Around this time of year, many parents think about what the future will hold for their child in terms of continuing their education. For some, the child may be getting ready to attend a different environment for school, while others will continue on in a Montessori setting. For those continuing in a Montessori setting, we know that a child is met at their
particular level of development and they continue their individual journey onward to developing their knowledge and skills in the prepared Montessori environment, with prepared Montessori trained adults. For those who are going onto mainstream schooling following Montessori, what should the child be taking to their new setting?
The interesting thing is that children need very similar things for any further development, and they are not the abcs and 123s that parents are often very concerned that their child has mastered - or not at around the 4 to 5 year old mark. In fact, the skills are much broader and form the foundation for all future learning. Montessori absolutely got it right when the aim in 3-6 is to ‘Educate children for life’ .
Educating for life means that we are finding the key skills that children need to thrive in all further learning and providing an environment to nurture the development of these. Some might call it developing the ‘keys to the world’. So what are these all important skills that children develop from the prepared Montessori environment to take into further learning?
They include;
Self care - e.g. independent toileting - dressing/undressing, washing hands with soap, cleaning up after oneself, making a snack, organising their lunch box and drink bottle, putting on sunscreen.
Fine motor skills - e.g. Can a child open their lunchbox independently? Put on their shoes? Manipulate scissors (with developing skills)? Have they started drawing with crayons, pencils etc and be able to make an x, circle and triangle shapes independently?
Concentration & Attention - Can the child sustain self discipline in order to focus and attend to tasks? This may mean sometimes sitting still and at other times moving purposefully, depending on the activity at hand.
Emotional regulation - Can they demonstrate age appropriate emotional regulation such as separating readily from caregivers to go to school? Can they manage frustration and take turns? Do they respect other children’s needs and show age appropriate compromise and problem solving?
Language skills - Is the child able to speak and be understood clearly by a range of people? Do they demonstrate clear pronunciation and articulation of words? Have you observed your child in conversation with other children and adults that shows an understanding of listening and turn taking?
Executive functioning - Does your child display some age appropriate higher order thinking and reasoning skills such as - what do I need to put in my bag to go to school? Do I need my jumper today? etc.
Social Skills - Is your child interacting with other people and recognising social cues and norms both verbally and non verbally ? Are they able to take turns with conversation?
Planning and Sequencing - Can they sequence a simple task such as packing a bag with the items they need or follow a routine such as brushing teeth?
If children do not have these things in place, they may show frustration through their behaviour as they may not be able to meet the expectations placed on them. They may rely heavily on adults to support them to perform tasks, and there is usually a much higher child to adult ratio in the primary classroom making individual assistance for basic needs much less available. The child may also come home upset as they were unable to manage usual playground interactions such as turn taking and communicating with other children effectively, or compromising with game rules.
Children may also find that they are unable to demonstrate some types of learning as they haven’t built up the ability to concentrate on a task, persevere or show age appropriately problem solving independently. Perhaps their fine motor skills were not yet developed as needed.
This is why in Montessori settings, we encourage independence to build children’s confidence and skills. Children naturally long to be able to do things themselves in the preschool years. The prepared environment of child sized activities that are purposeful are key to this. But more than this, the trained adults in the Montessori environment are essential to knowing how to utilise and connect children to the environment to gain the most from it.
When all of the foundations are in place, the child is ready to move to the next stage of development, which is known as the ‘second plane’ in Montessori circles. The second plane is a time for satisfying a thirst for knowledge as well as social connection and collaboration in learning with peers. Perhaps if your child is moving into the ‘second plane’ this coming year, you might consider continuing into 6-12 at Northside Montessori or Forestville Montessori that are in our area. If your child is 4 years old and
turns 5 years prior to the 31st July, 2025, then your child is eligible to join Lindfield Montessori’s Extended Day or Kindergarten program. The seamless transition for your child to either of these programs is really something worth considering, and you are welcome to talk to Marina about the proven benefits of Montessori education as an education for life.
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