It’s never too late to try Montessori
Your child needs a classroom with high agency AND high structure
Nothing feels worse than realizing your child’s school isn’t a good fit for them — especially when you’re already a few weeks into the school year.
It’s the feeling of asking your elementary schooler what he learned this week and realizing there’s no structure in his classroom. He just… ran around all day. At least he’s not being micromanaged, but you know he needs a consistent routine, too.
Or maybe you asked your high schooler if she’s enjoying her classes. She says she’s being challenged academically but doesn’t feel like a person at school. Her teachers don’t treat her like a real individual. When she's struggling in math, she's told that the unit is over and it's time for the test, ready or not. Although there’s structure, she has no agency over her education, which leads her to feel moody and frustrated.
The good news? You’re not stuck with your first school choice.
This is why we make it a point to accept year-round enrollments at our schools. It’s never too late to make the switch, and you don’t have to wait until next year.
But if your child has gotten used to their current school, you might be wondering — is making a switch really worth it?
What the right environment can do for your child
All too often, children are corralled in two types of environments:
High agency, low structure: resulting in chaotic, messy, noisy classrooms and gaps in their education, or
Low agency, high structure: resulting in groups of kids who feel like machines, not people, and learning that’s resented and barely remembered.
Obviously, neither option is ideal.
That’s why we created a school that is both high agency and high structure. This approach allows us to prioritize your child’s developmental needs and interests while ensuring they have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.
What does this look like in practice, you ask?
It looks like using a developmentally aligned curriculum, intentional materials, and a teacher (we call them guides) who knows the best time to give lessons and support and when to step back and allow their students to work independently…
Young children are allowed to exercise their independence in a safe, supervised environment
Elementary-aged kids collaborate with their peers to learn, explore, and answer the question “Why?”
Older students participate in work that is meaningful to them, including launching businesses
We implement hands-on, child-paced work and support for early reading, writing, and math. And beyond academics, we help kids develop independence, focus, and social-emotional skills by placing them in a mixed-aged environment.
When children return home after a day at Guidepost, they’re satisfied and fulfilled after doing meaningful, interesting work.
This means that after school, it’s totally okay if your kids want to watch TV or unwind with an iPad. They don’t need homework or a jam-packed after-school schedule. You can rest assured that they participated in fundamental learning all day (bye-bye parental guilt!).
The right environment should also prioritize YOU, the parent, by being open year-round with minimal closures, maintaining a flexible schedule (full-time, part-time, seamless transfers, and roam-schooling), and providing daily photo updates and regular milestone meetings so you can collaborate on your child’s education.
But… what about transitioning to Montessori from a traditional classroom? Will your rules and routines be difficult for my child?
The transition to Montessori can be seamless
If your child is new to Montessori, the switch can seem daunting. Is your five-year-old too old to join Children’s House, for example, where some kids start school at two and a half?
We’re happy to report that the transition is generally smoother than you might think.
We train our guides to welcome students from all sorts of learning environments. While it will be quite different from what they’re used to (in a good way!), your child will have plenty of time to normalize alongside their peers.
We encourage this by:
Ensuring that students connect with their guides at the beginning of each day
Assigning an older “buddy” to each child whenever possible
Providing 1:1 lessons and support
Communicating more frequently with parents for the first few weeks
Offering “ramped starts,” where new students join us for a few hours a day and work up to full-time
In a Montessori environment, learning is individualized, so your child won’t need to “catch up” with the rest of their class. Their guide will meet them where they are right now and go from there.
Plus, if you’re interested in using the Montessori method at home, enrolling your child in a Guidepost school can make it easier.
For instance, if you’re worried that your child’s attention span is not where you’d like it to be, our dedicated work periods, respect for a child’s focus, and engaging materials will help your child build concentration that they can tap into at home, too.
Find a school
We know it sounds too good to be true, so we’ll say it again:
If your child’s school is a poor fit for them, it’s never too late to make the switch to Montessori, and you don’t have to wait until next year.
Guidepost accepts October 1 enrollments at campuses all over the world. You can find your closest location here.
We’re so excited to meet you and your student!
☀️ This week’s bright spots:
If you have one minute… Watch our video on the five lifelong behaviors kids pick up from traditional school.
If you have five minutes… Read our guide on choosing a learning environment that your kids will love.
If you have ten minutes… Read this article by
(our VP of Programs!) on the importance of the elementary years — and why the right environment is so essential.
I went to a Montessori and it had a big, positive impact on my life.
Suggesting that it is ok if your child wants to “unwind with an ipad” after school is not only against Montessori ideals but is developmentally inappropriate for most of your audience. I want to trust you as Montessori authorities but no one who has children’s best interest at heart should ever recommend this. Disappointing.