What are the main differences between Montessori and traditional schools?

• Montessori schools stem from the philosophy of education for peace and education for life. Montessori consciously teaches children to be kind and peaceful. It is also based on meeting the developmental needs of children in order to give them advantages that will last a lifetime.
  
  
• Montessori early childhood programs provide an optimal foundation for later learning. While Montessori offers outstanding opportunities for academic achievement, it includes an expanded vision in which there is a deep concern for children’s social and emotional development, leading to the development of character and self-esteem. Traditional early childhood programs prepare children for kindergarten and for grade one.
  
• Montessori primary programs prepare children for grade one as well as for life. Whereas traditional schools teach groups of children all at once, Montessori schools greatly respect children for their uniqueness as individuals. Recognizing that children each learn differently and are each on a natural timetable for their own development, Montessori environments are warm, supportive communities where children can develop at their own pace.
  
• The Montessori method of education acknowledges that learning academic skills in school should be as joyful and natural a process as learning to walk or talk.
  
  

1. Third year of a Montessori primary class, the kindergarten year, is the time when many of the earlier lessons come together and become a permanent part of the young child’s understanding. An excellent example is the early introduction to addition with large numbers through the Bank Game. When children leave Montessori at age 5, many of the still forming concepts evaporate, just as a child living abroad will learn to speak two languages, but may quickly lose the second language when his family moves back home.
2. Your child has waited two years to be one the five year old leaders of his/her class. The kindergarteners are looked upon to as role models for the younger students, and most children eagerly await their opportunity to play this role.
3. Your child already knows most of his classmates. He/She has grown up in a safe, supportive nurturing classroom setting.
4. As a five year old, your child has many opportunities to teach the younger children lessons that she/he learned when she/he was their age. Research proves that this experience has powerful benefits for both tutor and student.
5. Montessori students learn through hands-on experience, investigation, and research. They become actively engaged in their studies.
6. In Montessori schools, learning is not focussed on rote drill and memorization. Our goal is to develop students who understand concepts.
7. The Montessori Primary curriculum is a sophisticated program that covers areas of reading, math, writing, geography, culture, and art that are usually left to later years in traditional schools.
   • In a Montessori classroom, the children are introduced to writing and reading exercises when they show a readiness for these activities. Because of this, many children are reading before their kindergarten years.
   • In Math, Montessori includes young children to basic geometry and algebra concepts through the Geometric Cabinet and Geometric Solids, and through the Binomial Cube and the Trinomial Cube.
   • In Geography, they learn about lakes, islands, isthmuses, straits, capes, bays, peninsulas, and gulfs through the land and water forms, and the countries of the world through world puzzle maps.
   • Through their studies of Cultural geography, the exposure to different cultures around the globe helps them to begin to grow into global citizens.
   • In Art, they learn about art history and the different artists and their styles such as Picasso and Renoir, as well as basic art concepts such as line and landscape.
8. In Montessori, your child can continue to progress at his /her own pace.
9. Montessori schools are warm and supportive communities of students, teachers and parents, and they consciously teach children to be kind and peaceful.
10. Having spent one or two years, your child’s teacher knows him/her very well. They know his/her strengths and areas that are presenting challenges.
11. Because of our low student to teacher ratios, Montessori classrooms are designed to address different learning styles, helping students to learn most effectively.
12. Montessori students develop self-discipline, an internal sense of purpose and motivation and responsible citizen.
13. In a Montessori atmosphere, the child understands learning is his/her responsibility, “his/her job” and he/she is given the opportunity to set his own schedule and to learn time management skills.

• Teachers educated in the Montessori philosophy and the methodology for the age level they are teaching, who have the ability and dedication to put the key concepts into practice.
• A partnership established with the family. The family is considered an integral part of the individual's total development.
• A multi-aged, multi-graded heterogeneous grouping of students.
• A diverse set of Montessori materials, activities, and experiences, which are, designed to foster physical, intellectual, creative, social, and personal independence.
• A schedule, which allows large blocks of time to problem-solve, to see connections in knowledge and to create new ideas.
• A classroom atmosphere, which encourages social interaction for cooperative learning, peer teaching, and emotional developmen