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SPONSORED CONTENT
Please Stay and Here’s Why:
A Note to Parents of Toddlers
BY ELIANA JAOUDE
cience tells us that the majority of
brain development happens by age
three. We know that the interactions
and relationships a child experiences
with her parents and teachers form
the foundation of her learning and
development when it comes to her
thinking, social skills and emotional
development. Secure relationships
help children develop in these ways:
or consolidation year, in which your
third-year child takes great pride in
solidifying all she has learned over the
past two years and assumes greater
responsibilities in the classroom.

This happens naturally, because it
was modeled for her when she was
younger. She will expect to be (and will
look forward to being) this new role of
‘big kid’ in the classroom.”
• They learn to trust others.

• They develop better coping skills in
stressful situations.

• They’re better able to describe
their feelings with words and
communicate with others.

2. “Your child will have the same teacher
for three years. The teacher truly knows
your child. And you get to know the
teacher over the longer cycle; the
relationship between school and family
builds on trust and mutual respect.”
• They are more conﬁ dent about
exploring the world around them.

• They develop a sense of self-worth,
and are better at cooperating with
others and understanding the
feelings of others, which help them
to form strong relationships with
peers in the future.

The Montessori Method further
implements and maximizes the
development of secure relationships
through consistency in early childhood
education in several ways. Why parents
should keep their child in a Montessori
program at least for the ﬁ rst crucial
three years through the capstone year
(kindergarten) was explained fully in an
article by P. Donohue Shortridge called
“Please Stay ... Here’s Why” published
in the fall 2018 issue of “Montessori
Life.” Here are some excerpts:
1. “In her ﬁ rst year at Montessori, all
those ‘big kids’ seemed so, well, big.

They could do amazing things. Your
child was in awe of them — in fact,
she may have mentioned an older
child or children in the classroom, a
5- or 6-year-old she idolized. Just as
in real life, children learn from their
elders. Now, your child will get to be
one of those ‘big kids.’ The capstone
year is also known as the leadership
3. “The 3-year cycle allows your
child to acquire skills and academic
knowledge at his own pace. Perhaps
reading came to him more quickly
than math, or ﬁ ne-motor skills seemed
second nature while gross-motor
skills took longer. The Montessori
early childhood environment has no
set timetable for mastery, but instead
offers him three full years to acquire
capability. Not all 5½-year-olds are
expected to be ﬂ uent readers or
understand multiplication. Would you
be comfortable being held accountable
for a skill simply because a statistical
model or a test stated ‘you should
know this by now?’ Over the years,
we Montessorians have observed
children who, having completed the
full early childhood cycle, matriculate
conﬁ dently into ﬁ rst grade in a non-
Montessori program or into lower
elementary in a Montessori school.

Consider this an appeal to offer the gift
of time to your child.”
Now here’s a real-life example of a
student, which illustrates how the
mixed-age grouping and the 3-year-
cycle can work:
One of my students walked into
my classroom a few years ago as a
3-year-old. She was very bright with
great potential but was extremely
shy, very hesitant to work and interact
with her teachers and had a very
hard time letting go of her parents in
the morning. She spent the ﬁ rst year
adjusting to the morning transition, the
routine and work ﬂ ow and classroom
expectations. She very rarely spoke
or expressed her needs to her
teachers independently without being
prompted. Her second year was better,
but she still had trouble letting go in
the morning and remained shy and a
bit hesitant to approach new situations.

Now, as a kindergarten student, she
has blossomed over the course of four
months. She became an independent
learner and is highly motivated by the
work in the classroom. She walks in
proudly every morning with a big smile
on her face, greeting her teachers and
friends. She has become the leader
of the whole class — helping out and
giving lessons to her fellow students.

She shines during our monthly Senior
Center visits. She approaches strangers
with great conﬁ dence, introduces
herself then sits and reads a book
aloud with great expression and
without any hesitations. She expresses
herself very clearly and assertively.

I truly believe that the Montessori
environment allowed her to reach her
fullest potential and ﬂ ourish. Now
she can explore any environment and
thrive because she has developed a
solid and unshakable foundation, both
academically and socially. I’ll never
forget watching her say goodbye
to her mother during “Parents
Observation Week.” She assertively
told her mom that her time was up,
her observation was done and that she
could go. It was priceless! This is the
moment every teacher looks forward
to experiencing. And witnessing the
positive transformation of a child within
these three years was remarkable.

Eliana Jaoude is the Head of School at Reston
Montessori School Reston, VA.

washingtonFAMILY.com January 2019
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