The short answer is yes - there is no child who would not benefit from a Montessori education.  First of all, every child wants to learn but each is unique in areas of interest and rate of learning.  Montessori addresses this uniqueness because it is an individual program tailored to the strengths and challenges of each student. 

One child may spend two days learning multiplication while another may require two weeks or even two months. A trained scientist, Maria Montessori spent a lot of time observing exactly how and why children learn.  She understood that all children, whether they have strengths or challenges in particular areas of learning, need their own time to master it. They don’t need to be constantly worried about being “ahead” or “behind” anyone else. 

Every Montessori school is the living legacy of this educational breakthrough.  Montessori works for every child no matter whom they are or where they came from.

One of Maria Montessori’s goals was to teach children how to concentrate.  This is one of the foundation skills for learning, and one that is largely ignored in traditional school systems.

A Montessori day is structured so that a child’s focus is never interrupted by having to move on to the next lesson before finishing the current one.

This is important because some children are visual learners, some are auditory learners, some learn through body movement and feeling, and some use a combination of several learning avenues.

Montessori teachers are trained to use all the senses; the use of the didactic materials reinforces this.

Montessori’s aim is to nurture the inner motivation of the child while allowing the opportunity for the fullest possible exploration of his or her interests. This nurture of learning begins as soon as the child enters the scientifically designed classrooms.

You will often hear the phrase “prepared environment,” because the classrooms are so carefully designed to ensure the child has the freedom to learn. This freedom to explore and choose areas of interest will carry over into a willingness to explore areas that may not otherwise appeal to a child being “force-fed” information in a traditional school setting.

The prepared environment of a Montessori classroom helps children learn to think for themselves as a rate determined by the Director. A young child new to Montessori may be given more direction at first, but as children grow in confidence and experience they are allowed to make more decisions for themselves.

By learning how to take care of herself - her body, her belongings and her environment your child will achieve independence. Montessori understands that at the heart of every child is a healthy drive toward independence.  Independence is important because it is directly related to high self esteem, competence and cooperation.

Therefore, every aspect of the Montessori classroom has been designed with the goal of an independent child in mind. Every feature and piece of equipment in the classroom is fully accessible to the child, so they don’t have to constantly ask for help getting things. Tools, like the broom, are of a size they can handle easily, and children are free to choose their own work.

Finally, the Montessori Directress is trained to encourage independence by allowing the children to do things for themselves as soon as they are capable. For example, if they are learning to tie their shoes, the Director will ensure that they are not rushed or interfered with.

In Montessori the child is always working on the adult he is going to become. Montessori recognizes that children deserve and need to be treated with the same respect that we treat adults. Although they are relatively inexperienced, as a parent you must recognize that they way to help them learn is not criticizing “failure,” but rather by recognizing the incident as an opportunity to learn what went wrong, and helping the child find his or her path to a proper solution.

This concentration on raising the child’s self esteem, coupled with a focus on the rights of others, develops the child’s entire being in a positive way, and helps the child to learn to respect the rights of others as well.

This provides the sense of security and comfort they need to become self-directed. Everyone, including children, prefers order to chaos because it is easier to function in an orderly workplace.

Order helps children become independent because they can always find the work materials they are going to use next without help. By being taught to maintain this order, your child will be learning awareness for others and the fact that you have to take care of the things that are shared - which is the basis of cooperation. The order of a Montessori classroom is also present in the routines that exist.

The children enter the classroom (which has been set up so that everything is meticulously in its place), hand up their coats and other belongings, greet the Directress, and get straight to work. And every aspect of this routine has been patiently presented to them.

There is also order within the materials themselves: every tray or piece of material on a shelf is always in its proper place and ready to be used. While at work, disruptions are kept to a minimum so children can focus on the task at hand. All of this is why anyone observing a Montessori classroom sees a well ordered, calm and functional environment that is perfectly set up for learning.

The classroom and materials are designed and displayed in a way that helps your child learn how to cooperate with others in their use and have respect for the needs of others as well as the use of the materials. The social goals of helping children learn how to get along with each other, respect each other and cooperate are an important component of the Montessori approach to learning.

There is only one Pink Tower in the classroom, for example. Having to share materials helps promote cooperation and patience. Having to walk carefully around each child’s mat (on which the work is done) teachers respect for others all day long.

In addition, Montessori also includes structured lessons on grace and courtesy so that the child learns important social skills such as how to greet and introduce people; how to ask for something properly; and even mundane graces such as how to sneeze, cough and yawn politely (it’s fun to watch all the children blowing their noses a lot the day they learn how to do it properly).

In selecting the right Montessori school for your child, you must consider how it meets your expectations, as well as how it suits your child.  The only way to make this choice effectively is to carefully research and then observe the school in action.

Here are some essential Montessori school characteristics:-

The Montessori "prepared environment"

The Montessori classroom is designed specifically to meet the needs, interests, abilities and development of each child in the class.  The focus is on children learning and not teachers teaching.

The resulting multi-age grouping of children provides an atmosphere of community and allows children to learn from one another.

Generally students work individually or in small, self selected groups.  There are very few whole class lessons.  Children learn and progress at their own pace, moving on to the next step when they are ready. 

Montessori equipment - Active learning

It is natural for children to move, touch and explore the world around them.  The Montessori environment encourages children to move around freely and select work that captures their interest and attention.  Through careful observation the teacher would strive to introduce work to further develop this area of interest or to draw their attention to new challenges and interests.

Direct personal, hands-on use of real things or concrete models brings abstract concepts to life and allows children to learn with much deeper understanding.  A large range of purpose designed Montessori materials should be available in all subject areas.

Rewards - Help or hindrance

Montessori children do not work for grades or external rewards.

One of Montessori's key concepts is that children learn because they share an innate desire to become competent and independent human beings.  For this reason, external rewards to create motivation are not only unnecessary but can be detrimental to this process.  Potentially it can lead to children and adults, who are dependent on others for approval for everything from self-image to making life choices.

Through the process of exploring concepts largely on their own and making independent choices, Montessori children construct a strong sense of their own individual personality.

Co-operation not Competition

Montessori students are free from needless competition for attention and prestige, because each child learns at their own pace and the teachers refrain from comparing students against one another through testing, examinations and the like.

Montessori students are encouraged to treat one another with kindness and respect.  Insulting and bullying behaviour tends to be rare.  Instead we find children have a great understanding and fondness of each other.

Maria Montessori discovered that putting older and younger children together helps them learn from and teach each other.  This is good for the older children because they can be useful and helpful to the younger ones, which not only reinforces what they have learned but enhances their self-esteem as well. 

The younger children in turn have role models to follow and are integrated into the classroom by these helpful other children. If you think about it, every normal community has a mixed grouping of ages.

Grades (letters or percentages) focus strictly on results and are only a measure of what a student knows at that particular moment in time. Grades become the end itself. What is worse, they can distract the child from the natural enjoyment of learning and developing true enthusiasm for a subject that can last a lifetime, not just until the end of the test.
 
Instead of grades, Montessori provides informative and descriptive reports on what your child’s focus of interest has been and how he or she is progressing. Montessori children repeat activities or correct mistakes until they gain competency. When students make the transition to other schools that do testing, they usually test well and perform a grade level or two above their peers.

If your child were interested in dinosaurs, for example, this interest would be explored throughout the curriculum.  She would be encouraged to read about dinosaurs to learn language skills; study the measurements of dinosaurs to understand math concepts; and depict dinosaurs when doing art lessons. Her interest in dinosaurs could even be used to facilitate lessons in history and geography.

Montessori recognizes that when a child’s interests are involved, any subject becomes fascinating.

In the simplest terms, a Montessori Director teaches individually. Picture a traditional classroom: the teacher stands at the front of a classroom in which the students are all sitting in rigid rows of desks, all receiving the same lesson at the same time.

This is the factory approach that is convenient for school systems, but not conducive for learning. In the traditional school environment, the child is treated as an empty vessel, with information poured in at the same rate to all children until the bell rings.

In a Montessori classroom your child is taught individually or in small groups. This allows the teacher to get immediate feedback and to be sensitive to how well the child is absorbing the lesson and what questions or needs the child has.

Simply put, there is nothing that works so well in education as individual attention. This focus on your child’s needs is heightened by the fact that each Montessori teacher has been trained in the science of observing children.

They spend time every day observing the class: how it is functioning as a whole and how the children are progressing with their work. They have also been trained on how to teach using the Montessori materials, all of which have been scientifically designed to enhance the learning experiences.

In fact, the word “teacher” is not always used in a Montessori classroom. A teacher is someone who knows something and gives it to you. A Montessori teacher is often called a Director or a Guide, because what they do is direct the child toward what he needs to teach himself. The child does this by using the specially designed materials.

The Montessori Director has been trained to observe your child and to determine his or her level of development, and what guidance the child needs to progress to the next level.

Because Montessori does such an excellent job at creating a love for learning, as well as the ability to focus, concentrate, cooperate with others and work independently, Montessori children thrive in any school, work or social situation.

One unique aspect of a Montessori classroom is the Practical Life area.  Through repetitive, hands-on and very purposeful activities, the child learns to do things for herself. At the same time, indirect learning beyond polishing a mirror, using a tweezers, folding laundry or opening and closing bottles is occurring.

The children learn concentration, coordination, manual dexterity, order and independence.  Far from being trivial, these skills form the necessary foundation for all future learning as they stir important areas of the brain.

In addition, children are interested in learning real things in the real world, which accounts for the tremendous popularity of these exercises. As Maria Montessori once said: “Children don’t play, they work.”

That one year of mental growth from age three to four is equivalent to three years of growth between ages 9 to 12? Don't let your child lose out on the best years of their lives.

Montessori specializes in providing a "Prepared Environment" that spurs your child to learn during his most receptive stage from 0 to 6 years - a period when his mind leaps to growth.

Montessori "Prepared Environment" readily conditions the child to work and concentrate. Bad habits of disorderliness, selfishness or dependence will be replaced by obedience and friendliness. Thus, the Montessori discipline is acquired through work not play.

As early as three years old, your child will be given 300 exercises each year to train him in independence. These exercises are divided into Practical Life, Sensorial Exercises, Language & Math Activities and Cultural Arts.

Your child learn at his own rate

He is neither held back nor pushed forward according to the learning rates of other students. In a traditional classroom, all the children are learning the same thing and moving through the curriculum at the same rate. We know that each child has different abilities and interests. Some are good at math, while others excel in language and so on.  They all have different interests as well. 

Since children are so different, it is unrealistic to expect that they will learn at the same rate. Because of the repetition that Maria Montessori built into her system, a child is allowed to work on something until she masters it.  Since they don’t move on to the next skill until they have mastered the present one, there are never any gaps in their education.  That means there is never any need for remedial education.

This article, “Answers to Some Frequently Asked Questions About Montessori” from the #1 Edition of M: the folios,