Montessori or Traditional Kindergarten

Montessori or Traditional Kindergarten
A PARENT’S DECISION FOR THE FIVE YEAR-OLD  by Aline D. Wolf  

 If you are the parent of a four year-old presently in a Montessori class, you are probably delighted with your child’s progress and are looking forward to her continuation of Montessori next year when she is five.  Most parents who choose Montessori for their pre-schooler not only want her to complete this cycle of pre-school learning but they want her to continue Montessori at the elementary level if it is available.   It is possible, however, that you are one of the smaller number of parents who look upon Montessori as a preparation for traditional kindergarten.  A Montessori school, these parents feel, is a place where a very young child can be taken care of until he is old enough for conventional school.  Each year some parents withdraw their five year-olds from Montessori just as they are beginning to unfold as young leaders, beginning readers and budding mathematicians.  When the transfer is made at this point the children actually miss the most fruitful part of the Montessori experience.   There is no doubt that some circumstances almost force parents to withdraw their five year-olds from Montessori schools.  A sudden financial crisis, impossible transportation arrangements, a personality conflict with an individual Montessori teacher or a child’s special problem which might be helped by a more structured environment, all indicate that a change should be made.   When compelling reasons, similar to these, do not exist, you have the freedom to observe both programs carefully and try to evaluate the influence which each might have on your child.  You should not hesitate to ask to observe in either the traditional or the Montessori school.  The exercise of this legitimate right of parents is the only way you can get the first-hand information necessary for making a wise decision.   It will be helpful to begin by observing your own four year-old in the Montessori classroom during the spring months.  Is he comfortable and happy?  How does he interact with other children?  Does he choose his own activities?  How long can he concentrate?  What math exercises can he do?  What reading or language activities has he begun?   Next you should visit the kindergarten that you are considering for your child.  Do the children enjoy learning?  How long do they concentrate?  What math and reading exercises are available as the next step to what your child is doing now?  What art, music and nature activities are in the class?  Are there opportunities for independent work and for leadership?   The next step in this sequence is to re-visit the Montessori school.  This time, rather than watching your own child, look at the classroom as a whole and particularly at what the five year-olds are doing.  How do they compare with the five year-olds in the conventional school?  What are they doing in math and reading?  Are they leaders?  Are they self-confident?  Is the classroom a happy place for learning?  What music, nature and creative activities are in progress?   After this series of observations you should give careful thought to the long-range as well as the immediate advantages of one program over another.  The “right now” benefits of choosing a traditional program, such as the relief from tuition and transportation responsibilities, are often very obvious to parents.  The long-range benefits of another year of Montessori are sometimes more subtle and difficult to recognize.  Unwittingly some parents give up substantial long-term benefits for motives that are not always educationally sound.  An analysis of these reasons may be helpful to you.   “We feel that the best learning happens when the younger children can watch older children.  Debbie really benefited from her past two years in Montessori.  But next year, she won’t have any older ones to learn from.  She’s apt to pick up baby habits again.”   Imitating older children is only one aspect of learning in a mixed age group.  The book, Children Teach Children by Garnter, Kohler and Riessman (Harper and Row) gives many statistics which show that when an older child helps a younger child, it is actually the older child who benefits most from the experience.  Because the teacher in a Montessori classroom is not constantly directing group activities, there are many opportunities for the five year-olds to help the younger ones.  Besides reinforcing their academic knowledge, this experience enhances their self-esteem and develops their self-confidence–two qualities which enable them to try new things in later learning.  To deprive the five year-old of this experience is to deprive her of her year of leadership.  When she was younger, she was unconsciously looking forward to the time when she would be one of “the older ones.”  If, instead, she is put into a kindergarten where she is again at the bottom of the ladder, this cycle of maturing is interrupted.  Perhaps the loss is most unfortunate for the “only child” or for a child who is the youngest in the family because such a child does not have the opportunity to lead younger children at home.  
At our neighborhood school all the kids meet their friends in kindergarten.  If I wait until first grade to put Jonathan in this school, he’s going to have a hard time getting in with the group.”   The problem of adapting to a new group is one that parents worry about more than the children do.  It is not unusual to find parents questioning the teacher about this situation weeks after the child and his classmates have forgotten that he is new.   Addressing himself specifically to this problem, Joseph S. Silverman, M.D., a psychiatrist interested in young children wrote, “Confronting an already formed peer group in elementary school is of course a challenge for any child.  The transition from a Montessori kindergarten to a traditional school first grade, however, is handled with ease by most children.  That they do so suggests to me that the challenge to their coping capacities is actually fortuitous.  For, after all, we find in most situations that to protect a child from a challenge he can meet is to retard his maturation.”   “Harry did beautifully in Montessori for two years, but I think he’s had enough of it now.  We can save the tuition money for his college education.”   This is a natural inclination even when there is no serious financial problem.  Where, however, will the money be better invested?  Will his education be guaranteed more by the fact the he becomes interested and excited about learning or by the fact that you have money in the bank?  If he becomes bored, he may decide against further education long before the college years.  Since many scholarships are available to good students, perhaps an interest in learning is the best guarantee of a college education.   “All her friends are going to our neighborhood school.  Susan wants to go with them.  She says she doesn’t like her old school any more.”   When a child tells you she dislikes school you should try to determine her motivation for saying so.  Either she is really unhappy in her present classroom or she is saying this because she wants you to let her do something else.  Observing her in the classroom (if possible, without letting her know) is your best way to judge.  If she seems totally restless, bored, withdrawn, angry or disruptive, you must seriously consider what she is telling you.  But if she seems comfortable, busy and absorbed most of the time, with just the normal amount of mischief and daydreaming, then you can assume she is happy.   Saying she wants to go with other kids is a normal and frequent reaction of youngsters whose friends are discussing their approaching entrance into kindergarten.  For many of them it will be their first school experience and their excitement naturally affects your child.  If you and your spouse react as individuals who are confident in your own judgment, you will not panic at this childhood remark.  Instead you will convey to your child your own enthusiasm for all the things she is doing in her school.   “I think Montessori was fine for Tim when he was younger, but he knows most of the things in the Montessori classroom by now.  I think he’s tired of it and he needs a fresh start in kindergarten.”   It is almost impossible to imagine a four year-old finishing and tiring of the academic materials.  The Golden Beads which illustrate the Decimal System could, for example, be used for such difficult maneuvers as square root and long division.  In reading, as in math, because the necessary materials are at hand, a youngster can go as far as his interest and ability will take him.   For example, in a Montessori classroom a five-year old can gain an early understanding of many difficult concepts which are the usual stumbling blocks in grade school.  Long before he is faced with such abstract terms as Peninsula, History, Verb, Unit or Fraction, he meets them in simple concrete materials which are fun to manipulate.  He can build a peninsula, put pictures on a Time Line of history, act out verbs, “carry one” in addition by going to the Bank and changing ten Units into one Ten Bar, put two fractional quarters together to make one-half, etc.   The opportunity to learn to read at his own pace is perhaps the most important advantage for the five year-old in the Montessori classroom.  He receives individual help as he works with the reading materials and is neither pressured to keep up with other youngsters, nor bored by having to wait for others to catch up with him.  As he masters the phonetic skills, the Reading Corner invites him to spend comfortable hours with books he selects himself, thus fostering his desire to read.  Many children begin reading and math at four but the most exciting work is done when they are five.  If you transfer your child before this year of fruition, you will probably lose the best return on your financial investment in pre-school education.   When selecting a school for your child the important thing to remember is that you and your spouse, as parents, are the only people who should make this decision.  You should not feel pressured by remarks from neighbors, from in-laws or particularly from your own child.  You, his parents, best understand his needs.  You have the maturity to judge the available programs.  You have the wisdom to choose the school that offers the best opportunities for your five year-old.  
©Aline D. Wolf 1992 PARENT CHILD PRESS P.O. Box 675 Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania 16648-0675

Benefits of Montessori

Benefits Of Montessori

Some of the many reasons why Montessori is right for your child.  
Everybody knows that Montessori is a great way to educate children, but not everyone understands the benefits in detail.  Here are some of the many reasons why Montessori is right for your child:  

Your child learns at his own rate.  He is neither held back nor pushed forward according to the learning rates of other students.  In a traditional classroom, all the children are learning the same thing and moving through the curriculum at the same rate.  We know that each child has different abilities and interest.  Some are good at math, while others excel in language and so on.  They all have different interests as well.  Since children are so different, it is unrealistic to expect that they will learn at the same rate.  Because of the repetition that Maria Montessori built into her system, a child is allowed to work on something until she masters it.  Since they don’t move on to the next skill until they have they mastered the present one, there are never any gaps in their education.  That means there is never any need for remedial education.  

Your child learns how to focus and concentrate.  One of Maria Montessori’s goals was to teach children how to concentrate.  This is one of the foundation skills for learning, and one that is largely ignored in traditional school systems.  A Montessori day is structured so that a child’s focus is never interrupted by having to move on to the next lesson before finishing the current one.  
Montessori accommodates all learning styles.  This is important because some children are visual learners, some are auditory learners, some learn through body movement and feeling, and some use a combination of several learning avenues.  Montessori teachers are trained to use all the senses; the use of the didactic materials reinforces this.  

Your child will master the important life skill of being a self-directed learner.  Montessori’s aim is to nurture the inner motivation of the child while allowing the opportunity for the fullest possible exploration of his or her interests.  This nurture of learning begins as soon as a child enters the scientifically designed classrooms.  You will often hear the phrase “prepared environment,” because the classrooms are so carefully designed to ensure the child has the freedom to learn.  This freedom to explore and choose areas of interest will carry over into a willingness to explore areas that may not otherwise appeal to a child being “force-fed” information in a traditional school setting.  

The prepared environment of a Montessori classroom helps children learn to think for themselves at a rate determined by the Director.  A young child new to Montessori may be given more direction at first, but as children grow in confidence and experience they are allowed to make more decisions for themselves.  

Your child will achieve independence by learning how to take care of herself—her body, her belongings and her environment.  Montessori understands that at the heart of every child is a healthy drive toward independence.  Independence is important because it is directly related to high self esteem, competence and cooperation.  Therefore, every aspect of the Montessori classroom has been designed with the goal of an independent child in mind.  Every feature and piece of equipment in the classroom is fully accessible to the child, so they don’t have to constantly ask for help getting things.  Tools, like the broom, are of a size they can handle easily, and children are free to choose their own work.  Finally, the Montessori Director is trained to encourage independence by allowing the children to do things for themselves as soon as they are capable.  For example, if they are learning to tie their shoes, the Director will ensure that are not rushed or interfered with. 

 A Montessori classroom is a place where children learn order.  This provides the sense of security and comfort they need to become self-directed.  Everyone, including children, prefers order to chaos because it is easier to function in an orderly workplace.  Order helps children become independent because they can always find the work materials they are going to use next without help.  By being taught to maintain this order, your child will be learning awareness for others and the fact that you have to take care of the things that are shared—which is the basis of cooperation.  The order of a Montessori classroom is also present in the routines that exist.  The children enter the classroom (which has been set up so that everything is meticulously in its place), hang up their coats and other belongings, greet the Director, and get straight to work.  And every aspect of this routine has been patiently presented to them.  There is also order within the materials themselves:  every tray or piece of material on a shelf is always in its proper place and ready to be used.

 While at work, disruptions are kept to a minimum so children can focus on the task at hand.  All of this is why anyone observing a Montessori classroom sees a well-ordered, calm and functional environment that is perfectly set up for learning.    

The classroom and the materials are designed and displayed in a way that helps your child learn how to cooperate with others in their use and have respect for the needs of others as well as the use of the materials.  The social goals of helping children learn how to get along with each other, respect each other and cooperate are an important component of the Montessori approach to learning.  There is only one Pink Tower in the classroom, for example.  Having to share materials helps promote cooperation and patience.  Having to walk carefully around each child’s mat (on which the work is done) teaches respect for others all day long.  In addition, Montessori also includes structured lessons on grace and courtesy so that the child learns important social skills such as how to greet and introduce people; how to ask for something properly; and even mundane graces such as how to sneeze, cough and yawn politely (it’s fun to watch all the children blowing their noses a lot the day they learn how to do it properly).  

Your child will be treated with respect and dignity in a Montessori classroom.  In Montessori the child is always working on the adult he is going to become.  Montessori recognizes that children deserve and need to be treated with the same respect that we treat adults.

 Although they are relatively inexperienced, as a parent you must recognize that the way to help them learn is by not criticizing “failure”,” but rather by recognizing the incident as an opportunity to learn what went wrong, and helping the child find his or her path to a proper solution.  This concentration on raising the child’s self esteem, coupled with a focus on the rights of others, develops the child’s entire being in a positive way, and helps the child to learn to respect the rights of others as well.   

A multi-disciplinary approach is taken in regard to your child’s interests.  If your child were interested in dinosaurs, for example, this interest would be explored throughout the curriculum.  She would be encouraged to read about dinosaurs to learn language skills; study the measurements of dinosaurs to understand match concepts; and depict dinosaurs when doing art lessons.  Her interest in dinosaurs could even be used to facilitate lessons in history and geography.

 Montessori recognizes that when a child’s interests are involved, any subject becomes fascinating.  
Perhaps the biggest benefit of a Montessori education is that It teaches children how to learn instead of just what to learn.  It instills in them a life-long love of learning, which prepares them to successfully go in any direction their skills and interests may take them.   

“Your child will achieve independence by learning how to take care of himself, and his belongings.  Independence is important because it is directly related to high self esteem and cooperation.” 

Working in the garden at MCDC!

What's Lost as Handwriting Fades

What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades

By MARIA KONNIKOVAJUNE 2, 2014

Credit Michael Mabry

Does handwriting matter?

Not very much, according to many educators. The Common Core standards, which have been adopted in most states, call for teaching legible writing, but only in kindergarten and first grade. After that, the emphasis quickly shifts to proficiency on the keyboard.

But psychologists and neuroscientists say it is far too soon to declare handwriting a relic of the past. New evidence suggests that the links between handwriting and broader educational development run deep.

Children not only learn to read more quickly when they first learn to write by hand, but they also remain better able to generate ideas and retain information. In other words, it’s not just what we write that matters — but how.

“When we write, a unique neural circuit is automatically activated,” said Stanislas Dehaene, a psychologist at the Collège de France in Paris. “There is a core recognition of the gesture in the written word, a sort of recognition by mental simulation in your brain.

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“And it seems that this circuit is contributing in unique ways we didn’t realize,” he continued. “Learning is made easier.”

A 2012 study led by Karin James, a psychologist at Indiana University, lent support to that view. Children who had not yet learned to read and write were presented with a letter or a shape on an index card and asked to reproduce it in one of three ways: trace the image on a page with a dotted outline, draw it on a blank white sheet, or type it on a computer. They were then placed in a brain scanner and shown the image again.

The researchers found that the initial duplication process mattered a great deal. When children had drawn a letter freehand, they exhibited increased activity in three areas of the brain that are activated in adults when they read and write: the left fusiform gyrus, the inferior frontal gyrus and the posterior parietal cortex.

By contrast, children who typed or traced the letter or shape showed no such effect. The activation was significantly weaker.

Dr. James attributes the differences to the messiness inherent in free-form handwriting: Not only must we first plan and execute the action in a way that is not required when we have a traceable outline, but we are also likely to produce a result that is highly variable.

Karin James, a psychologist at Indiana University, used a scanner to see how handwriting affected activity in children’s brains. Credit A. J. Mast for The New York Times

That variability may itself be a learning tool. “When a kid produces a messy letter,” Dr. James said, “that might help him learn it.”

Our brain must understand that each possible iteration of, say, an “a” is the same, no matter how we see it written. Being able to decipher the messiness of each “a” may be more helpful in establishing that eventual representation than seeing the same result repeatedly.

“This is one of the first demonstrations of the brain being changed because of that practice,” Dr. James said.

In another study, Dr. James is comparing children who physically form letters with those who only watch others doing it. Her observations suggest that it is only the actual effort that engages the brain’s motor pathways and delivers the learning benefits of handwriting.

The effect goes well beyond letter recognition. In a study that followed children in grades two through five, Virginia Berninger, a psychologist at the University of Washington, demonstrated that printing, cursive writing, and typing on a keyboard are all associated with distinct and separate brain patterns — and each results in a distinct end product. When the children composed text by hand, they not only consistently produced more words more quickly than they did on a keyboard, but expressed more ideas. And brain imaging in the oldest subjects suggested that the connection between writing and idea generation went even further. When these children were asked to come up with ideas for a composition, the ones with better handwriting exhibited greater neural activation in areas associated with working memory — and increased overall activation in the reading and writing networks.

Samples of handwriting by young children. Dr. James found that when children drew a letter freehand, they exhibited increased activity in three significant areas of the brain, which didn’t happen when they traced or typed the letter. Credit Karin James Continue reading the main story