{"id":438,"date":"2017-04-05T16:55:13","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T16:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/?p=438"},"modified":"2017-04-05T16:55:13","modified_gmt":"2017-04-05T16:55:13","slug":"the-importance-of-the-montessori-kindergarten-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/05\/the-importance-of-the-montessori-kindergarten-year\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of the Montessori Kindergarten Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had the pleasure of running into a recent graduate of The Montessori Children\u2019s Academy (MCA) and his family at breakfast last weekend. I asked him how he likes first grade. He told me, \u201cFirst grade is awesome,\u201d and launched into an impressive monologue about his math class, his soccer team, and how he had just borrowed a chapter book from the school library.<\/p>\n

I could tell that his excitement about school had not faded at all since he left Kindergarten at MCA. I couldn\u2019t wait to tell his Kindergarten teacher. When I did, she replied simply, \u201cThat\u2019s why I love Montessori Kindergarten<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kindergarten year in Montessori early childhood education, is an incredibly important one, as it is the third and final year of the 3-6 cycle. In her extensive studies of children, Maria Montessori observed and classified four \u201cPlanes of Development<\/a>\u201d. These six-year phases of growth are demarcated by cognitive achievement. In her early work, Dr. Montessori focused on the phase that includes children ages 0-6 years. She termed this Plane of Development \u201cThe Absorbent Mind\u201d because she found that young children \u201cabsorb\u201d learning from their environment naturally and spontaneously (AMS 2017<\/a>). Her book, The Absorbent Mind<\/em><\/a>, focuses on this Plane of Development and informs much of MCA\u2019s Early Childhood curriculum.<\/p>\n

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The oldest children in this phase, 5- and 6-year olds, represent our Kindergarten program. The Kindergarteners are the oldest, most experienced students among the MCA Early Childhood Programs at each of our campuses. This final year of their 3-year cycle provides them with many advantages, from having the opportunity to be classroom leaders and mentors, to stretching their learning with the Montessori materials in the most complex of ways, all while remaining in the warm, familiar, nurturing classroom community they have grown to be a part of over the course of three years. This capstone year of the MCA Early Childhood Program provides the Kindergarteners with great benefits in their academic, as well as their social-emotional development.<\/p>\n

A Day in the Life of a Kindergartener at MCA<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the morning work cycle, Kindergarteners have a special role in their mixed-age classrooms. As the oldest members of the class, Kindergarteners have a de facto role as leaders. According to MCA\u2019s Director of Montessori Development, Camilla Nichols-Uhler, Kindergarteners are seen as role models for the 3- and 4-year-olds. Sometimes Kindergarteners even give lessons to their younger classmates. This not only provides the Kindergarteners with an important mentoring role, but it also allows the Kindergarteners to reinforce their prior learning as they teach their younger friends. The 5- and 6-year-olds take their role as classroom leaders very seriously. The cultivation of leadership skills in the mixed-age setting is one of the key benefits of a Montessori Kindergarten year.<\/p>\n

In the afternoon, the Kindergarten class is separated from the mixed-age classroom for work in an exclusively same-age peer environment. This afternoon time provides a great deal of subtle preparation for first grade expectations students would find in a traditional school setting. In the afternoon, the students at times will work as a whole group and receive focused instruction in each of the five Montessori curriculum areas<\/a>. When observing a Montessori Kindergarten classroom at MCA, you may see children working not only with traditional Montessori materials, but also with supplemental educational materials that closely resemble those found in a traditional classroom, including the McGraw-Hill Reading Literature Program, the Primary Phonics Reading Series, and the Handwriting Without Tears<\/a> resources. The beauty of our Montessori Kindergarten is that the children continue to work and progress as they are ready. They do not need to wait for or catch up to the rest of the group\u2014instead, they work at their own pace, making great academic strides and gaining confidence along the way. The Kindergarten year helps to build a bridge for the children so that they may easily transition from a Montessori early childhood program to whatever elementary program they may enter the following year.<\/p>\n

Kindergarteners at MCA receive many benefits in addition to this special daily schedule. During their last year in the 3-6 program, Kindergarteners are granted some exciting privileges, and the opportunities they are afforded in the Kindergarten year increase in this culminating year of the MCA Early Childhood Program.<\/p>\n

Benefits of a Montessori Kindergarten Experience at MCA<\/strong><\/p>\n