When Passions Feed Knowledge, Students Flourish

What is your goal for your child’s elementary education?

It’s a simple question—but one that in our experience is hard for many parents to answer. What, exactly, is it you want your child to get out of his experience at school? When he graduates from 6th or 8th grade, what do you want him to have learned, experienced, and taken with him for his future life from the half dozen or so years he spent attending elementary and middle school?

In this age of Common Core Standards and high-stakes testing, the default answer comes down to learning certain skills—and taking steps toward being “college and career ready.” But what, exactly, does that mean—and is it the right goal for all children? How about for your child?

At LePort Montessori, we believe that the goal of education is enabling children to acquire the essential knowledge, thinking skills, and strength of character enabling them to be joyous children today, and living flourishing lives as successful adults tomorrow. We want them to acquire Knowledge for Life—knowledge that is deeply understood (instead of just memorized superficially), knowledge that they can apply toward the challenges and goals in their lives (instead of just regurgitating it on tests), and knowledge that they remember, for life (instead of being forgotten once that A is scored on the exam).

Our goal is to help children flourish—as happy children today, and as successful, authentic adults tomorrow.

Knowledge

Discovering the fascinating world, not memorizing empty words

Knowledge is necessary for a flourishing life. (Necessary, but not sufficient—see below!). In Montessori Elementary, children acquire an astonishingly deep, broad knowledge base—and are able to apply what they learn. In technical terms, their knowledge transfers—it doesn’t just sit in a segregated part of their brain; instead, they use what they learn to apply it to the job of living their lives.

In Montessori Elementary, learning a lot is a natural process, because children are deeply engaged. They are motivated authentically—by interest in the material they choose to study, by the inherent appeal of mastery, by being respected, and by being encouraged to be autonomous.

Freedom within limits.

For eight- or even ten-year-olds, what they read and write about doesn’t matter as much as that they read and write. Montessori Elementary harnesses children’s unique interests to engage them in the hard work of becoming strong readers and writers. You might see a nine-year-old become fascinated with India, (say for a trivial reason, like being given an Indian dress by a friend), and embark on a month or two of deep research into India. She might make a map of the country—with key cities and rivers—and, seeing her interest, the teacher might build on a lesson on topography and guide her in doing another map showing elevations with colors and elevation lines. She might use her understanding of the Fundamental Needs of Man gained in the Montessori cultural curriculum to research how Indians live—what they eat, how they dress, what their houses are like, the country’s transportation system and how its citizens express their spirituality. Running out of books at school, she might organize a “Going Out” to a nearby library with a friend or two, to bring back a stack of further books to support her research. The teacher might suggest a museum with exhibits about Indian culture, and guide her in organizing a parent volunteer to take her and some friends there. Guided by her interest, she will learn more about India than anyone would rightfully expect a nine-year-old to know—and she’ll discover the power of her mind, grow her skills, and gain the confidence that no topic is beyond her ability to master.

A Montessori teacher’s role, then, is not to impose a rigid one-size-fits-all curriculum, but to establish points of interest between children and the world, and to help them build upon these interests to master the skills they need to flourish in life. A teacher observes, entices, and connects. She guides children toward learning, ensuring that over a three-year-horizon (1st-3rd grade, 4th–6th grade) they cover the content they need and master key skills. She provides guidance and limits, then sets children free to soar as far as their intellectual wings will take them.

Cooperation instead of competition.

Children have different abilities, and in Montessori, they are able to play to their strengths, instead of competing to see who can do better on narrowly defined tasks. For example, in a mixed-age Montessori Elementary class, a dyslexic 2nd grader who struggles with reading but is a whiz at understanding advanced science concepts may ask a 3rd grader who reads well, but who might not be drawn to science, to partner with him in an experiment. The 3rd grader reads the involved experimental instructions, which the dyslexic 2nd grader joyfully uses to set up the experiment. They work together, observing, discussing what they see, and working out the answers to the guiding questions. The 2nd grader explains his insights—which he could never have written down, and which the not-so-scientific 3rd grader might not have figured out—and the 3rd grader takes notes for both of them. Both boys are filled with the joy of discovery, of learning, and of working together.

Contrast this joyful, cooperative learning with what might have happened in an age-segregated, teacher-led classroom. The dyslexic 2nd grader might have shied away from science because he felt embarrassed at his inability to read. (Worse, he might have been placed in a special ed classroom, his bright mind wasted!). The 3rd grader who struggled with complex concepts might have gone through the motions, but not really grasped the central idea. Neither would have been able to discover the joy that comes from playing to your strength—and benefitting from the strengths of others.

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An ability to accelerate learning.

Imagine a child who discovers a fascination with math in 4th or 5th grade after not having loved numbers before. She’s behind some of her classmates—but driven by her newly-found motivation, she quickly surpasses the skills of her classmates. In a traditional school setting, her teacher’s ability to sustain her drive and accelerate her math learning would be quite limited: in most schools, acceleration means nothing more than more homework, more of the same exercises. Rarely would this bright, eager student be able to progress through the math curriculum at a pace that reflects her true abilities.

In Montessori, though, she would. Her teacher might have a conference with her, and discuss an individualized plan for her to work through much of the 4th grade curriculum at a faster pace. She might then place her in a group with a few bright 5th graders in the mixed-age 4th–6th grade class. Because our girl has not learned some foundational concepts, she’d be given extra work, which she would be able to complete during her morning and afternoon work periods (rather than needing to take this extra work home, where her parents might not be able to help her with it, or where the work would mean less time for her other interests). During the work periods, she’d have access to her teacher—or to the 6th graders who recently mastered these same ideas, and who often are happy to help her (in the process doing a wonderful review of their own learning!).

With the individualization of learning possible in Montessori, it’s not unusual to see 8th graders cover algebra! (At the same time, a child whose strength lies in language arts and who struggles in math would not be held back a grade—but would instead complete math at a slower pace, with younger children, without being made to feel like a failure.)

“This is the first time in Mia’s school life that she has been met at her academic level. She’s been at several other highly-rated schools, as my husband got moved a lot for work—but no-where has her level of math been matched until she got to LePort. LePort shines in providing strong students with the challenge they need to excel.”
—Jeannette S. LePort parent

Executive Functions

The key ingredient to reaching a child’s full potential

To be a flourishing adult (and a happy, joyous teenager!) children need to acquire executive functions, or “the deliberate, goal-directed control of behavior” as Peter David Zelazo, Professor of Child Development at the University of Minnesota, defines them. Duckworth and Seligman, two leading researchers in the field, summarized the importance of executive functions shown in one of their studies as follows:

“Self-discipline measured in the fall accounted for more than twice as much variance as IQ in final grades, high school selection, school attendance, hours spent doing homework, hours spent watching television (inversely), and the time of day students began their homework. The effect of self-discipline on final grades held even when controlling for first-marking-period grades, achievement-test scores, and measured IQ. These findings suggest a major reason for students falling short of their intellectual potential: their failure to exercise self-discipline.”

Adele Diamond, Professor for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia and a leading researcher in the field, identifies core executive functions, such as inhibitory control (self-control/self-discipline and selective attention/screening out of distractions), working memory, and cognitive flexibility (which includes creativity), as well as higher-order executive functions, such as problem solving, reasoning, and planning. (This source provides a good introductory reading on executive functions; this source links to many of the original research.)

The question then is, how do children learn these critical skills? What type of schooling helps children develop self-discipline, strong attention skills, cognitive flexibility, and planning skills?

If you visualize a typical traditional classroom, the opportunities to practice these skills are quite limited. When 30 or 35 children sit at desks with one teacher up front, when everyone needs to do the same work, at the same time, when the adult sets the agenda and the testing schedule sets the speed at which work needs to be accomplished—how do children get to plan, to practice flexibility, and to deeply immerse themselves into something?

In contrast, the mixed-age Montessori classroom is a perfect environment for practicing executive functions. Here are just two aspects (there are many more our team would love to point out when you visit one of our schools or observe in one of our Montessori Elementary classrooms):

Freedom within limits.

Montessori elementary students have clear goals—which they agree upon with their teachers. A 2nd grader might have a weekly work plan which includes practicing spelling and math facts four days of the week, reading several chapters of a literature book and answering follow-on questions, and engaging in a certain number of activities from the cultural, geography, and science curriculum. An upper elementary student may take on more responsibility for coming to lessons at a certain time, and completing longer-term projects. For example, for math, she might agree to complete a large set of division or word problems over several weeks—and be in charge of figuring out how to spread the work out over that time.
Teachers guide students in the process, providing more guidance for younger children or older ones not yet able to be fully self-directed—for example, by having daily check-ins, rather than weekly student-teacher meetings.

In contrast to traditional schooling, where adults assign homework, often with a 1-3-day turnaround, students in Montessori are active participants, and plan and prepare their work over longer time periods.

An active, individualized environment with choices.

A Montessori Elementary classroom may appear distracting and chaotic when you first see it. Instead of 30 heads looking at the front, all paying attention to a teacher, you’ll see small groups of students or individual students working on a wide variety of activities. There is a quiet hum, as children get up and move about, and as teachers give lessons to small groups while others work. In this active environment, children learn to focus on their work—to tune out the distractions around the room, and to sustain focus on their activities. They can do this because they have a say in what they do (see above!) and as such are personally interested in the work (instead of doing it just for grades, or to please an adult). Interest breeds drive—which supports the continued development of self-discipline and focused attention!

Individuation and Authentic Motivation

Developing a Sense of Self

To what use will your child put the knowledge and skills she acquires in school? What central purpose will she choose for her life? How will she decide what career to pursue, what values to adopt, or what type of people to associate with?

The elementary and junior high years are when children develop the thinking skills and character that will allow them, come adolescence, to productively grapple with these formative questions—rather than submitting passively to peer pressure or adapting cultural norms and suppressing their true selves.

The LePort Montessori Elementary experience, through its very structure, enables children to develop as individuals, rather than making them fit into a uniform group and a system where they are expected to follow adult orders and obey.

Freedom within limits.

This recurring principle not only helps children achieve academically, and develop executive functions—it is also key to a child learning to make choices, to identify things she likes or doesn’t like, and to become aware of who she is as a person.

For example, a 7th grader may have a deep love of math, and spend extra time doing more advanced math problems. If she is also an outgoing, social child, others may reach out to her for help with their math problems. She might discover that she loves explaining complex problems to other students, that she’s great at teaching. Because of the freedom the Montessori environment provides and initiative she sees modeled by others, she decides to offer free math tutoring to 4th–6th graders after school.

In Montessori Elementary, children are constantly encouraged to make choices (within limits, and with their teacher’s guidance), and to reflect on their choices in regular one-on-one conferences with their teachers: Why did you spend 8 hours this week tackling a huge amount of additional math problems? How about grammar: it got short shrift, right? What did you not like about the grammar work on your weekly plan? Why does grammar matter to your goals of becoming a math teacher? How can we make grammar work relevant and exciting? Through the daily choices, and guided reflection, children come to recognize themselves as unique individuals—and learn to both play to their strengths, and find ways to overcome challenges they face.

A community of like-minded families.

As children become tweens and teens, their peer group—both children and their parents—becomes a bigger influence in their lives. In the Pulitzer Prize finalist book, The Nurture Assumption, Judith Rich Harris argues that peers have the greatest influence on children during the transition into adolescence, and that one of the best things parents can do for their children is to ensure they find themselves in a values-aligned peer environment during these formative years. During an age when too many children spend hours in front of often violent computer games, where tween girls are overly-sexualized, where at some schools the pressure cooker of getting into college leads to a Race to Nowhere as early as late elementary and junior high, Montessori elementary schools like LePort offer a nurturing community of like-minded families. Parents who choose Montessori often value a child’s independence, believe in individual responsibility (talk about doing chores at home, and holding children accountable), limit passive screen-based entertainment, and talk about and act to help their children become their best selves (rather than focusing on test scores and building resumes in 6th or 8th grade).

A limited homework policy.

In Montessori Elementary and Junior High, children receive lessons and apply what they learn during the two long daily work periods (usually three hours in the morning, and two hours in the afternoon). The practice that in other schools often happens at home, via homework assignments, takes place during the school day in Montessori. Children do the work—and have immediate access to help if they get stuck, whether from same-age peers, elders, or their teachers. Parents can focus on being parents when children get home (instead of needing to be homework monitors and tutors). Elementary age children may have a literature book to read at home, and some questions to answer about the book once a week, which in total shouldn’t take more than 1-2 hours per week—compared to often 1-2 hours per day in traditional elementary schools! (Homework is purposefully increased in junior high, in part to prepare 8th graders for their transition to non-Montessori high schools, where homework loads may be quite high.)

With limited homework, children have the time to pursue their personal interests—sports, arts, music, making and crafting, socializing with friends, reading a book for pleasure, cooking with parents, or playing board games. We believe that children need to have this unstructured time, the ability to try out different interests—and to do it without needing to stay up late to keep up with schoolwork.

Mature Social Skills

A supportive, small community and purposeful guidance by teachers

Human beings, to flourish, need to have positive, strong relationships with others. This is obvious in the personal realm, where for most people, having friends is important to their subjective well-being. Interestingly, in the 21st century, social skills are also increasingly relevant in the labor market (see, for example, this Harvard study).

If having good social relationships matters to your child’s happiness and career success, what role can school play in developing these skills? And if school matters, what type of school environment enables your child to develop their friendship and social graces muscles?

In Montessori education, social skills are developed in what we call the Grace and Courtesy curriculum, which starts in our infant and toddler rooms, and continues in Primary (ages 3-6) with lessons such as how to greet people, how to politely interrupt, how to show appreciation, receive and give compliments, and even how to disagree graciously.

Montessori Elementary and Junior High build on these lessons and provide a great environment for the development of strong social skills and tight friendships.

Much opportunity for purposeful, supervised small-group and one-on-one social interactions.

In traditional schooling, children’s social interactions often happen at recess, during lunch, or in the hallways. In many cases, these interactions are not supervised by any adults. Cliques often form and insider/outsider relationships develop, harassment happens, and children who aren’t mainstream risk getting excluded. (For an insightful and scary commentary on the social scene at schools, read The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth.) Social exclusion, lack of strong friendships, and peer pressure are often especially hard on children as they enter adolescence.

In Montessori Elementary, we help children develop the strong social skills they need to retain their benevolent outlook on life and their enthusiasm for other people beyond childhood. Throughout the Montessori school day, children in our mixed-age elementary and junior high classrooms have constant opportunities to interact with each other, always observed and guided by our trained teachers (who have time to attend to social issues as we maintain a 1:12 or better teacher-student ratio all the way through 8th grade). Children regularly work with partners—whether as a pair of buddies doing multi-digit long multiplication in 2nd grade, or as a group of upper elementary children discussing literature, or several junior high students working together to create the school yearbook. As children interact purposefully, teachers guide these interactions—giving feedback to a child who may not find a partner (“Why do you think Max doesn’t want to work with you? What happened last time you had a joint project? Can you think why he may not want to work with you today, after you skipped out part-way through?”) or bringing parents into the loop when a child struggles. Developing the whole child is so important to us that we dedicate a whole section of our progress reports to the child’s personal and social development.

A tight-knit community: no cliques and a need to learn to get along with diverse people.

In a typical Montessori mixed-age Elementary or Junior High classroom, children form a close community with 20 to 30 peers. Children stay in the same group for three years, starting as the youngest in each cycle (1st–3rd, 4th–6th and 7th–8th grade), and slowly developing into the leader. Because the classroom community is relatively small, children can’t self-select and interact only with people who are like them or whom they naturally like. Instead, they get to know everyone very well—and learn to get along with a wide range of people. This ability to appreciate and work productively with different types of people prepares them well for a work world where they won’t get to pick-and-choose their favorites—and enables them to develop empathy, listening skills, and an ability to appreciate a wide variety of people.

“LePort helped my son become a better person. When children are in elementary school, they don’t yet know how to tell right from wrong. If you just throw them into a group of kids in public school, they’ll pick up the peers’ behavior, good or bad. With so many children, the teachers don’t generally spend much time supporting social skills—especially not for the normal kids, when they have 3-4 kids who are really bad and urgently need help. Yet this is the time when children need positive socializing, when they need guidance from adults, not bullying. (Yes, there was bullying in our highly-rated public elementary school!) LePort gave my son a moral compass. They provide the small, controlled, positive environment that children need in the elementary years. The moral compass he developed at LePort enabled my son to tell right from wrong as he grew older, so he can make better decisions in life.”—Fonny W., parent of a LePort Junior High graduate

One of the joys of being in a Montessori Elementary and Junior High school is to see all the initiative and leadership exhibited by the students. Here are some examples of the student-led initiatives from Fall/Winter 2016/17, from one of our schools. That’s a lot of student-organized, student-led activity for a school with just 70 children in Upper Elementary and Junior High!

Rubik’s Cube after-school club.

A boy who loved Rubik’s Cubes started an after-school club to teach his skills to others.

Geography Club.

A junior high student who loved geography rallied several other students around his passion—and they worked on geography at their own initiative during after-school programs.

Music Appreciation Night.

A boy passionate about music organized an evening event where all students who played an instrument could share their skills with the school community.

Comic drawing Club.

A junior high boy passionate about comics and a good artist organized this club. Isn’t it beautiful to see children in an environment where art and creativity are embraced like this?

Learn more about LePort Montessori

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When Passions Feed Knowledge, Students Flourish

What is your goal for your child’s elementary education?

Knowledge

Freedom within limits.

Cooperation instead of competition.

An ability to accelerate learning.

Executive Functions

Freedom within limits.

An active, individualized environment with choices.

Individuation and Authentic Motivation

Freedom within limits.

A community of like-minded families.

A limited homework policy.

Mature Social Skills

Much opportunity for purposeful, supervised small-group and one-on-one social interactions.

A tight-knit community: no cliques and a need to learn to get along with diverse people.

Rubik’s Cube after-school club.

Geography Club.

Music Appreciation Night.

Comic drawing Club.

Learn more about LePort Montessori

Our Locations

San Francisco

Los Angeles

Orange County

San Diego

Brooklyn

Northern Virginia

Our Programs

Infant

Toddler

Preschool/Kindergarten

Elementary

Why Montessori?

The Knowledge for Life Journey

Our Passionate Professionalism

Beautifully prepared environments

Stay in touch with LePort Montessori