The Montessori Method helps young children hone academic, emotional, and leadership skills by giving them opportunities for self-directed learning. Montessori kindergarten curricula and philosophies are based on the belief that children thrive and grow to their fullest potential when they are guided to develop into great leaders.
Private kindergarten instruction can be customized and tailored to a child’s strengths even this early on in their academic careers. Children are naturally inquisitive, creative, and intelligent; the Montessori Method follows the idea that they should have a large part in directing their own learning paths.
Montessori Kindergarten Students: Learning to Lead
When children have a voice in how they learn, they develop a sense of responsibility and accountability. They eventually learn that continuous learning is key to being an effective leader. Self-directed learning instills leadership skills in kindergarten by:
- Encouraging children to make decisions
- Promoting opportunities for young learners to take action
- Spurring children to ask for and receive help to succeed
Children learn to take responsibility for problem-solving and seeking assistance with implementing solutions in the classroom. They learn to make decisions and take action while coming to the realization that the responsibility of problem-solving is on their shoulders.
These skills — making decisions, taking action, and asking for help — are all necessary leadership skills.
Helping Students Lead: Academic and Emotional Intelligence
Leadership also requires a degree of intellectual knowledge, and private instruction within the Montessori Method gives students opportunities to develop that intelligence through hands-on learning that is fun and engaging.
Academic Intelligence
Through academic lessons that are, in part, customized by input from the children, students gain a broader understanding of their strengths and interests. They also learn to apply those interests to related academic subjects, naturally expanding their subject-based intellectual abilities.
Emotional Intelligence
The Montessori Method instills emotional intelligence, another leadership skill, from the very beginning of a child’s academic career. Emotional intelligence is composed of several elements, five of which are:
- Empathy
- Self-awareness
- Self-regulation
- Motivation
- Social skills
As children master these five elements, they display signs of emotional intelligence, such as:
- They are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses
- They get along well with others
- They are aware of their own feelings
- They are self-motivated
- They are focused on the present
- They maintain well-placed boundaries
- They conduct themselves with integrity
Some of the best Montessori activities that hone emotional intelligence skills include those that teach them to care for others, themselves, and the environment around them.
When kindergarten students learn in mixed-age classrooms, they can observe older students’ modeled behavior, further exposing them to how to apply emotional intelligence and appropriate interaction to everyday life.
The Montessori Kindergarten Classroom
Private kindergarten instruction that Montessori classrooms provide also instills leadership qualities in young learners by consistently challenging children with new tasks.
Qualities like logic help students develop trust in others along with respect. Children learn the importance of following through as they develop conviction, dedication, and thoughtfulness.
Using the Montessori Method, teachers bring out the best in their students, promoting a learning environment steeped in the core values of leadership. Even in kindergarten, children are entrusted with various duties, from helping new friends in the classroom to taking care of classroom materials.
Cultivate Your Child’s Leadership Skills with Montessori Kindergarten
The Montessori Method ensures that leadership skills are built into lessons that cultivate essential qualities in young learners.
By encouraging endless discovery, creativity, respect, and especially self-guided learning, Montessori Schools of Fremont inspire future leaders by allowing them to feel supported as they grow. Contact us today to learn more about the benefits of Montessori kindergarten for your child.
