Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall, watching your child throughout their day in a Montessori classroom?
While each child’s routine is unique and depends on their own interests, we’d love to give you an idea of what goes on in the classroom. Here’s a typical day for a child in a 3-6 year old classroom:
Circle Time: After greeting their teachers, children enjoy a short morning circle time with their classmates and teachers. During this time, teachers and children talk about the calendar, their feelings, and sing songs! Depending on the time of year, circle time is also a great time for teachers and students to talk about new topics.
Independent Work Time: The majority of a child’s day in the Montessori classroom is spent in independent work time. During this time, children choose activities to do on their own. The classroom is filled with shelves that feature different activities. Each shelf covers a different curriculum area. The areas include: math, language, sensorial, practical life, and science. Plus, there’s a reading area and cleaning supplies for children to use.
To give you a better idea of the routines during this time, here’s what one child we’ll call Annie, might do. First, she picks out a carpet and rolls it out on the floor. Then, she selects a set of penguin nomenclature cards from the science shelf. Annie sits quietly and matches pictures of penguins and their labels. Then, she cleans up the material and returns it to the shelf. Finally, she rolls up her carpet and puts it away.
Next, a teacher invites Annie to a presentation on using the metal insets. The teacher helps Annie get out the insets and carry them to a table. Then, the teacher demonstrates how to trace the shapes and draw parallel lines inside. Annie traces the shape of a circle and fills it in with parallel lines. After working on two shapes, she cleans up her materials.
Then, Annie watches a friend who is pouring water into glasses. After her friend finished working, they chat about what to do next. They decide to read books together.
Other Key Elements of a Montessori Day
All of that hard work makes kids hungry! Another important part of the Montessori day includes snack time. Children get out and enjoy their own snacks and then clean up when they’re done.
Finally, children also enjoy some time outdoors playing. During this time, kids get important exercise and gross motor skill practice when playing outdoors. In addition, they use their social skills while playing with friends.
Throughout the typical day in the Montessori classroom, kids get lots of practice interacting with others. In addition, kids practice decision-making skills. Children have to choose which activities to do, where to work, and how long to do work on any given activity. Plus, they have to navigate what to do if another child is working on an activity that they wanted to do.
As you can see, a day in the Montessori classroom is dynamic, full of learning, exciting, and fun! Children relish the chance to make their own decisions and explore the world with the guidance of their teachers.
