How to Choose a Montessori Preschool

How To Choose The Montessori Nursery For Your Child

Montessori Nursery Preschool

This article is not about comparing Montessori versus traditional education, but more for parents who already chosen. the Montessori philosophy you know that that's what's right for your child however you're not sure. when you go and visit different schools whether they're actually real authentic Montessori schools. the pinkie's Montessori never trademarked her name and any school can use it and there are hundreds and thousands of schools around the world who use Montessori in their name and they promote themselves as a Montessori inspired or Montessori nurseries.

However quite often they're not you're going to the school. you book your tour there is someone who is guiding you and showing you around and there are certain things you can look for that would show you whether that's authentic Montessori.

Overall Environment

The first thing to look for is the overall environment a Montessori classroom is usually very bright with lots of natural light and natural colors. there is nothing hanging from the walls there aren't any arts or letters or numbers as most other schools would have and it's really very orderly as well. most chefs will be from natural materials and when you look around the shelves you'd see great order there as well. so there will be lots of activities but they will be put in order.

The Organization of The Classroom

Another thing to look for is the organization of the classroom. in Montessori there are five main curriculum areas these are activities for everyday living also called practical life skills numeracy that's mathematics literacy and then we have knowledge understanding of the world. which is very science biology and basically the home-standing of how the world work. we also have Cesario which is the sort of the main Montessori airing every school. in addition to that we normally have art area and a little roleplay area and when you see this organization of the classroom. you see that each corner would represent the different curriculum areas. many other nurseries wouldn't necessarily have organizational area like that.

Whereas in Montessori there is so much freedom for the child. so much freedom for them to choose how to work but then there also there is this structure. in how you organize classroom itself things to look for in terms of materials in the Cesario area. they are the iconic pink Tower and then also the Broadstairs children would work with materials there that are either from fabric or wooden. they would do they will work with them to categorize them based on size or based on color and many nurseries even if they're not Montessori would normally have some of the materials from the sensorial area.

In the numeracy area we'll look for some paper letters lots of beads also counters and long routes in the literacy area. would see the large moveable alphabet so there are materials that each matzo leaners you should always have if they're authentic Montessori something else that it's very typical for Montessori environment is that there would be materials that in many other environments would be considered as risky. which means that they can be breakable easily breakable or their OB scissors and things that they of course have been risk assessed.

Montessori believe that children when they're shown how to work with these so-called risky materials they actually managed to work with them pretty easily. usually within woods or environment that the checks that we use or the glasses that children use are always real glass is really made from glass. rather than being plastic there aren't any toys plastic toys in a Montessori nursery again everything's from natural material usually that's wood and plastic doesn't have a place there if you look around you'd see that there aren't that many colors either.

Vertical Grouping Called Mixed Age Classroom

Next one to look for is the vertical grouping also called the mixed-age classroom. when the storage truly believe that it's against the social nature of the child to split them based on their age because each child has its own individual pace. in development and in real life we are not separated by age as well so on Montessori usually in wood story classroom. you would see children between 3 & 6 in most countries 6 to 9 and 9 to 12.

Unfortunately here in the UK children go to school very early we lose the middie hf4 when they go to reception which means that our nurseries Montessori nurseries or preschools would be usually between two and a half and four and a half years of age. the reason why vertical grouping is so important is that younger children learn so much better from all the children by copying them by role modeling them and they're more curious about what are they doing versus adults and also older children solidified their knowledge by showing to younger children different things by helping them in their environment which helps them as well to build their confidence and self-esteem.

So it's something which every Montessori natural. Montessori classroom would have so if you go somewhere and nursery guide tells you this is our group three to four years old this is our group four to five years old it means that they're not actually following the Montessori philosophy because this is very very crucial for a Montessori environment

Snack Area

Next one again very important and easily spot a bow is the snack area so where is the snack area. whether the children have access freely to fruits and veggies or whatever the snack is and they can serve themselves whenever they feel like it. in a monster' environment again there is an interrupted cycle of work which means the child can decide what do they wants to work with and there aren't group snack times as in most other places if the child wants to eat they go and eat usually friends see them they join them but it's their choice whether they want to go and at what time to go there as well though you should have a free access to water again we teach them like Mansoura nurse we teach them how to pour the water and then they serve themselves because it's all about independence.

How Teachers Communicate With Children

Montessori Teacher

The next one is the teachers. I know you'll be busy by having someone who is giving you a tour however look around and see how the teacher communicate with children. in the Montessori environment usually teachers who take observations or they will be working independently with a child or they will be presenting different activities and teachers always see the child is their equal the teacher is not the boss. the teacher is not about the child and the teacher doesn't give orders so it's very respectful environment where the spirit of the child is truly respected so a teacher in Monster environment usually someone who has a Montessori qualification is very hard to be a Montessori teacher without going through the two years of education to become one.

I know there are lots of nurseries who employ and hire people who have not qualification for Montessori and then they invest lots of time resources to to teach them and I'm sure that probably it works to a certain point. however, when you study and you go for the qualification yourself there are lots of time that you spend not only in philosophy in child development but also how exactly to present the activities to the children so you can always be asked about it. 

The qualification not many nurseries would choose to be accredited although they can be accredited because being created by a body certain body depending on the country means that you have to pay lots of fees lots of schools choose not to do that it doesn't mean they're not Montessori they have not been accredited. however, if none of the teacher or only half of the teachers have wants or qualifications. I would question how that can be attending Montessori environment.

The Uninterrupted Cycle of Work

Last one is the uninterrupted cycle of work what you can ask is can you please tell me more about how the day goes in this school what the children do how a usual typical morning looks like for the children. in Montessori is really important to give to the children so-called an interrupted cycle of work which is usually two to three hours it used to be longer years ago when children were staying for longer hours at nurseries. it is that there aren't different blocks of times that are specifically for certain presentation or curriculum let's say in traditional education there will be more like okay now we have 40 minutes of mathematics for it in minutes of reading time now we have yoga now we have music now we have different sorts of you know classes that we have booked for the child before in one story environment.

The child is the king they choose what they want to do and they're working with the materials in the way they want to work well not in the way of course you showed them but they choose how they want to spend their time. that's why even if we have group classes such as yoga or music or any other classes that are part of the day daily environment in the school you never force the child to be part of it children choose whether they want to join or not join and again you let them choose something else if you don't feel like joining a group class.

Of course, spend some time to look around and see how the children work in a motor environment children are usually very independent and they'll put their shoes on they'll do things by themselves they wash their hands by themselves usually, they'll put their activities back they'll tack their chairs and often they work by themselves it's very individualized learning.

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