Silver Lining for Parents: Embracing Preschool at 2 ½
Rebecca Lingo • May 12, 2025

Starting preschool at 2 ½ years old can evoke a range of emotions for parents. Introducing children to a structured environment at an early age can facilitate their transition to formal schooling and lay the foundation for lifelong learning. Young children are naturally eager to learn, and preschool provides valuable opportunities for social interaction, creativity, and cognitive development. It helps children develop essential social skills, such as sharing and cooperation, while also nurturing their curiosity through hands-on learning activities. Parents are giving their children a gift of early education at Wheaton Montessori School. Additionally, parents have the chance to connect with other families and educators, finding support that makes the parenting journey more enjoyable. 


Turning Anxiety into Benefits 


  • Acknowledge the Anxiety—It's Rooted in Love Your nerves reflect your care. Acknowledge that your anxiety stems from wanting your child to feel safe and supported. Be intentional in choosing the right environment and advocating for their needs. The ideal way to access an early childhood program is to visit and see the emotional environment that your child will be surrounded by. We welcome current families to contact the school to arrange a meeting with their teacher for any questions they may have. 

 

  • Use Anxiety to Tune Into Their Needs Worries like “Will they make friends?” or “Will they feel scared without me?” can be flipped into action steps. Maybe it inspires you to role-play social scenarios, talk about emotions, or read books about friendships and feelings together. Your child will feel more emotionally prepared—and connected to you—even when you're apart.


  • Build a Bridge with the Teachers Your anxiety may lead you to ask more questions and communicate frequently with the Wheaton Montessori School staff. We intend to provide you with peace of mind through updates and photos in those first weeks of your child’s transition.


  • Lean Into Growth—for Both of You Starting preschool is a milestone for both your child and you. It can offer you a chance to reclaim some personal time and grow alongside your child, modeling resilience, adaptability, and independence.


  • Connect with Other Parents Anxiety can drive people to seek reassurance, leading them to parenting forums, chats with other parents, or counseling. This helps build a support system, normalize feelings, and gain insights from others in similar situations.


  • Practice Coping Strategies Together Deep breathing, calming affirmations, or routines like “hug, kiss, high five, goodbye!” can soothe both of you while teaching emotional regulation and healthy coping skills.


This transitional period can strengthen the bond between parents and children. Modeling these resilience and bravery by facing challenges positively. By addressing your child's concerns with patience, you foster a sense of security that benefits your child throughout their educational journey and beyond.


Prospective families with toddlers and children under 4 are encouraged to sign up for a school tour to explore the advantages of our Primary Program, which lays the essential foundation for our Elementary and Adolescent Community Programs*. Prospective families who are enrolled in the 2025-2026 School Year are welcome to sign up for Wheaton Montessori School summer camps. 


Open enrollment for summer and fall 2025 will be through May 20th and is based on availability for eligible early childhood students. There are extremely limited spots available for new children aged 4 and under for the upcoming summer and fall of 2025.


 * Individual school tours for kindergarten through 9th grade are not available, and the waitlist remains closed for the 2025-2026 School Year. The only exception is considered for students transferring from AMI-accredited Montessori schools that have maintained continuous attendance.




People in a classroom setting, the Lighthouse Parenting & Montessori with the guiding the child tag line below it.

Lighthouse Parenting & Montessori: Guiding the Child

By Rebecca Lingo • November 10, 2025
In a world where parenting and education often default to over-scheduling, micromanaging, and high-stakes achievement, two philosophies stand out for their balance, wisdom, and deep respect for the child: Lighthouse Parenting, coined by Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, a pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist. The Montessori Method, developed by Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and educator. At first glance, one is a parenting model and the other an educational framework. But look more closely, and you'll find they share a profound common ground: both recognize that children thrive not when they're controlled, but when they're guided with care, clarity, and trust. The Shared Philosophy: Respect, Trust, and Autonomy Lighthouse Parenting teaches us to be the calm, steady presence in a child’s life. Like a lighthouse, a parent offers safety and guidance—but doesn’t steer the ship. Children are allowed to make choices, face challenges, and learn from experience, while knowing there’s a safe harbor when needed. Montessori education emphasizes the prepared environment, freedom within limits, and the role of the adult as a guide, not a director. The child is seen as naturally curious and capable, needing space, not pressure, to reach their full potential. Both approaches believe that children learn best when: They feel safe and supported (emotional security). They are given appropriate freedom (autonomy). They are trusted to be capable of growth (respect). How Lighthouse Parenting Mirrors Montessori Principles Let’s explore specific parallels between the two approaches: 
A child working with number rods on a mat. Text: After Number Rods: Growing a Felt Understanding of Mathematics.

After Number Rods: Growing a Felt Understanding of Mathematics

By Kelly Jonelis and Rebecca Lingo • November 3, 2025
In Montessori classrooms, mathematical understanding begins long before symbols or equations appear. It begins in the body. When young children carry Number Rods—red and blue wooden bars of increasing length—they are not merely learning to count. They are internalizing what quantity feels like. The rods show quantities in a fixed, linear, and measurable form—not loose, individual, or separate units. This difference is subtle but powerful. In many conventional early math settings, children are shown three buttons or four apples and asked, “How many?” Montessori children certainly have those experiences too, through materials like Cards and Counters. But the Number Rods introduce something more abstract: quantity as something continuous and measurable. A rod of six is one solid piece, not six separate ones. It represents a fixed magnitude that can be compared, combined, or measured—laying the foundation for the number line, for operations, and for the idea that numbers express magnitude as well as count. “This concept can be compared to an eight-ounce glass of water: you don’t have eight separate ounces, you have a glass that is eight ounces. It’s a whole quantity, not a sum of parts. Likewise, the Number Rods offer children an experience of number as a unified magnitude. The “six” rod is not three twos or two threes; it is simply six. That understanding, that a number can be both composed and whole, bridges a crucial conceptual gap for later mathematics.” Kelly Jonelis, Adolescent Program Director and Math Teacher Through countless experiences—carrying, comparing, building stair patterns, and making “ten combinations”—children begin to feel relationships between numbers. They see that five is longer than three by exactly two, and that these relationships are consistent and reliable. This concrete sense of equivalence and proportion quietly becomes the basis of estimation, measurement, and algebraic thinking. Even extensions like “memory games” or exploring one meter in length serve a larger purpose. The child’s repeated interactions with fixed quantities help them internalize what Montessori called “materialized abstraction.” They are learning, through movement and perception, what it means for a quantity to exist in space and time—a step far deeper than counting individual items.