The Edvocate

Top Menu

Main Menu

  • Start Here
    • Our Brands
    • Governance
      • Dr. Lynch’s Personal Website
      • Careers
    • Write For Us
    • Books
    • Contact Us
    • Edupedia
  • PreK-12
    • Assessment
    • Assistive Technology
    • Child Development
    • Classroom Management
    • Early Childhood
    • EdTech & Innovation
    • Education Leadership
    • Equity
    • First Year Teachers
    • Gifted and Talented Education
    • Parental Involvement
    • Policy & Reform
    • Special Education
    • Teachers
  • Higher Ed
    • Best Colleges and Universities
    • Best College and University Programs
    • Diversity
    • HBCU’s
    • Higher Education
    • Higher Education EdTech
    • International Education
  • Advertise
    • Request a Product Review
  • The Tech Edvocate Awards
    • The Awards Process
    • Finalists and Winners of The 2020 Tech Edvocate Awards
    • Finalists and Winners of The 2019 Tech Edvocate Awards
    • Finalists and Winners of The 2018 Tech Edvocate Awards
    • Finalists and Winners of The 2017 Tech Edvocate Awards
    • Award Seals
  • Apps
    • GPA Calculator for College
    • GPA Calculator for High School
    • Cumulative GPA Calculator
    • Grade Calculator
    • Weighted Grade Calculator
    • Final Grade Calculator
  • The Tech Edvocate
  • Pedagogue
  • The Edvocate Podcast

logo

The Edvocate

  • Start Here
    • Our Brands
    • Governance
      • Dr. Lynch’s Personal Website
        • My Speaking Page
      • Careers
    • Write For Us
    • Books
    • Contact Us
    • Edupedia
  • PreK-12
    • Assessment
    • Assistive Technology
    • Child Development
    • Classroom Management
    • Early Childhood
    • EdTech & Innovation
    • Education Leadership
    • Equity
    • First Year Teachers
    • Gifted and Talented Education
    • Parental Involvement
    • Policy & Reform
    • Special Education
    • Teachers
  • Higher Ed
    • Best Colleges and Universities
    • Best College and University Programs
    • Diversity
    • HBCU’s
    • Higher Education
    • Higher Education EdTech
    • International Education
  • Advertise
    • Request a Product Review
  • The Tech Edvocate Awards
    • The Awards Process
    • Finalists and Winners of The 2020 Tech Edvocate Awards
    • Finalists and Winners of The 2019 Tech Edvocate Awards
    • Finalists and Winners of The 2018 Tech Edvocate Awards
    • Finalists and Winners of The 2017 Tech Edvocate Awards
    • Award Seals
  • Apps
    • GPA Calculator for College
    • GPA Calculator for High School
    • Cumulative GPA Calculator
    • Grade Calculator
    • Weighted Grade Calculator
    • Final Grade Calculator
  • The Tech Edvocate
  • Pedagogue
  • The Edvocate Podcast
  • How to Teach Students to Find the Main Idea

  • An Overview of Explicit Instruction

  • How To Encourage Reading At Home: A Checklist

  • The Most Popular College Applications Today

  • Using Picture Walks to Motivate Students to Read

  • 2022 Best Bachelor’s Degree Programs in Risk Management

  • How To Develop An Internal Locus Of Control

  • Helping Children With Reading Complex Text

  • How is the SAT Scored?

  • Proven Steps for Writing a Common Application Essay

Early Childhood
Home›Early Childhood›A Parents Guide to Montessori Preschool Programs

A Parents Guide to Montessori Preschool Programs

By Matthew Lynch
March 30, 2021
Spread the love

One of the most popular preschool programs is the Montessori program, which Maria Montessori started in Rome. Montessori education is kid-centered, with the teachers merely acting as learning guides. Each kid learns at their own pace through play and manipulatives. This philosophy also means kids of various ages may be in the same class.

Do you hope to ignite your young kids’ love of learning and lay the foundation for a promising future? The Montessori approach to early childhood education will start that process in a loving environment where your young kid will thrive.

The early childhood level, for kids ages 2 ½ – 6, encourages kids to explore and discover and take ownership of their education.

The Environment

In a Montessori early childhood class, highly trained teachers create a customized environment crafted to their unique capabilities, interests, and learning styles.

This approach to learning is “hands-on.” Dr. Maria Montessori believed that moving and learning are inseparable. In the prepared class, kids work with specially designed manipulative contents that invite exploration and engage the senses in the process of learning.

All learning activities support kids in choosing meaningful and challenging work at their interest and ability level. This kid-directed engagement strengthens motivation, supports attention, and encourages responsibility.

The Classroom Space

A Montessori early childhood class feels more like a home than a school. You won’t see desks, nor will an educator stand at the front of the room, delivering a lesson to the whole class. Instead, you’ll see kids happily working individually or in small groups, at tables or on the floor near small mats that delineate their space.

Specially designed learning contents are displayed on open shelves, easily accessible to the kids. Classrooms also consist of low sinks accessible to the kids, kid-sized furniture, and reachable shelves with work available for free choice, and kid-sized kitchen utensils for learners to eat and prepare snacks.

The Kindergarten Year

In the first two years in an early childhood class, Montessori learners look forward to their turn to be a leader. In their third year—often known as Kindergarten—kids get their turn and take pride in being the oldest. They serve as role models for younger learners; they show leadership and citizenship skills. They reinforce and consolidate their learning by teaching ideas they have already learned to their peers. In their Kindergarten year, they express confidence and show responsibility.

Kindergarteners are introduced to progressively advanced Montessori contents and sophisticated, fascinating lessons. And they experience a crucial period in which their previous learning from working with concrete Montessori contents begins to become permanent knowledge. A Montessori Kindergarten learner sees and feels their individual growth as they watch others learn info they have learned themselves.

Kindergarten is the end of the early childhood program. Kids exhibit the independence, critical thinking, collaboration, and leadership they have been practicing during their previous years in the early childhood class, exercising them independently as they prepare to transition into an Elementary program.

What is Taught?

Teachers carefully observe their kids in the early childhood environment, identifying their interests and capabilities, and creating personalized learning plans tailored to each kid’s needs. They guide the learning, introducing new lessons as appropriate. The educator offers the encouragement, time, and tools needed to let kids’ organic curiosities drive learning.

After participating in a demonstration of content from an educator, your kid is free to select activities and work independently or with a partner for as long as they wish. There is usually only one book; your kid will develop patience and self-control as they wait for content to become available.

The Montessori early childhood curriculum is based on a 3-year sequence. The educator guides your kid through learning at their pace; their personalized learning plan may exceed the ideas they would be taught in a class environment in which each kid learns the same concept simultaneously.

As kids move forward,  they develop the ability to concentrate and make decisions and create self-control, courtesy, and an idea of community responsibility.

The Curriculum

The early childhood class offers your kid five areas of study: Practical Life, Sensorial, Math, Language, and Cultural Studies. What are the lessons in these areas?

Practical Life

Children learn daily-life skills, such as getting dressed, preparing snacks, setting the table, and caring for plants and animals. They also learn appropriate social interactions, like saying please and thank-you, being kind and helpful, listening without interrupting, and resolving conflicts peacefully.

Sensorial

Kids refine skills in perceiving the world through their different senses and learn how to explain and name their experiences. It lays the foundation for learning by creating the ability to classify, sort, and discriminate—skills necessary in math, geometry, and language.

Math

Through hands-on activities, kids learn to identify numerals, understand place-value and the base-10 system, and practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Also, they explore patterns in the numbering system. With an exploratory approach, kids do more than just memorize math facts; they gain a firm understanding of the meaning behind them.

Language

Throughout the early childhood class, activities teach language, help kids acquire vocabulary, and develop writing and reading skills. The ability to write, a prerequisite for reading, is taught first. Using hands-on contents, kids learn letter sounds, how to combine sounds to make words, how to build sentences, and how to utilize a pencil. Once these skills are acquired, kids spontaneously learn to read.

Cultural Studies

A range of subjects are integrated into lessons in the curriculum’s cultural area. Kids learn about their community and the world around them. Discovering comparisons and contrasts among people and places helps them understand and appreciate our world’s diversity and respect for each living thing.

Montessori Learning Materials

Montessori contents are not only beautiful and inviting, but life-changing. They teach only one skill to let the kid work independently and master the intended concept. The contents are also “self-correcting.” This means the kid can identify if they have done an activity accurately and try again without an educator’s intervention. Working with self-correcting content helps kids develop confidence and self-sufficiency and promotes critical thinking. In a sense, they become their teachers—a skill that will last for life.


Spread the love
Previous Article

How Does Enculturation Affect Us?

Next Article

How to Implement the Pick a Number ...

Matthew Lynch

Related articles More from author

  • Early ChildhoodElementary Education

    Early childhood educators rely on families to prop up low income, research finds

    December 1, 2016
    By Matthew Lynch
  • social promotion in schools
    Child DevelopmentEarly ChildhoodParentingTrending Topics

    7 Amazing Learning Activities for Toddlers

    August 8, 2017
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Child DevelopmentEarly ChildhoodModern ParentingParental Involvement

    The Edvocate’s Guide to Cooperative Play

    March 21, 2021
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Early ChildhoodReading & LiteracyReading Education

    An Overview of Leveled Reading Systems

    March 24, 2021
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Early Childhood

    Help your children play out a story and watch them become more creative

    December 19, 2016
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Early ChildhoodElementary Education

    Here’s how witnessing violence harms children’s mental health

    November 27, 2016
    By Matthew Lynch

  • Artificial Intelligence

    26 Ways That Artificial Intelligence (AI) is Transforming Education for the Better

  • Artificial IntelligenceEarly Childhood & K-12 EdTech

    The Effects of Artificial Intelligence on Education

  • Artificial Intelligence

    In a World of Artificial Intelligence, Where Does Emotional Intelligence Fit In?

Search

Registration and Login

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Newsletter

Signup for The Edvocate Newsletter and have the latest in P-20 education news and opinion delivered to your email address!

Subscribe to The Edvocate Podcast

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsAndroidby EmailRSS
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • How to Teach Students to Find the Main Idea

    By Matthew Lynch
    April 11, 2021
  • An Overview of Explicit Instruction

    By Matthew Lynch
    April 10, 2021
  • How To Encourage Reading At Home: A Checklist

    By Matthew Lynch
    April 9, 2021
  • The Most Popular College Applications Today

    By Matthew Lynch
    April 9, 2021
  • Using Picture Walks to Motivate Students to Read

    By Matthew Lynch
    April 9, 2021
  • 18 Reasons the U.S. Education System is Failing

    By Matthew Lynch
    April 3, 2017
  • The Top 5 Unexpected Benefits of Early Childhood Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    February 29, 2016
  • 7 Benefits of STEM Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    January 12, 2019
  • The Dark Side of Educational Technology

    By Matthew Lynch
    October 15, 2016
  • Transformational vs. Contemporary Leadership Styles

    By Matthew Lynch
    February 28, 2016
  • How M-Learning is Transforming Online Education - The Tech Edvocate
    on
    April 8, 2021

    Learning Upgrade Launches New Mobile App to Serve ELLs on the Go

    […] great aspect of ...
  • Joey Udager
    on
    April 7, 2021

    The Top 5 Unexpected Benefits of Early Childhood Education

    Although I agree that ...
  • on
    April 7, 2021

    18 Reasons the U.S. Education System is Failing

    You seem incredibly well-spoken ...
  • Savannah Langve
    on
    April 7, 2021

    What are the Pros and Cons of 4-Day School Weeks?

    four days of school ...
  • 20 Educators Share Their Exemplary Teaching Expertise!
    on
    April 7, 2021

    The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 13: How I Avoid Burning Out

    […] a fact, Episode ...

Ask an Expert

  • Ask An Expert

    How Dumbed Down Education Is Creating a National Security Crisis

    Spread the loveFor the past few decades, our country’s educational system has seen both struggle and tremendous change. With the various ailments plaguing our educational system, education reforms have attempted ...
  • Ask An Expert

    21 Inspirational Quotes That Nelson Mandela Made About Education

    Spread the loveWe all have our heroes. Those human beings that seem larger than life and almost achieve Godlike status. One of my heroes is the late-great Nelson Mandela, who ...
  • Ask An ExpertAssistive TechnologyCareer ReadinessChild Development TechClassroom ManagementDigital & Mobile TechnologyDigital LeadershipDisabilitiesDiversityEarly ChildhoodEarly Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech & InnovationEducation LeadershipElementary EducationElementary SchoolEquityFirst Year TeachersFreshHigh SchoolK-12Middle SchoolModern ParentingParent & Family TechParental InvolvementParentingPersonalized LearningPodcastPolicy & ReformPreK-12Special EducationSTEMTeacher EducationTeachers

    The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 7: How Digital Age Teachers Can Win Over Parents

    Spread the loveEducation is a collaborative process, as it takes many stakeholders working in unison to help students succeed academically. One of the most integral parts of this collaborative team ...
  • Ask An ExpertAssessmentAssistive TechnologyBlack Boys in CrisisChild Development TechClassroom ManagementDigital & Mobile TechnologyDigital LeadershipDisabilitiesEarly ChildhoodEarly Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech & InnovationEdTech Policy & ReformEducation LeadershipElementary EducationElementary SchoolEquityFeaturedFirst Year TeachersFreshGamificationGifted and Talented EducationHBCU'sHigh SchoolHigher EducationK-12Online Learning & eLearningOpEducationPersonalized LearningPodcastPolicy & ReformRetention & Social Promotion SeriesSpecial EducationSTEMTeacher EducationTeachersTesting

    The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 6: 8 Ways That Digital Age Teachers Avoid Burning Out

    Spread the loveBeing a teacher is a tough job. So much so, many new teachers end up leaving the field within their first three years. To ensure that the next ...
  • Ask An ExpertAssessmentAssistive TechnologyBlack Boys in CrisisBullyingChild DevelopmentChild Development TechClassroom ManagementCurrent Ed NewsDigital LeadershipEarly ChildhoodEarly Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech & InnovationEdTech Policy & ReformEdTech Startups & BusinessesEducation LeadershipEquityFeaturedFirst Year TeachersFreshGamificationGifted and Talented EducationHBCU'sHigh SchoolHigher EducationHigher Education EdTechK-12Matthew LynchModern ParentingOnline Learning & eLearningOpEducationPersonalized LearningPodcastPolicy & ReformRetention & Social Promotion SeriesSpecial EducationSTEMTeacher EducationTeachersTestingYear-Round Schooling

    The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 5: The Archetype of a Great Teacher

    Spread the loveOne of the questions that I am frequently asked is, what does a good teacher look like? I respond by mentioning my 10th-grade Biology teacher, Mrs. Minor, and ...

International Education

  • International EducationLanguage DevelopmentLanguage EducationMultilingual Education

    Using Choral Responses as a Tool for Teaching Multilingual Learners

    Spread the loveChoral responses are a  tool for teaching a different language to a class. Choral responses are the oral response to a prompt. In the classroom setting, you might ...
  • Higher EducationInternational Education

    Is Medical School for Me?

    Spread the loveThere is no doubt that a medical career is regarded with high prestige. To be honest, being identified as a “Doctor” is fantastic. It not only shows that ...
  • International Education

    How Can We Improve Teacher Training in the World’s Poorest Countries?

    Spread the loveAccess to education is a basic human right and a subject of importance in every part of the world. The desire and dedication to go to school are ...
  • International Education

    How COVID-19 is Creating a Global Education Crisis

    Spread the loveWhile the novel coronavirus has brought the entire world to a standstill, it’s the education sector that will suffer the most consequences. Almost all across the globe, the ...
  • International Education

    Which Countries Provide Free Education At A University Level?

    Spread the loveAlmost two dozen countries provide free or nearly-free university-level education to their citizens. Some even allow students from other countries to participate in their free education programs; some ...

Early Childhood Education

  • Early ChildhoodK-12Reading & LiteracyReading Education

    Using Picture Walks to Motivate Students to Read

    Spread the lovePicture walks are an activity that is completed before reading occurs. The reader views the pictures of the story and predicts what they think is occurring. This activates ...
  • Early ChildhoodK-12Reading & LiteracyReading Education

    Helping Kids Learn to Read with Automaticity

    Spread the loveAutomacity is the ability to look at a word and read it within one second of seeing it. Word automaticity is essential for fluency and comprehension. Fluency develops ...
  • Early ChildhoodK-12Reading & LiteracyReading Education

    Helping a Student Increase Their WCPM (Words Correct Per Minute) and Reading Accuracy

    Spread the loveAn educator must utilize assessments such as the WCPM (Words Correct Per Minute) to plan for responsive instruction, especially among learners struggling with reading skills. Educators fail to ...
  • Early ChildhoodK-12Reading & LiteracyReading Education

    Helping Students Learn to Read With Accuracy

    Spread the loveThe evaluation of reading accuracy depends on the capability to make words in a manuscript. Reading accuracy is the automatic process of interpretation and integration of appropriate expressions ...
  • Early ChildhoodK-12Reading & LiteracyReading Education

    Assessing Reading Accuracy and Automaticity

    Spread the loveThe percentage of the words a reader can engage correctly within a given period decides the reading accuracy. This is an essential measure for reading proficiency since it ...

Gifted and Talented Education

  • Gifted and Talented EducationK-12Psychology and Education

    Understanding Intrapersonal Intelligence

    Spread the loveIntrapersonal intelligence is one of the eight multiple intelligences coined by Howard Gardner. The Multiple Intelligence Theory suggests that there are eight “modalities of intelligence,” which challenges the ...
  • Gifted and Talented Education

    All About Child Prodigies

    Spread the loveWhether you are reading this article as a student, parent, or educator, you have undoubtedly heard about the term child prodigy at least once in your lifetime. Although ...
  • Gifted and Talented Education

    The Edvocate’s Guide to Working With Twice-Exceptional Students

    Spread the loveTwice-exceptional is a term used to explain kids who have exceptional talents in some educational areas and challenges in others. In some instances, a twice-exceptional learner could theoretically ...
  • Gifted and Talented Education

    Implementing Curriculum Compacting in Your Classroom

    Spread the loveAll educators agree that differentiating instruction for students is very important. Yet, many districts cannot put this policy into practice. An almost unlimited amount of remedial curricular content ...
  • Gifted and Talented Education

    What Does Academic Enrichment Involve?

    Spread the loveAcademic enrichment activities in the class can take numerous forms and do not always involve prescribed lessons from the curriculum. Enrichment encourages learners to take a more expansive ...

Black Boys in Crisis Series

  • Black Boys in Crisis

    The Importance of Mentoring Young African-American Males

    Spread the loveTeachers need to realize that at home, in their neighborhoods, and in school, many students face difficulties that can interfere with learning. Compared to their middle-class counterparts, it ...
  • Black Boys in CrisisDiversityEquity

    7 Ways That Black Students are Discriminated Against in U.S K-12 Schools

    Spread the loveAfrican Africans have a long history of being mistreated in the United States, starting with slavery. It should come as no surprise that their children face the same ...
  • Ask An ExpertAssessmentAssistive TechnologyBlack Boys in CrisisChild Development TechClassroom ManagementDigital & Mobile TechnologyDigital LeadershipDisabilitiesEarly ChildhoodEarly Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech & InnovationEdTech Policy & ReformEducation LeadershipElementary EducationElementary SchoolEquityFeaturedFirst Year TeachersFreshGamificationGifted and Talented EducationHBCU'sHigh SchoolHigher EducationK-12Online Learning & eLearningOpEducationPersonalized LearningPodcastPolicy & ReformRetention & Social Promotion SeriesSpecial EducationSTEMTeacher EducationTeachersTesting

    The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 6: 8 Ways That Digital Age Teachers Avoid Burning Out

    Spread the loveBeing a teacher is a tough job. So much so, many new teachers end up leaving the field within their first three years. To ensure that the next ...
  • Ask An ExpertAssessmentAssistive TechnologyBlack Boys in CrisisBullyingChild DevelopmentChild Development TechClassroom ManagementCurrent Ed NewsDigital LeadershipEarly ChildhoodEarly Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech & InnovationEdTech Policy & ReformEdTech Startups & BusinessesEducation LeadershipEquityFeaturedFirst Year TeachersFreshGamificationGifted and Talented EducationHBCU'sHigh SchoolHigher EducationHigher Education EdTechK-12Matthew LynchModern ParentingOnline Learning & eLearningOpEducationPersonalized LearningPodcastPolicy & ReformRetention & Social Promotion SeriesSpecial EducationSTEMTeacher EducationTeachersTestingYear-Round Schooling

    The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 5: The Archetype of a Great Teacher

    Spread the loveOne of the questions that I am frequently asked is, what does a good teacher look like? I respond by mentioning my 10th-grade Biology teacher, Mrs. Minor, and ...
  • Ask An ExpertAssistive TechnologyBlack Boys in CrisisBullyingChild DevelopmentChild Development TechClassroom ManagementDisabilitiesDiversityEarly ChildhoodEarly Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech & InnovationEdTech Policy & ReformEducation LeadershipElementary EducationElementary SchoolEquityFeaturedFirst Year TeachersFreshGifted and Talented EducationHigh SchoolHigher EducationHigher Education EdTechK-12Middle SchoolModern ParentingOnline Learning & eLearningParent & Family TechParentingPersonalized LearningPodcastPolicy & ReformSecondary EducationSTEMTeacher EducationTeachersTesting

    The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 4: How to Create a Culturally Responsive Classroom

    Spread the loveBuilding a culturally responsive classroom is hard. To help you along your journey, here is your guide to exploring and respecting the cultural backgrounds of your students while ...

RSS Matthew on Education Week

  • Au Revoir from Education Futures November 20, 2018 Matthew Lynch
  • 6 Steps to Data-Driven Literacy Instruction October 17, 2018 Matthew Lynch
  • Four Keys to a Modern IT Approach in K-12 Schools October 2, 2018 Matthew Lynch
  • What's the Difference Between Burnout and Demoralization, and What Can Teachers Do About It? September 27, 2018 Matthew Lynch
  • Revisiting Using Edtech for Bullying and Suicide Prevention September 10, 2018 Matthew Lynch

About Us

The Edvocate was created in 2014 to argue for shifts in education policy and organization in order to enhance the quality of education and the opportunities for learning afforded to P-20 students in America. What we envisage may not be the most straightforward or the most conventional ideas. We call for a relatively radical and certainly quite comprehensive reorganization of American’s P-20 system.

That reorganization, though, and the underlying effort, will have much to do with reviving the American education system, and reviving a national love of learning.  The Edvocate plans to be one of key architects of this revival, as it continues to advocate for education reform, equity, and innovation.

Newsletter

Signup for The Edvocate Newsletter and have the latest in P-20 education news and opinion delivered to your email address!

Contact

The Edvocate
5322 Markel Road, Suite 104
Richmond, VA 23230
(601) 630-5238
[email protected]

Follow us

Copyright (c) 2021 Matthew Lynch. All rights reserved.