Orientation of New Students at Start of School - Montessori Summer Transition

Part 2 of 3 - Summer Transition

In Part 1 of this three-part series, I began with some ideas for a phase-in approach to orienting new students in the Montessori 3-6 environment. This basically involves the introduction of new students through a shorter daily work period with a focus on grace and courtesy lessons, rules and routines, along with a phasing-in of the multi-age student body over the first weeks of the school year.

A further option for phasing-in new students came about with the implementation of summer camp at our Montessori school. I found that for many years, my new students often attended our summer camps before the beginning of the school year in the fall. This was an excellent way for new children to acclimate to the school environment. I felt that having a phase in period was not as necessary as before. When I did get some new students later in the fall, it was not difficult to give them the time they deserved to acclimate to the school environment.