Kindergarten is not actually a Montessori term. At MAB we use it so parents know that at the end of this year, the child is ready to move into first grade. But while the rest of the world thinks Kindergarten is the beginning, Montessori views it as the end. So if you’re wondering about what to do next year with your rising Kindergartener, you’re going to want to read this post.

It wasn’t that long ago that Loudoun County Public Schools offered only half-day Kindergarten. Attending was optional. In 2018, they added about three hours to the day, adopting a 2:45PM dismissal.

As it turns out, extending the day acted as a sort of sluice gate, allowing first-grade academics to trickle down into Kindergarten classrooms. This abruptly accelerated academic expectations for students, ostensibly to tighten up the yawning gap between America and other developed countries. However, as academic expectations rose, the same could not be said for executive functioning and social/emotional development.

With all this new time to spend on students, LCPS should have directed their attention to developing these “soft skills” as a matter of curriculum. Unfortunately, the opportunity was missed and the county instead doubled down on the growing fad of STEM activities. In other words, more quantifiable, standardized skills.

Converting to the standard elementary classroom hours also reinforced a long-held parent misconception that “real school” begins with Kindergarten. Worried about their child’s ability to meet these new academic standards, preschool parents started hyperfocusing on reading and writing. Looking to capitalize on this anxiety, daycares and preschools ramped up the focus on “Kindergarten readiness”, leaving behind the skills and personality traits which remain the primary focus of a Montessori education.

When you’re a beginner:

In virtually every traditional public and private school, a new Kindergartener’s first day is the same. The slate is clean. Everyone in the room is new. The future holds limitless opportunities. It appears to be a moment well-deserving of the giddy optimism attached to all those first-day-of-school Instagram pics. Unfortunately, there is much more to the story.

When everyone thinks you’re a beginner, the only way to excel is to prove them wrong.

What a new public school Kindergartener doesn’t know could fill a book. Unfortunately, that book must be written during the precious few hours a teacher has to connect with each of the 20 students in the room. For some children, that could take most of the year.

They don’t know where the bathroom is. They don’t know how to hold a pencil. Most can barely read. Some understand how to start a task, but staying with it long enough to finish it is a different story. Handling disappointment or disagreements with friends or just stopping oneself from walking around the classroom present barriers to academic and social progress. Some Kindergarteners have never set foot in a classroom and almost all of them have never attended a Montessori classroom.

This is all perfectly normal and acceptable for five year olds. In an individualized learning environment, none of this should present much of a problem. The program should be designed to meet them exactly where they are as individuals. But in adult-led, group education, these deficits are a big deal for everyone.

Traditional education groups children together, hoping that all will proceed along predefined standards of the Kindergarten learning curve. Those above and below that curve will be identified…eventually. But in spite of your child’s individual needs and abilities, his or her progress will always depend upon what other children can or cannot do. This turns into a limiting, demotivating experience for many students – particularly those who spent the last two years in a Montessori classroom.

Regardless of where they come from, group learning has been failing children at all levels of education for a long time now. It makes even less sense to teach this way in a child’s first year of school. Yet that’s the experience for millions of children every year. But even if somehow your child manages to overcome the limits of the classroom cohort, in everyone’s eyes, he or she is still just another beginner.

This is a situation to which every adult can relate. Whether in sports, school, work, or the town you live in, we have all been “the newbie.” One of the biggest challenges of showing who you are is overcoming the opinions of the most influential people in your ecosystem. This might be ok for adults, but not for five-year-olds.

When you’re a leader:

By stark contrast, a Kindergartener in a Montessori classroom exists at the pinnacle of the student community. They walk into the school on their first day as trusted leaders who will never be underestimated by teachers or their peers. Rather than the beginning, this is the culmination of years of hard work.

Instead of toiling through academic assessments, Montessori Kindergarteners pickup on day one exactly where they finished the previous year. Bolstered by a strong sense of ownership, their learning has become more self-directed. Prior successes and mistakes in this consistent environment build the confidence to take on new challenges and their teachers know they are up to the task.

But beyond all of the opportunities that exist in a Montessori classroom, the teacher’s view of the child is the difference maker. Instead of needing a few months to get to know your child, the Montessori teacher has been a co-pilot for the last two years. And not just for your child. The teacher knows you, too. She knows what interests you and the goals you have set. She knows your concerns and understands your relationship with your child. She’s already a part of your village.

Your Montessori Kindergartener also knows nearly every student in the classroom. As an independent member of the community, each child is given constant access to develop relationships, learn from and teach other students. In this way, Kindergarteners act as academic and social role models. Befitting of their new status in the classroom, Kindergarteners also become mentors to the new three year olds in the room.

For as long as we have existed side-by-side with traditional education, Montessori parents have faced the choice of what to do in Kindergarten. The ultimate decision is unique to each family, but the most important consideration is the easiest question to answer:

Will the teacher see your child as a beginner or a leader?