Whether it is the beginning of the calendar year or the beginning of the school year, parents who send their children to Montessori schools need to make some resolutions to facilitate their child’s progress toward his or her greatest potential. When I send my children to Montessori school, these are some things I will aspire to do on a regular basis. And I wish that the parents of my students would do the same
Learn more about the Montessori method.
You have chosen to send your child to a school that uses an alternative philosophy of education. Why is this better than traditional schooling? What is it your child is actually doing? My parents did research before choosing Montessori for me. Having been brought up in the philosophy and having chosen to teach it, I know it is the right choice for my children.
Books abound on the subject, both by Maria Montessori herself, as well as her contemporary counterparts. Montessori educators are well-versed in the method and can answer any questions. Even they are continually revisiting the literature and examining how to best implement the philosophy. You can even join a Montessori community, such as my Montessori Writer Facebook page to learn more.
Communicate with the teachers.
Teachers like to hear the good, the bad and the ugly about how your child feels about school. Parents need to take a few minutes to share such stories with teachers. Find out the best way to contact your child’s teacher and what times are the most convenient.
Information such as someone being ill or out of town or other major changes at home are really important to share with the teacher. Without going into a lot of detail, you can give the teacher a heads-up that things are a little off-kilter. It may help to explain the child’s current behavior.
Be on time.
I am chronically late. People who know me understand that you need to tell me a time at least 15 minutes in advance if you want me to show up on time. But certain things just need to follow a schedule.
When dealing with a classroom or a school, one person can have an impact on the entire group. One person arriving late in the middle of circle time can detract the children’s attention from the teacher and the lesson at hand. Picking up a child late from school can eat up the teacher’s lunch time or set up time. Sometimes that teacher has places to go after class! In Montessori, coming late to class eats up part of that precious three-hour work period that is fundamental to helping the child normalize in his classroom. Normalization facilitates learning. My goal is to always be on time for my kids. I would love it if my parents could always be on time for us.
Adhere to rules and procedures.
Schools set up various policies for a reason. They are dealing with hundreds of children and adults. Rules are necessary to maintain a semblance of order. And in Montessori school, a lot of the reasoning follows the Montessori philosophy. These are established with the idea of providing the best possible education for the child – in academics and in the real world. Children can learn respect when we as adults show respect for the rules of organizations.
Other rules and procedures can be specific to each individual classroom. Any time I have a question about how or why a classroom functions, I always ask. And I always invite questions of the same nature for my classroom. There is always a method to the madness.
Follow through.
One of the biggest mistakes we can make with children to is not follow through on our demands. If I tell a child she is going to have a consequence for her behavior, then I must follow through on it. Otherwise, she starts to expect to regularly get away with her behavior. If that means discussing the situation with a parent or the teacher, then I need to do that. Children need to understand that we are on the same page and mean what we say. We can’t laugh it off all of the time. We are the ones molding the future.
Facilitate independence.
Montessori education strives to make the child into the best person he can be. He must learn independence. Children are perfectly capable of walking on their own two feet – stop carrying them to and from the school door. Let them make choices about their clothing. Encourage them to be responsible for taking care of their belongings. We are almost trained to do everything for our children because they are so dependent on us as babies. But don’t you remember that desire to just do it yourself? Ask a Montessori educator for more tips. Even we have a hard time with our own children at times.
It takes some time to get used to following routines and to make changes. Just try to do one thing differently a week. Ask for help if you need it. And remember, even the teachers are working on some of their own resolutions for the Montessori classroom.