Why does Montessori group different age levels together?
Sometimes parents worry that by having younger children in the same class as older ones, one group or the other will be shortchanged. They fear that the younger children will absorb the teachers’ time and attention, or that the importance of covering the kindergarten curriculum for the five-year olds will prevent them from giving the three and four-year olds the emotional support and stimulation they need. While these concerns are understandable, our program is designed to address the developmental characteristics normal to children in each and every age category we serve. The classes are organized to encompass a two- or three-year age span, which allows younger students the stimulation of older children, who in turn benefit from serving as role-models. Each child learns at her own pace and will be ready for any given lesson in her own time, not on the teacher’s schedule of lessons. In a mixed aged class, children can always find peers who are working at their current level. The age ra
