You want the best for your children, so why not start them out at the best kindergarten? At Alpine Montessori, we take a kid-centered, child-directed approach to education, which helps children explore and develop at their own base, while providing a foundation for the kinds of friendships that can last a lifetime. With locations in Milburn, Sparta, and Oak Ridge, we are convenient to the residents of Maplewood and to commuters.
Kindergarten is as much about learning appropriate social skills and how to interact with peers as it is about learning reading, writing, and arithmetic. That is why the Montessori approach is a naturally good fit with the kindergarten environment. Montessori is designed to meet children’s cognitive, neurological, and emotional needs by focusing on independent work at an independent pace. This leads some people to perceive Montessori as unstructured, since not all kids are working on the same things at the same time. However, children enter kindergarten at all different levels of ability and with a wide range of physical, emotional, cognitive, and social abilities. Treating all of students as if they are the same means that those who are advanced in any area can find themselves pulled towards the middle, while kids who need extra help in certain areas may struggle to keep up with the rest of the class. It creates a competitive atmosphere that does not help children form a foundation for lifelong learning. Montessori eschews the competitive educational pathway and encourages children to explore their own interests, at their own pace. The result is children who develop, not just learning skills, but a lifelong passion for learning.
To find out if Montessori is the right approach for your child, we recommend that you schedule visits at Montessoris and compare them to what you see in regular kindergarten classrooms. Alpine Montessori near Maplewood, NJ would be happy to schedule a classroom visit for you and your child.
