1. When can my child start at FMSA?
Children may be admitted to FMSA generally between the ages of 2 ½ to 3 years old, depending upon readiness. Readiness is determined by being independent in the bathroom, in addition to having the ability to separate from parents, share the attention of an adult and age-appropriate maturity. Each child is interviewed individually by a member of the teaching staff at FMSA to assess readiness. Please consult the Admission Section of the website for further guidelines regarding interviews, enrollment and start dates.

2. Is Montessori only for certain types of children?
The Montessori Method of education is not directed at any particular type of child. In fact, Montessori is advantageous for many different styles of learning. Some children learn better by touching, some by listening, and some by doing: there are many ways children become successful in a Montessori classroom.

3. Do the Primary children have a snack in the morning?
The Primary children always have snacks available in class. They may choose to eat a snack whenever they are hungry. In addition to regular daily snack, there are many Practical Life food preparation exercises where the children prepare (with child-friendly and safe utensils) apples, bananas, carrots, etc. and eat or serve them to classmates.

4. What is a typical day like for a 3 and 4 year old?
Usually, children begin to work on individual activities after they come into the classroom, greet the teacher and hang up their coats. They continue choosing different activities on their own throughout the morning, based on the lessons that have been previously presented to them, until about 11:10. This allows the children to have an uninterrupted three-hour work cycle which is important to their developing concentration. During this work time, the teacher will also be giving individual and small group lessons to the children. At 11:20, the teacher stops the activity in the classroom and has a group time with the children before they go outside to the playground. From the playground, the 3 and 4 year olds go directly to their carpool lines, to be picked up by their parents or caregivers.

5. I’ve always heard that a Montessori classroom is unstructured. Is that true?
Actually, a Montessori classroom is one of the most structured environments you will ever encounter. The classroom operates on a balance between the freedoms, or choices, offered a child and self-discipline. It is a different kind of structure. There is a place for everything, and everything is in its place. The child is only allowed to work with materials on which she has been given a lesson. A child may only have one piece of work out at a time. She needs to finish her work. She must put her work back on the shelf where it belongs before she takes out anything else. And, she must be sure the work is ready to use for the next person when it is put away. If it is floor work, the child must place the work on a work mat. This defines the child’s work space. No one is allowed to step on anyone’s mat. This teaches respect for others and respect for other’s space. The child will roll up the work mat when she is finished and put it away.

Everything in the environment is structured, except for the child’s time. She may work with any piece of material for as long as she likes. This helps develop concentration in the child when she is not constantly interrupted by the adult to change activities. We trust the child knows when she is finished with work and is ready to put it away. This develops a sense of accomplishment in the child and a pride in work that is completed. In traditional classrooms, it is only the child’s time that is structured.

6. What is the student/teacher ratio? Why is it higher than in traditional schools?
Our classes are large by design. Montessori encourages between 25 and 28 children in a classroom with two adults (a teacher and an assistant). This may seem high, but upon observation, you will see for yourself how this works. The teacher is not the focus or the center of the classroom; it is, instead, the Montessori materials and the “prepared environment” that are the focus. The teacher serves merely as a “guide” to the children to help them get in touch with the materials and learn the social graces of belonging to a community beyond the family. The learning comes from the child working independently with the materials, not solely with her interaction with the teacher. Another reason Montessori encourages large classes is so that there is a good social mix among the multi-aged children.

7. Why do young children come to school everyday as opposed to only 3 days per week?
Children love and thrive on routine and consistency. It helps them to feel safe and secure. They enjoy repeating the same tasks over and over, and they need the opportunity to work on their lessons daily in order to master them. We also find the transition from home to school is much easier when children know they come to school every day though the length of the day is relatively short, at just three hours. You will soon have to explain why they cannot go to school on weekends. They love coming to school. Many children get upset when they cannot come to school—even when they are sick.

8. When students leave FMSA, where do they go? How do the children do when they leave Montessori?
Students generally matriculate to other private schools in the Atlanta area. FMSA students leave us to attend gender specific schools, religious schools and competitive college-preparatory high schools. It is always best to move a student at the end of a three-year cycle, and this point is emphasized in the admission process. Also, the older the student, the easier the transition for maturity reasons alone. The Montessori experience supports a strong development of concentration, a thorough understanding of concepts, a zest for learning, and solid social skills which serve students well in traditional educational environments. Middle School students are graded in order that their transcripts reflect their levels of proficiency adequately and efficiently for consideration by other schools. These students are continually accepted into their schools of choice.