You would never have imagined your quest to find a good preschool program for your older daughter would have had such an impact on your family. The fact of the matter is, though, on that day you went in search of the right preschool setting for your daughter you knew you were looking for more than a top notch day care. In fact, every time you visited a preschool you found yourself wondering why one of your friends thought the school they were recommending was a top preschool. In many cases, the child day care centers you were visiting were focused on strictly rotating through stations. Stations for crafts. Stations for reading. Stations for music.
When you finally found what you considered to be the top preschool near you, it did not have the glamorous appearance that most of your friends seemed to admire. Instead, the school that you selected looks also simple at first glance. Simple child sized wooden shelves neatly arranged with small trays with individual works. Simple child sized tables and chairs also fill some spaces and there is a quiet sophistication about the room. This Montessori classroom is unlike any of the other schools that you visited and it presented a way of life that changed how you approached your parenting, the activities that you offered your children, and, most importantly, the education that your older, and then younger, daughter received.
Great Classrooms Model Respectful Interactions Between Adults and Children
One of the first things you noticed when you first entered the Montessori room was the quiet, peaceful, and respectful way that the teachers interacted with the students. With kind and gentle words the teachers commented on the children’s work. In fact, whether the teachers were looking at practical life, cultural, language, math, or sensorial work the children had completed, there was complete concentration. The teacher did not let others interrupt. She invited other students to watch and listen, but the teacher was laser focused on the child who was presenting the work.
This respectful approach encouraged you and your husband to do the same. To take seriously all of the labors that your child attempted. It did not mean that the child was completely in charge, but that your child deserved a chance to be respected.
The day you went looking for a a good preschool program and you landed on this Montessori way of life you also met families who introduced you to Suzuki piano. In turn, when your first daughter started her Suzuki lessons you again were introduced to a teacher who respected not only your child, but a philosophy that followed the child and allowed your daughter to learn at her own pace.
By listening to endless hours of the recordings of the pieces your daughter learned throughout the year, you got in the habit of not turning on the television simply as a way to fill the room with sound. Through this music education method it was now important to set aside for you and your daughters to go to the piano every day for practice. This helped you create a little structure in your life that is otherwise fairly random and chaotic.
Choosing the Right Preschool Can Help Your Children Get the Educational Background They Need
Although nearly 75% of young children in the U.S. participate in a preschool program, not all of these programs are the same. In fact, while some parents are merely looking for a daycare setting, other families are willing to invest in not just a good preschool program, but a quality one. By selecting a proven method like Montessori, for instance, parents are making the decision their children should be in a school directed by a philosophy over 100 years old. And while 23.4% of children under the age of five in America are in some form of organized child care arrangement, which might include a good preschool program, day care center, or nursery, parents who select a Montessori environment are interested in multi age classrooms and developing independent learners. To these parents, merely finding a good preschool program is not nearly enough.
Both Montessori and Suzuki knew birth-to-three period is the fastest rate of brain development across the entire human lifespan, so it is no wonder that they took advantage of these years.