Social Development The Montessori Method Way: A Key For Your Child's Overall Growth

SAN DIEGO - Oct. 28, 2020 - PRLog -- A local preschool has a mission to focus on helping children aged eighteen months through age six develop academically, socially, emotionally and internally via the Montessori Method.

"One key to a child's overall growth is expanding the perimeters of their world by mixing older and younger students together. This is a key Montessori Method difference from public and parochial preschools," says Kelly McFarland, M.Ed., and Director of La Jolla Montessori School.

According to Maria Montessori, Italy's first female doctor, toddlers need interaction through conversation and opportunities to take turns talking.

By age three, children have laid down the basic foundations of their personalities and are ready to experience an ever-widening circle of friends—both children and adults.

"In our private Montessori school in La Jolla, children assist each other," McFarland says. "Older children teach younger children. As a result, younger children become individually stronger as well as part of a cooperative group."

The Montessori Method teaches that children are propelled by their observations of other peers and build their development as a result of those observations. They absorb language—especially in an immersion program where the child is spoken to in both English and Spanish each day—and build social values that are consolidated as they move forward.

Older children help younger children develop.

Younger children watch older children and observe and assimilate. Then, each child develops at his or her own pace. This type of social development helps children adopt one's self to the group while meeting individual goals. Soon, younger children realize they can perform an older child's work while the older child develops empathy toward younger students.

"The takeaway is this: instead of competition by many and domination by a few children of the same age, mixed age groups build cooperation and mutual respect while growing independently and at their own speed," McFarland says. "They become members of a group and that social development helps them grow."

When comparing a Montessori preschool or toddler program with a public or parochial primary program, you'll see the difference right away. Via the Montessori Method, students cooperate with a group of like-minded individuals united toward a common goal—at three years of age! And, that sets their social development going forward.

La Jolla Montessori School is located at 8745 La Jolla Scenic Drive. Visit https://lajollamontessorischool.com/book-a-tour/  for a virtual or in-person tour.