Montessori education has been around for over a century, and families continue to choose Montessori preschools for their young children. The Montessori style is self-paced, student-centered, and focuses on the child's holistic development – physical, emotional, social, and mental.
Running a Montessori school for early childhood education can be beneficial and profitable for your entire community. If you're thinking of opening a childcare center that promotes this alternative learning environment, keep reading to learn how to start a Montessori preschool.
Why Start a Montessori School?
When you start a Montessori preschool, you are committing to providing a strong education to children of all learning styles. In fact, Dr. Maria Montessori first developed this type of school for children who were previously unwilling or unable to learn in traditional education settings.
Montessori Method:
- Focuses on practical learning
- develops independent thinking
- Encourages self-directed activities
- This also includes children with special needs
- Welcomes a mixed-age learning environment
- Other benefits of opening a Montessori preschool include serving a diverse population, collaborating with innovative child care experts, and earning higher income.
- Opening a Montessori School or Daycare
Since most Montessori schools and daycares are privately run, the process for starting one is a little different than opening a childcare center. Let's explore each step of the process.
Get Montessori Certified
To become a Montessori director or teacher you must go through a certification process. This proves that you understand the Montessori teaching model and philosophy, and that you have the necessary training to provide Montessori education in your classroom. You can find education programs to become certified on the American Montessori Society's website.
Know local regulations
You need to obtain state and local licenses to legally operate a childcare center. For private schools, rules vary from state to state. Learn about all the rules and regulations necessary to open and run your business safely. If not, you risk your preschool being fined or closed.
Create a Montessori Business Plan
When starting a Montessori school you may want to create a business plan. Think about everything you need to open your doors and start serving families.
The preschool business plan includes:
- budgeting
- making a schedule
- observing your competition
- finding a facility
- create curriculum
- hiring staff
- purchasing supplies and equipment
- getting organized for everyday tasks
Research the average cost of starting a Montessori preschool. If you need to raise money or seek grants before opening, include this as part of your business plan.
Set up a course
Determine the curriculum that your Montessori school will implement throughout the classroom. Because the Montessori approach is more exploration-focused than other preschool programs, your curriculum should include the five main themes of Montessori teaching.
Practical life: A child interacts with his environment throughout his life, learning independence, order and basic tasks. This includes exploring curiosity, caring for others, caring for oneself, and caring for the environment.
Sensory: Children learn through all five senses, and pursue discoveries inspired by the senses. It involves using sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing to learn about the outside world.
Mathematics: Children learn mathematics at a gradual pace and must understand basic concepts before moving on to abstract applications.
Language: Classroom engagement helps children expand their vocabulary and language skills as well as improve communication development. Many Montessori schools incorporate multiple languages in the classroom, as this encourages children to develop different ways of listening and understanding.
Cultural: Children learn about change and how to respect people's sense of importance in the world. It is learned through history, art, science and geography lessons, as well as through group activities.
Choose a location
Where will you operate your Montessori school? If you don't already have a place in mind, start looking at local places to rent or buy. When you find a space, you'll want to design it to encourage optimal Montessori learning.
Your space needs to facilitate an organized environment, allow for food preparation (by teachers and children), a shared group area, stations for individual learning, and age-appropriate storage. You'll also want to consider outdoor space for play and multiple classrooms for different age groups.
Get special equipment
To teach preschool using the Montessori method, your classroom needs some special equipment. In addition to standard preschool furniture and supplies, many Montessori schools:
- A wide variety of sensory materials such as foam toys, musical instruments, and beads
- Practical "personal life" items like toy kitchen, toy iron, child-sized broom, non-toxic cleaning products
- Maps and 3D Globs
- movable letters
- a pink tower
The type of equipment and supplies you choose should be tailored to your curriculum, and cater to the particular segment of students you plan to market to (if applicable).
Hire Montessori Staff
You will need a team to help you run your Montessori preschool. This can be challenging when hiring staff for Montessori schools as not all candidates with a childcare background will have Montessori experience.
However, many Montessori preschool directors leave room for growth in the hiring process. For example, if a potential employee has a good educational background, a good attitude, and is eager to learn more about the Montessori method, he or she may be a good fit for the job.
Set tuition
Calculate how many students would be ideal for your program and how much tuition would be needed to run a successful Montessori business. Many Montessori schools charge more than public child care centers or franchises because they are privately funded and supported by families who are willing to invest in this type of education.
When setting up tuition, consider giving families two or three different options. This allows parents to choose how often their child attends your school based on their family schedule.
Market Your Preschool
Once you've arranged for most of the logistics for your Montessori preschool and are ready to open your doors, you may want to market yourself in person and online. Marketing lets local families know you're open to enrollment. When done correctly, you can capture the interest and unique values of families who are looking for a new Montessori school like yours.
Here are some things to consider when marketing your preschool:
Get a website. A good website can help people find you through a Google search and showcase your prices, programs, and amenities to those looking for local preschool options.
Share brochures across the city. Spread the word by leaving free flyers at local libraries, cafes, medical offices or parks.
Post announcements online. You can post free announcements on educational platforms or invest in paid advertising for your local directories.
There are many other ways to successfully market your preschool using social media, referrals, and newspapers.
