The needs of a child are best known to their parents. Parents understand the requirements of children better than anyone else. This understanding is exceptionally important during the child’s preschool years. A parent needs to know that a child has to be able to balance academics with fun. Learning, playing, personal growth and development, etc all contribute to a child’s knowledge and have to be present in equal measures in children’s lives.
There are many learning methods and curricula out there which provide a range of learning opportunities for children starting school. Parents often research through a wide range of these courses and preschool programs to make sure their children get all the development they need.
Also Read: Parents Should Know these Things about the 1st Week of School
One such renowned method that International schools follow is that the Montessori method has an education system that achieves all the required criteria and is extremely trustworthy. Developed by Maria Montessori, this international school method of education is a child-centered educational scientific approach based on ideas derived after thorough observation of kids.
Why Montessori?
Montessori international school curriculum looks at the milestones of development in children aged 3-5. Young kids learn about language and motor skills, work on daily activities like arts and crafts, baking, etc. Older kids are taught about their communities via trips and events; this helps them widen their learning horizons. Montessori international school students have curricula that are centered around their personal needs, abilities, etc. which allows them to discover everything on their own and at a speed that they are comfortable with. Older and younger preschoolers work together which teaches the kids cooperation. It also helps them to learn how to be mentors naturally.
Montessori international school education systems have one major benefit, especially since they are for kids of a very young age. The focus is less on abstract learning and more on concrete methods. Students learn math, language, culture, etc via activities. They also learn practical life lessons in the same manner. Students are discouraged from disturbing one another too much. They are, instead, encouraged to concentrate on the activities until they have become proficient in them.
A Montessori international school system encourages students to pick their activities. It allows students to work on these activities on their terms. Since the kids get to choose what they can do, they are more creative with their tasks. They complete them for the fun of the work rather than for the sake of completing it. This further makes the children enjoy the fruits of their labor and permits them to focus on the overall result as well as the process. Since these children are exposed to different cultures, this further widens their thoughts about the world around them.
Parents often move their children from Montessori schools after the first two years of education. They do this because they wish to move the children to a kindergarten school. They believe that the child has learned whatever they could be taught in those first two years of attending a Montessori international school. Parents would prefer their children attending a local kindergarten school in their vicinity once they are old enough.
While that is understandable, there are many reasons why children should continue their third year in the Montessori international school itself. Here are some of the benefits for the children, and parents, if your child continues to attend the Montessori international school for their third year.
● Displacing a child from the environment they have become comfortable in can cause their focus levels to decrease. They can also become withdrawn from everyone around them. Spending two years in a Montessori international school, the children managed to get used to the workings there at their own time. Moving them about at such a young age can upset that level of comfort and growth that they have reached.
● The child will be spending a lot of their academic year of kindergarten trying to get used to a whole new schedule and seeing different and new faces daily. They are already used to the Montessori international school routine which is well set in their minds.
● This could lead to the child’s full potential not being used by them. Often, a teacher cannot get to know their capabilities if the children are not giving in their hundred percent.
● The Montessori international school system is not one with an academic focus, but it is a system where kids learn a lot of skills via different activities. Many concepts that they have already studied in the Montessori international school won’t be brought up again for a long time.
● When the children aren’t made to revise the concepts for a while, they will be unable to retain what they have already learned at the Montessori international school.
● The teaching methods of Montessori international schools are based entirely on understanding concepts correctly. Activities that require all senses to be used repeatedly over time build a strong foundation for the children to remember their material.
● A regular kindergarten school will not be able to give the same hands-on attention to students individually as a Montessori international school can.
● Children who remain in Montessori international school for their third year have the advantage of familiarity and comfort. Since they know where things belong, who their classmates are, and how the system works, the students have a great amount of confidence.
● Unlike a first or second-year student, a third-year student at a Montessori international school can do their work on their own. They can combine different projects in an extremely smooth manner, and with the utmost ease.
● A Montessori international school provides students with different materials and experiences to help them know about all possible fields of work and study.
● This allows the children to follow all activities that interest them. They can choose between math, reading, arts and crafts, music, etc. Montessori offers a certain amount of depth and richness that a private kindergarten school may not be able to come up with.
● A Montessori international school encourages study through play. Children learn in a manner that makes them believe that studying isn’t a task, it is a fun activity.
● Children are all respected and their ideas are taken into consideration at Montessori.
● In the third year at a Montessori international school, children also learn how to be social. The teachers in the classroom keep an eye on the way they behave with other kids, adults, staff members, etc.
● This teaches the third-year students at a Montessori international school about human interaction being formed. Values of behavior and good etiquette are also instilled in the children in this manner.
● The third year in a Montessori international school is often called a leap year. It is the year that students can put together all the skills that they’ve gained and do something wonderful out of it.
● The third-year at a Montessori international school is a flurry of activity and practices. Kids learn a lot of things that span over a lot of different subjects.
● In the third year of a Montessori international school, kids start with learning basic maths, reading, and writing, etc. They will make you proud by breaking up long sentences into small, readable phrases. Like that, they will read out their favorite story to you, and fill your heart with pride.
● The third-year at a Montessori international school also teaches children different ways of tackling problems and long activities. It takes them several days, but they come home with a proper multicolored book which they plan to cover in pretty drawings.
● An average student at a Montessori international school often reaches a level of cognitive growth way beyond their actual grade level.
● The third-year that a student spends in a Montessori international school is when they develop most of their character traits and personality.
● Students become more confident, self- assured, independent, improved readers, etc. They happily take over as leaders and mentors for the younger students in the Montessori international school.
● Third-year Montessori international school students naturally get the roles of leaders in classes. They might be asked to help the younger students out with work. They also might be picked to introduce a new kid to the rest of the class and make them feel welcome and familiar with everything.
● One major benefit of a third year in a Montessori school is that of accelerated academic classes. Although, that is not all. Many parents have seen in the third year that their children have acquired far more powerful assets or at least the potential for them. These could be cognitive skills, non-cognitive abilities, or behavioral traits.
These are some of the many benefits of having your child continue in a Montessori international school for their third year. All parents want for their children is for them to have an equally intellectual and enjoyable time learning. They want their kids to properly grasp concepts. Parents want children to be confident and kind, sincere, and bold. These ideals are not very easy to ingrain in kids which is why trained professionals at a Montessori are trusted with them. The third year in a Montessori preschool is a wonderful way for a parent to invest in their child’s bright future.
Some international schools like GIIS have gone a step further. They have adopted the Montessori method and added best practices of the 21st century to have an award-winning method of their own called the Global Montessori Plus which adds to the students’ learning in a meaningful way.
