New Montessori Students and the New School Year

Assigning “buddies” in the multi-age Montessori classroom allows older
Montessori students to model behavior and demonstrate procedures
to younger students

As the school year fast approaches, NAMC tutors frequently receive emails from our students asking practical, “how-to” questions on how best to implement the Montessori method. I recently received this question about how to plan for the first few weeks of school:

Question: I am about one week away from starting the school year. I have finally set-up my classroom and have a much better idea of all the Montessori materials in the classroom. The NAMC Classroom Guide provided me with a reference for the first day of school, but I am having a hard time understanding how to get into the swing of things. The hard part is I have several new students in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades who do not understand the materials. I have another class that is returning, but I do not know what they have already learned. How do I start teaching all the various activities? Should I start with the basic ones and then continue from there? I am not sure how to follow the child when I do not know the child for the first few weeks of school. Any advice would be great.