Ask the Experts: Montessori Education Outside The Classroom

Q: How does the Montessori setting help get kids out of the classroom and into the community?

A: “Our ‘going-out trips’ are borne out of a particular study that either one child is doing or a group of students are doing. Because it’s stemming from something they have been interested in from their own curiosity and their own intellect, they are more engaged,” says Kate Wright, director of admissions and student services at Cleveland Montessori. “They could study about art, and there’s an exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art. They would be calling those curators, making the appointments and having their questions ready about a particular artist or genre. It helps a child’s social and research skills and would also help them with their independence, for a child to become a critical thinker, an independent thinker, someone who’s able to have conversations with diverse people.”