Fostering independence in pre-school

Fostering independence is a key part of Montessori education. Maria Montessori emphasised the importance of helping children to do things for themselves from an early age as steps towards feeling safe to act and behave autonomously without adult guidance.

It is our role as adults to provide just enough assistance for them to succeed on their own, nurturing their growth into confident and self-reliant individuals.

From the age of 3, children enter the classroom with many skills already. In Montessori, the teacher builds on these existing skills. For example, a child may come into the classroom and know that they need to set up a material to work with it, but don't know why they have to pack it away. At this early age, children can build good work habits which include repetition and concentration that can carry into their later years. It helps children build resilience, individual skills and knowledge.

Self-directing choices
The children make choices throughout their day. We guide them in learning from mistakes and developing strategies to solve problems independently. When children are supported in this way, we begin to see spontaneous acts of kindness and offers to help others. It is always delightful to see when a child has dropped their activity while carrying it in the classroom and another child comes in to help pick it up.

Intellectual independence
Intellectual independence is fostered through exploration of subjects like reading, writing, math, and music within the classroom. By offering the children more responsibility, choices and independence, we are empowering children to take ownership over their learning and from here on in we set up a desire to learn.

Consistent expectations
To help support children in developing independence it is important we give children consistency in their environments, including clear and consistent expectations. With consistency, they know how to respond in situations and what is expected from them. In addition, children feel safe and secure in their environments.