Why is the student/teacher ratio different than in a traditional classroom?
The ideal size is one teacher and one assistant per 30 to 35 children (25-30 in the primary.) This model is highly successful and allows for the greatest intellectual, personal, and social development of each child for several reasons. First, because the teacher observes how each child understands, thus, the children have the benefits of small, traditional classrooms. Second, learning has energy in a large Montessori classroom because the children are excited and stimulated by the many projects they can observe. Third, this environment fosters independence and interdependence among the children. The children gain immense skills and tools through the continuous interaction with the many different types of social situations and the mixed age group that occur in this dynamic classroom community. A large classroom offers all the learning benefits of a small traditional classroom plus many more intellectual, personal, and social opportunities.
