Traditional Preschool / Daycare vs Mixed Age Groups and the Montessori Method
“The main thing is that the groups should contain different ages, because it has great influence on the cultural development of the child. This is obtained by the relations of the children among themselves. You cannot imagine how well a young child learns from an older child; how patient the older child is with the difficulties of the younger.” – Maria Montessori
Not just your traditional preschool or daycare, our Montessori classroom in East Hanover provides a striking contrast. Instead of seeing single-aged classrooms, you will see mixed age groups full of students wandering, wondering, and happily collaborating among their work. Younger children may spend time observing their older peers. This leads to completing more intricate tasks, and older children might offer to help younger children complete an activity. These fundamental divisions among Montessori classrooms provide an opportunity to cultivate a growing and curious community of learners.
Unlike your ordinary preschool/daycare, our Montessori classroom in East Hanover provides children with an opportunity to take lead. Thanks to a diverse grouping of ages, competition is decentralized and replaced with an eagerness to support one another along his or her learning journey. Older children naturally look to help younger children complete tasks and provide lessons on materials they have mastered. This interaction helps the older children demonstrate and reinforce mastery of the material or lesson, while supporting the younger children’s grasp of the foundation and process.
Maria Montessori’s work focuses on realizing the human potential. Children of diverse abilities can collaborate to create unique and meaningful moments of learning authentically. In these interactions, younger and older children build confidence, mentor, share, and grow together. Cooperative learning experiences extend throughout the day from arrival to our work cycle and beyond. Varied capabilities extend and deepen understanding of prior knowledge and new experiences.
–Mighty Sprouts Staff
