Montessori at the age of 5?

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There are many lessons given in the early years that are indirectly preparing the child for later learning, there is a steady progression of challenges presented to the child as he accumulates confidence, the ability to concentrate and refined motor skills. The period from 3-6 is especially important because of the "Absorbent Mind" (Montessori term for "sponginess") and so learning is done effortlessly. The orientation that is absorbed during this time is a permanent acquisition. Also, practically speaking, because of the nature of the program and having every child remain in the class for 3 years, there are less opening for 5 year olds as most, if not all, of the 5 year olds in the class have been there for 2 years already. We try to maintain a balance of ages (9 - 10 from each age group).

There are usually one or two slots to fill due to changes in the roster, so the Directress can choose to accept a 5 year old "who is a good fit" (I like the way Melda put it!) As trimomma indicated, an orientation period is really helpful for any new student. There is definitely a transition stage (like Flor said) as it takes some children awhile to adjust to directing their own activity.

Because of the nature of the adjustment, I would suggest that it seems worthwhile to have a child start Montessori at 5 or 6 if you plan on staying for the elementary years. In order to get the full benefit at any age, the 3 year cycle is an important component to consider.

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This is good info. The M. school I am most interested goes through grade 8. I'd love to find one that we could stay at through high school, but the area we are considering moving to only has 3 M schools in the city. If M works for my son, we'd keep him there as long as we could.

Would it be disruptive or make for a more difficult transition to start him mid-year? I know that this might be a difficult question to answer since I'm sure it's dependent on so many things. Maybe it's better to phrase it this way: Can you see any drawbacks starting mid-year? As soon as we sell our home, we would be moving.....so it could happen at any time.

I personally feel like "the sooner, the better" as far as when to start.

We have had a number of children start in Jan. throughout the years and it has been a positive experience overall. The biggest factor in success at any time is if the homelife is supporting the Montessori theory (and it sounds like yours is).

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Unbelievable! I can't imagine having to tell a child to stop reading so he can go on to something so seemingly more important. In Montessori, he should be able to read day in and day out for 3 mths. straight if he wants. My brother just told me at his son's PS he is not allowed to write in cursive even though he wants to! Also another problem you will not face in (a true) M program.

I posted a few months back about my situation, somewhat similar. I always planned to teach my dd at home but it ended up not being a good fit for us so I chose M. She didnt start until end of Nov-she had just turned 5yo. She went half days for the first month to transition and after the winter break she is now going full days.
PP's have given you the reasons for schools encouraging children to begin at an earlier age and I can definately see this now that my dd attends a M school and started at 5yo. Due to a waiting list we had to wait for a spot to open up and it just happened to due so mid-year. There have been a few small issues with this for my dd, she is a very sensitive child, and we have been able to work through all of them. That being said I wouldnt choose to wait longer for the next school year to begin rather than start mid-year. If I had known better I would have enrolled her much earlier, plan to do so with dd2.

Arratt -- Thank you for sharing this. I met with our pediatrician yesterday and asked him about schooling recommendations for ds. He knows that ds transtions hard -- he gets there, but it takes him longer than the average child. Once he's there - he really takes off and does amazing work. I've seen this happen for both years of pre-K and now in K. I think a lot of it is getting used to the teachers and their expecations, and the new children. I'm afraid that moving him into a M. environment will be more adjustment than just a new school (although he's much more socially confident now than he was at the beginning of this year) and my fear is that the M. teachers won't give him the extra time to adapt. I'm not sure that moving him right now mid-year is a good idea, either since he is fully into the swing of school - even though he is bored at school. If he were more flexible with transitions, we could try some things out and see if they worked. Unfortunately, he isn't. Our pediatrician suggested that we look at ungraded schools (ability based, loosely age based - similar to M, keep the same teacher for 2 or 3 years) which are a more traditional school format to which ds is now accustomed. I have found some schools that are ungraded in the city and state to which we will be moving. I really feel like this is the best option for him now.

However, I won't be missing the boat with my dd. She turns 3 in May and will fully start an M program as soon as we relocate.