It is easy to note the differences between traditional public elementary school Grades One, Two and Three and private Montessori Lower Elementary school philosophies.

Montessori advantages include:

When evaluating a Montessori education or a traditional public or faith-based school, here are several elementary school differences you should consider.

Age Range or Same Age Students?

Traditional Elementary School or a Montessori Elementary Education?

The journey towards understanding oneself continues via a Montessori elementary education. From the start, Montessori preschool offers students the freedom to manage their own world while discovering their place in it. Quickly, parents discover that the Montessori philosophy is about letting the reins loose and letting children drive their journey on their own path.

Montessori elementary school teachers guide students on how to think. This strategic approach is based on building mastery by exploring topics at one’s own speed, pace and passion. It is this power of thinking that defines Montessori students. In addition to what it is, they’ve learned the underlying concepts of why and how it is.

One Day a Moth, Then Transformed!

The ransformation from childhood to adolescence is a positive result of witnessing the growth of your independent elementary child. Parents have spoken of a blooming metamorphosis by the time their student graduates from Lifetime—one of San Diego’s best elementary schools. 

One way how Montessori elementary schools differ from public and faith-based schools is this: Montessori schools don’t assign grades. 

Why not?

In Maria Montessori’s view, assigning students grades breeds more harm than good by instilling a fear of failure; low self-esteem; anxiety; depression; anger; resentment, and parental rejection. 

The Montessori Method is based on children being treated as adults who learn individually, at their own pace, and focused on interest-based topics. A core outgrowth: teaching students broad-based ways to think. This ‘how and why’ conceptual approach coupled with independent learning has been instrumental in building the foundations of many famous Montessori students.  

Signs to Observe When Your Child Demonstrates Exemplary Behavior That Could Place Him Into a Gifted Educational Program  

At Lifetime Montessori School (LMS) in San Diego, a private toddler, preschool, and elementary school in Santaluz, our teachers work on identifying skill sets in children at an early age. 

How? 

Since students focus their daily attention on topics they like, we can identify, observe and evaluate a body of work that engages and engrosses them. 

In California, transitional kindergarten (TK) was designed to be a bridge between preschool and Kindergarten. If a child turns five years of age between September 2 and December 2, he or she can join TK as Year I of a two-year K program in any free public school. However, if the child’s birthday is December 3, he or she can’t. The child is held back simply based on chronological age! Sadly, this birthdate designation has little to do with a child’s academic, social or emotional development.