One of the things that makes Montessori so different from other
educational experiences is the multi-age groupings in our classrooms. It
is also why it is vital to complete the final year of each level for
your child to fully benefit from the Montessori experience.
Compared
to traditional classrooms, having an arrangement that includes a range
of ages is more representative of society. After all, workplaces are
made up of employees of all different ages, and younger workers learn
from those who are more experienced. At the same time, less experienced
staffers sometimes have a different, valuable, untainted perspective to
offer. Senior personnel have the opportunity to be leaders and mentors.
Departments and teams must learn to collaborate and problem solve — all
things Montessori children are especially well-equipped to do!
Dr.
Maria Montessori spoke of planes of development with certain
psychological characteristics associated with each plane. Birth to 6
marks the first plane; the second plane spans the elementary years from 6
to 12; and 12 to 18 marks the third plane of adolescence. Montessori
further divided some of those planes into sub-planes. During the first
half of each plane is the greatest transformation. The second half is a
continuum and refinement of development. Children are grouped together
according to these developmental stages.
The three-year cycle of
Children’s House, for example, is sometimes described using the analogy
of building a house. In the first year, a solid foundation is laid. The
walls go up in the second year. And then finally, the roof is attached.
With each phase of construction, the house is further refined and
becomes a home, fully formed with inner spaces and an outer aesthetic,
unique style, and character.
Your child has been benefiting from
their Montessori experience all along, but that final year of
Children’s House and the third year and sixth year of Elementary offer
something even more profound. All the leadership skills they have been
honing have the opportunity to blossom to their fullest. Children
recognize a community need and fill it.
It is astounding to
observe the growth of each child socially, emotionally, and academically
in an environment that supports all of those facets. The social skills
that develop from co-existing in community and working through conflict
helps children enhance and polish their tools and social strategies.
Children are nurtured emotionally through an evolving and deepening
relationship with the classroom guide and a community that knows,
understands and appreciates them — their gifts, quirks, and challenges.
That explosion into reading that often happens toward the end of
Children’s House was made possible by everything that came before it.
In
a similar way, at the end of Elementary, children can articulate ideas
on topics they have studied deeply with such ease, eloquence, and depth
of understanding. All the research, writing, and presentation skills
they have been developing for the past six years of Elementary coalesce.
It is also one of the many reasons it is important to see each cycle to
its completion. For the younger children in the community, it is
inspiring for them to observe their older peers as they strive toward
that culmination of skills and begin to cultivate their own voices.