Watching a toddler evolve through their Montessori education is an exciting experience, but when is the right time to move them on to primary education? While teachers at Grace Montessori School (GMS) guide children through hands-on learning, exploratory play, and sensory-rich activities, they are also the first-hand witnesses of signs that indicate a child is ready for the next step in their education.
The transition from toddler to primary programming should be handled with care, as both classrooms offer different skills and opportunities for children. In toddler programming, the age range is 15-36 months, and students learn to master balance, coordination, reasoning, social awareness, and grace and courtesy skills. Toddler programming is also an essential time for children to learn how to self-calm and acknowledge their own accomplishments.
The primary program typically serves students from three years old through kindergarten, focusing on developing skills in areas including sensorial (the five senses), practical life skills, language, mathematics, science and geography, history, and art.
Because every child develops at their own pace, GMS uses benchmarks to indicate when a child is ready to transition from toddler education to primary programming. This differs from traditional education, in which students are grouped by age and progress level rather than by age alone.
One major component of primary readiness is potty training. Once a child is potty trained, they no longer need assistance and gain more independence to explore the next level of material in primary education. Since the primary classroom has almost four times as much material as the toddler program, this is an essential benchmark that helps students meet expectations for the next level of work they’re about to experience.
Other benchmarks Grace Montessori looks for before transitioning a student to primary programming include:
- Having an understanding of not walking on the rug
- Having a concept of rolling the rug
- Being able to carry a tray to the table or a rug
- Having a basic concept of cleaning up after a lesson
- Having a basic idea of sitting on the line
These transitions don’t happen overnight, and once a child has shown the signs that they’re ready to take the next step, there’s a gradual process to transitioning them into the new classroom.
This process is a crucial part of Montessori education. Unlike traditional education, the primary goal is to ensure everyone, including the child and the parent, feels comfortable with transitioning to this new program; this is essential to the child’s educational development. The first visit to the primary classroom is short, but over time, the student’s time in the classroom increases until they are there for a full morning. After a couple of weeks into this process, the teacher can determine whether the child is ready to be in the primary classroom full-time.
The transition from toddler to primary programming should be handled with care. From the first signs of development to spending hours in the primary classroom, Grace Montessori is there to ease this transformation, making it a positive experience for the child and family. Learn more about the educational opportunities at Grace Montessori by visiting our website: gracemontessori.org.
