big tapedcircle singing, Deep Blue Beluga, takingnaps in the afternoon, learning to sharemy mid-morning snack with other chil-dren, learning the art of tying my shoestaught by older children, even buildingbig pink towers in an attempt to masterthe best plan to make it, successfully,stand taller each and every time. Iremember the playground, and learningthat there are different areas of the play-ground, divided by different childrenand different activities; but, there was acollectivism that was shared, in that wewere invited and encouraged to partici-pate in all of the groups and all of theactivities. But, most of all, I rememberPatti and Susan and appreciating that Icould go to school every day, be wel-comed with a hug, and dismissed backto my parents with a good-bye hug.

Tw e n t y-one years later, I am still in thesame place; however, Patti and Susan arenot my teachers, but they are representedin any “authority” figures I meet, as they donot need to be feared, but can be appreciat-ed. I still know how to share, and to appre-ciate the diversity that life offers. I recognizethe gifts that people bring in their every d a ypersonalities that allow me to learn fromthem –whether it’s in teaching me how totie my shoes (which I’m proud to say I’vemastered), or in sharing with me some-thing that’s totally unique to them. I have

always internalized the desire to respect di-versity not only in backgrounds, but in per-spective as well. And, I appreciate that I amimmersed in various different backgroundse q u a l l y, as I can learn and share with all,rather than be limited in my associations.

I am in graduate school for psychology,with one year left in this program. Many askthe scary question of: “What will you dowhen you’re done?” But, I know the answerto this question, “I will go on. I will learnmore. I will go to more school to achieveenough education that I can be and do whatI want to in this world.” It may be a lawyer, aw r i t e r, a psychologist, even a television per-sonality – but, I respect that there is morefor me to discover in myself for now. I takecomfort that my education and my experi-ences will help lead the way.

Montessori provided me with the won-d e rful gift of appreciating learning – not justfrom books, but learning from within. Itfostered in me the independence, the driveto excel and succeed in all that I do, andmost importantly, the love and appreciationI have for myself in that I was taught to cele-brate who I am and use my potentials asmy very gifts in my everyday experience.

I can honestly say, that I have so muchcuriosity for life because I was given the op-p o r t u n i t y, from a very young age, to ques-tion why things happen the way that theydo. I was given the luxury to learn at myown pace, though still covering all of thematerial, to further excel and master thethings that were more fitting to me.E s s e n t i a l l y, I have carried that Montessori

experience with me through all of theseyears- learning all that is required of me,but really focusing on the most salientand stimulating things that are unique tome. My education, therefore, is not re-stricted to the classroom or books, but isomnipresent in all facets of life.

I am aware of how fortunate I am tobe where I am and to have accomplishedall that I have in my life. But, in reality, Ihave to thank my parents for having cho-sen Montessori. My teachers (fromk i n d e rgarten and beyond), however,may have been my greatest asset foropening the doors of exploration, en-couraging me to be confident in myself,and to have courage to learn, on somany levels, what life is about. I won’tdismiss that quote anymore, as I oncedid. I will embrace it, appreciate it, andcommunicate this with others. If others’k i n d e rgarten experience can be aspoignant, comforting, and stimulating asmine, we can make a huge difference inwhat we, as the next generations, canmake of the future. After all, everything Iever needed to know, I really did learn ink i n d e rg a r t e n .

By the end of kindergart e nMontessori children are generally do-ing very well academically. Montessorioffers them enriched lessons in math,reading, and language, and if they arer e a d y, they normally develop excellents k i lls.

The key concept is readiness. If achild is developmentally not ready togo on, he or she is neither left behindnor made to feel like a failure. Ourgoal is not ensuring that childrendevelop at a predetermined rate,but to ensure that whatever theydo, they do well and master. MostMontessori children master atremendous amount of inform a-tion and skills, and even in the cas-es where children may not havemade as much progress as wewould have wished, they usuallyhave done a good job with their

work, wherever they have progressedat any given point, and feel good aboutthemselves as learners.

Tim Seldin is President of the MontessoriFoundation, Chair of The Intern a t i o n a lMontessori Council and co-author of T h eWorld in the Palm of Her Hand, Celebrationsof Life, and The Montessori Wa y.