Montessori Made
How my experiences attending a Montessori school prepared me for college.
As my sophomore year of college comes to a close, I can’t help but reflect on the experiences I had in high school and how they prepared me for college. Coming from a Montessori background I was able to apply some of these experiences into my first two years of college. From annual camping trips to meeting my state representative in Washington DC, these moments made me a well-rounded person and also made me understand the importance of a Montessori education.
For those that aren’t familiar with the ideals of a Montessori school setting, students are given the option to complete classwork in the order he or she chooses to complete it in. While at the same time the teacher is there to help guide the students when they need assistance. Giving the student a sense of independence and freedom to be themselves in the classroom. The Montessori ideals also strives for students to be in multiage group settings, to increase peer learning and to build friendships. But one important thing that the Montessori program stressed to their students was having experiences outside the classroom. Being in the Montessori program for 14 years, I now understand why having experiences outside the classroom plays an important role in academic development.
For example, my eight-grade year I had the opportunity to go to the Bahamas for ten days. This trip was to be considered to be a rite of passage for us, being that it was some of our first time going on a trip without our parents. Aside from learning about marine life, this trip taught me how to be independent and taught me how to budget my money for the first time. This trip also taught me the importance of building friendships.
Another experience that I was able to have was in my senior-year of high school, I had the opportunity to shadow a municipal court judge for two weeks. My school required us to pick a career field of interest and shadow someone to get an understanding of what they do. This experience not only taught me the roles of a municipal court judge, it also taught me how to reach out to people. The job shadow taught me how to send professional emails and made me more comfortable speaking to people that are older than me. Something that has helped me a lot in these first two years here Morehouse College.
Aside from having these person experiences, I also had group experiences that allowed me to know the people around me a little better. Every year, our teachers would take us out on camping trips. During these trips we got to do community building where we did activities that helped bring us together as a class and learn people’s strength and weaknesses. Inside the classroom we also had the opportunity to know people better as well. Depending on the assignment, we had the option to work in groups which allowed us to share our thoughts and questions on the assignment. The ability to work collaboratively is something that I appreciate the most from the Montessori program. It allowed me to hear other opinions and for me to express mine in hopes that my group comes to unanimous decision on what we should do.
But the biggest experience that has really prepared me for college was completing a senior project. Before graduating, we had to pick a topic of interest and do project on the topic that we chose. For the project we had to interview experts in the topic we were researching and collect data as well to help aid our research. Staring this project at the end of my junior year, this project took a whole year to complete in its entirety. In that year I discovered an interest in writing, learned how to do proper research and how to write critically. All of which I know apply in my writing for any of my college papers.
Looking back at my high school experiences I realize how grateful I was to have these opportunities presented to me. These experiences gave me a different perspective on things and showed me the importance of having a Montessori education. As I continue on my journey through college, I will take my high school lessons/experiences and apply them to the new challenges I face in college.
Isaiah D. Johnson is a student a Morehouse college studying political science with a minor in journalism
