This is the time of year when parents of our four- and five-year-old children are trying to make the decision of staying in a Montessori classroom for their child’s kindergarten year or transitioning to public school kindergarten.  This is a question that my husband and I debated with our first child.  If you decide to send your child to a traditional kindergarten class, it will be like receiving a raise in your income.  No more school tuition!  This decision is many times based on the budget of our households, but it is a decision that needs to be based on far more than money. 

In our Montessori environments the teacher knows your child’s strengths and weaknesses since your child has been in the same school for hopefully several years.  If you move your child to a public school kindergarten you will be stalling their learning!  The teachers in their new classroom will need time to get to know your child and in their curriculum, everyone learns the same thing at the same time starting with colors, shapes, numbers and sounds. 

Why not stay in an environment where your child’s learning is individualized to meet their needs and interests?  An environment with a teacher who will challenge your child’s intellect with such works as a Trinomial Cube, Constructive Triangles, addition, subtraction, division and multiplication with golden beads, and the list is endless!  The beautiful Montessori concrete materials continually build an excitement and interest in learning within all children.  That is a gift!!!

This is the year that your child has been preparing for, very similar to his senior year in high school!  This is the all-important 3rd year where they develop leadership skills.  It is a year of maturing and developing an empathy and respect for others.  Most of all they are developing self-confidence and an enthusiasm for school and learning.

Seriously consider leaving your child in a learning environment that is tailored to challenge your child on their own level!  An environment where children are allowed and encouraged to learn and figure out things on their own.  This is a gifted and talented program for all children! 

My husband and I made a choice, we drove cars that were perhaps a little older and we chose to live in the same neighborhood for 20 years, but we were able to give our children a Montessori private school education.   It was a conscious choice that greatly benefitted our 3 children, who are now all grown and are doing extremely well in their chosen careers with multiple degrees.  It is a true gift to give a child their kindergarten year in a Montessori classroom! A year where they are developing important leadership skills, confidence, learning to work with others, and so much more!

“Our care of the child should be governed, not by the desire to make him learn things, but by the endeavor always to keep burning within him that light which is called intelligence.” –Maria Montessori