Please Stay for Kindergarten… Here is Why by: Donohue Shortridge
So, let’s get real. You’ve loved the first two years of the Montessori Early Childhood program for your young child. Now, as you look ahead, you are facing a decision about the third, and final, year of the EC program—the capstone year, sometimes known as kindergarten.
What are your options? Well, your friends’ children attend a private school, and while it’s not Montessori, it does have the attraction of going all the way through high school. Or there is that non-Montessori public school in your neighborhood that your child could walk to, with the banner outside proclaiming its status as a 5-star school. Or the charter school that needs you to enroll now or your child won’t get a first-grade spot the year after next.
While tuition-free school is compelling, and maybe you even moved to your neighborhood because of their touted great schools, or you believe that charter when they tell you it’s now or never, please also consider staying with Montessori through the capstone year.
Two hallmarks of Montessori education are the mixed-age grouping and the 3-year cycle. Pulling your child out before he has completed the full 3-year cycle will deprive him of the following benefits. Read the rest of the article
Montessori Kindergarten Essential & Empowering video put together by American Montessori Society.