It’s one thing to work at the school and tell parents what to expect. It’s another thing to see it for yourself day in and out in your own home.

Let’s start with Aidan. Aidan was in his last year of the three year multi-age curriculum, also known as the “kindergarten year.” One of the greatest benefits of a Montessori classroom is the ability of the teachers to “follow the child.” This allows the child to progress at their own pace and gain confidence in their abilities. For Aidan this meant reading chapter books, performing higher levels of math functions (multi-digit multiplication, long division, fractions, etc), science experiments and mapping continents. It was an amazing year. The most important aspect was seeing Aidan so proud of himself and watching him figure out things on his own.

Brendan was in his first year and went to school in the morning, he was a “morning child.” Brendan did so well in school- better than we ever expected. He loved making new friends. He loved exploring the classroom and trying new things. He thrived on the order of the classroom and it carried over to home. He loved the rules- “hands off policy (“polity”), declaring peace after and argument and our favorite- “you get what you get and you don’t get upset.” It has been a challenge from Bren to not be in school since he loved the order of it all. He can’t wait until next year!