Your child will face challenges in the classroom and throughout life. There is no way to completely avoid everything that may present a challenge. It can be difficult to watch your child face various obstacles – especially in the classroom. The reality is, however, that learning to overcome those challenges will serve your child much more than taking them away. Montessori education will present your child with some challenges but will also teach your child strategies for overcoming them. Montessori education will teach your child to overcome challenges by providing opportunities for independent learning, allowing students to address issues without teacher intervention, and putting various ages together in one classroom.

Provide opportunities for independent learning

A big part of learning to overcome challenges in the classroom is the opportunity to work independently. Working in a small or big group setting can allow students who are struggling with something to depend on others for help and answers. Working together and learning from others are both important. Sometimes the answer to overcoming a challenge is to get help from others. However, students also need to learn how to overcome challenges independently. A student who is struggling with a match concept needs to have the opportunity to work on that concept individually. Working on challenging concepts independently helps students explore a variety of solutions. In many situations, there is more than one way to work through a challenging concept. Allowing children space to discover which way works best for them is an important part of developing critical thinking skills and perseverance.

Allow students to address issues without teacher intervention

In the Montessori classroom, students are taught to work through issues without teacher intervention if at all possible. When students work in groups, the teacher encourages them to make decisions about who does what within the group. If a disagreement comes up between students, they are expected to try and find a solution before asking the teacher for help. Students are also encouraged to search for answers to questions on their own before asking for a solution from the teacher. The teacher is always nearby and willing to help, but putting more responsibility on the students enables them to take responsibility for overcoming the challenges they face.

Put various ages together in the classroom

The design of the Montessori classroom can help your child learn to overcome challenges. In Montessori schools, classes are not set up based only on age. A typical Montessori classroom will include a range of ages. For example, you may find six-year-olds in the same classroom as nine-year-olds. Interacting with kids outside of their immediate peer group presents unique challenges to students. Students get the opportunity to overcome those challenges inside of the Montessori classroom.

A Montessori education can provide your child with daily opportunities to face and successfully overcome challenges. The daily challenges in the Montessori classroom can build up the perseverance and grit of your child and make it easier to face challenges in other areas of life. If you want to see some of the ways in which students are presented with challenges in the Montessori classroom, schedule a time to observe a class.