What happens if a child doesn’t do the work he should be doing at his age level?
Because of the individualized, self-paced approach of our Montessori elementary classrooms, we have a wonderful ability to tailor what a child works on according to his needs. A student who is weaker in writing, but strong in mathematics, for instance, may find that more of his weekly “work contract” focuses on language arts to ensure he gets the practice he needs. And because of the many different types of activities available among the Montessori materials, we can adapt to many different learning needs. If a student struggles with long multiplication, for example, we can offer him the basic bead materials, to re-ground him in the basic requisite skill; he can work with a simple multiplication board, then progress to the checker board, then to the small bead frame, and ultimately learn to do the operation abstractly. By combining a wide range of carefully-designed activities with a very individualized approach, our nurturing teachers are able to ensure that each child masters the core
