Is Your Child a Leader?
Rebecca Lingo • July 15, 2024

Wheaton Montessori School prides itself on leadership skills as one of many amazing outcomes.  


Our students spend multiple years in the same class community of mixed-age children, preschool through kindergarten are together, while 1st-3rd, 4th-6th, and 7th-9th grades are grouped by design.


Children new to their classes are fortunate to be welcomed by helpful peer mentors. Children seek to learn from each other naturally. They have the gift of time to watch others enjoy advancing in knowledge and challenging themselves. Students are surrounded by others happily offering guidance. All students practice their leadership skills by supporting peers in lessons, helping clean up work, and comforting others in moments of disappointment.


Mentorship skills are similar at each level, while the activities increase in challenge based on age. Preschool students commonly assist others when aligning units and thousands in the correct order, sounding out words, and using scissors well. In elementary classrooms, peers write math equations, recommend book titles, and run scientific experiments. Our adolescent young people help each other accurately follow recipes, bravely tend bees, and logically explain their math approaches.


The best part is that your child will transition from observer to leader in their own time. It doesn’t happen for all children at the same time, nor does it need to. And when your child sees themselves as a leader, it is magical!


By Suzanna Mayhugh September 3, 2025
In all thriving Montessori classrooms, students and guides are constantly balancing freedom and responsibility. Students enjoy several freedoms that might be inhibited elsewhere: freedom to move around the classroom, freedom to choose their own work, freedom to socialize, freedom to question, and freedom to learn according to their interests. These freedoms are always balanced against a high level of responsibility: to themselves, to their peers, and to their classroom. Read on to understand how the freedoms and responsibilities are balanced in the Elementary program at Wheaton Montessori School. What Kind of Classroom Do You Want to Have? One of the ways that teachers guide students towards being accountable for their actions and within the classroom is a classroom meeting early in the year, during which the students discuss what "kind of classroom" they want to be a part of - and what rules or expectations will help them achieve their goals. This photograph shows what students in one of our Lower Elementary classrooms (grades 1st-3rd) shared when asked, "What kind of classroom do you want to have?"
More Than a Method: Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Maria Montessori
By Rebecca Lingo September 1, 2025
Celebrate Dr. Montessori’s legacy and explore how her visionary approach continues to shape education, peace, and human potential today.