Guidepost Montessori at Kent

10/11/2026

Toddlers LOVE to help.

Why? Because they want to do what you’re doing!

But they don’t want the toy version of your tools — they want the real thing with real consequences.

A broom built for their size that still sweeps just like a big broom is the golden ticket.

It makes them feel capable because they get to actually contribute to their environment in a practical way.

Feeling capable = feeling confident, which begins to bolster the child in every other area of life — whether struggling through tying shoes or zipping their coat, they know they can handle it because they know they can handle hard things.

It’s a confidence we build every day in a Montessori classroom, with small wins just like this.

10/10/2026

This is not a toy (though it looks enticing and exciting and even a little mythical). It’s math. 🧮

Each color is a number. String those bars together into a chain and a child can literally count her way through skip counting, and later, see what “squared” and “cubed” mean long before she ever writes them down.

No one is drilling her with flashcards. She has the freedom to choose this work herself, she can reach it on her own (no one has to get it down off a shelf for her), and she’s free to stay with it as long as she wants. Which sounds like a much better relationship with math than we had growing up!

In a Montessori environment, math isn’t just something they’re told. It’s something they can see, touch, and discover for themselves.

Could you picture your child learning math this way? Tell us where you’re watching from 👇

10/09/2026

Question of the Week in our Chi8ldren's House 1 Community: What happens when we use a hairdryer on crayons? 🖍️ Yesterday they conducted a hands-on science experiment using a hairdryer and crayons to discover what happens! Through this experience, the children practiced critical thinking, and observation while exploring cause and effect and learning that scientists ask questions, make predictions, and discover answers through experimentation.

10/09/2026

Potty training is an eternal parenting struggle. But in Montessori, it’s different. In Montessori we actually call it “toilet learning” to reflect that it’s not something we’re “training” the child to do, but something we’re helping the child learn to do for themselves, with the right support. 👇

1️⃣ Follow the child’s cues. Interest in the bathroom, telling you after they’ve gone, staying dry longer, hiding to go. Readiness comes from the child, not the calendar.

2️⃣ Set up the space. A small potty or a step stool, underwear and spare clothes on a low shelf, and pants with easy elastic waists. When everything is within reach and the child can do most of the work themselves, they gain confidence.

3️⃣ Make it part of the routine. Offering the potty at natural moments (after waking, before meals, before heading out) makes it just another part of the day, not a big event or a battle.

4️⃣ Let the child do it themselves. Pulling pants down and up, flushing, washing hands. Every step they own builds the confidence to do the next one.

5️⃣ Stay calm about accidents. “You’re wet. Let’s get dry clothes.” The child helps change and wipe up, no shame, no lecture. Accidents are part of learning, not a failure.

No sticker chart or candy required. In Montessori, the goal is to let growing independence become its own motivation. With time, practice, and the right support, “I did it myself” becomes a pretty powerful reward. 💛

10/08/2026

Can you believe this student is a little over 2 and already diving into more purposeful work!? 🍊

In our Toddler Community, children were introduced to the practical life activity of juicing oranges. This hands-on work helps toddlers develop fine motor strength, hand-eye coordination, concentration, and independence as they carefully cut, squeeze, and prepare their own juice. Children experience the satisfaction of seeing their efforts transform into something they can enjoy, building confidence and a sense of responsibility. Through this meaningful activity, toddlers also learn sequencing, care of the environment, and appreciation for where food comes from, all while engaging their senses in a purposeful and rewarding experience. ✨🍊🥤

10/08/2026

In our Toddler Community, children explore animal sounds through songs, matching activities, conversations, and hands-on materials. Learning animal sounds helps build vocabulary, strengthen listening skills, and develop concentration while fostering a connection to the natural world. Through these joyful experiences, toddlers expand their language and gain confidence as they communicate about the world around them. ✨🌿

10/08/2026

Children’s House was introduced to the Montessori Practical Life activity of Grinding Sugar. This purposeful work strengthens hand-eye coordination, fine motor development, concentration, and independence as children carefully use a grinder to transform coarse sugar into a finer texture. Through this process, children experience the satisfaction of completing a sequence of steps from start to finish while refining their movements and building confidence in their abilities. Activities such as grinding help foster patience, order, and a sense of responsibility, all of which are foundational elements of the Montessori prepared environment.

10/08/2026

One parent told us the hardest part of their day is a toddler who keeps breaking glass. Here’s what helps. 👇

1️⃣ Understand the why: To a toddler, throwing a glass might just be an exciting science experiment: let go, it falls, CRASH. They’re exploring cause and effect. Knowing that it isn’t defiance can make it much easier to respond calmly.

2️⃣ Give the urge to throw a safer “yes.” Toddlers need to throw, so they get something they’re allowed to throw. A soft ball outside, a basket to toss dirty socks into. “Glass stays on the table. Balls are for throwing.”

3️⃣ React “boring”. A big gasp or a raised voice can make the crash even more exciting, and suddenly it’s a game. A calm, matter-of-fact response takes the fun out of it.

4️⃣ Put it away, and try again later. “Glass is for drinking. I’ll put it away and we’ll try again at snack time.” You clear the sharp pieces while your child helps with a towel or the dustpan. Then the glass comes back next time, because it’s a skill they’re still learning, not a punishment.

A child who throws glass for fun isn’t being defiant. They just haven’t learned yet that some things aren’t for throwing, and that’s exactly what you’re teaching.

What’s the hardest part of YOUR day right now? Tell us below!

10/05/2026

In a Guidepost Montessori classroom, this is just a normal Tuesday.

It’s not that these children are unusual. It’s that the environment was designed for them.
The tools fit their hands. The shelves are within reach. And they’re given long stretches of uninterrupted time to try, figure things out, and try again.

Give a toddler an environment designed around what they can do, and they might just surprise you with how capable they can be.

Wish there was a Guidepost near you? Drop your city in the comments!

10/05/2026

She can do this all by herself because the room was designed for HER. 🩵

The knife fits her hand, the cutting board sits at her height, and the snack is waiting on a shelf she can reach. She’s given the time and space to do it herself, start to finish.

This is what a regular morning can look like in a Guidepost Montessori classroom. Much of the environment is intentionally child-sized. Shelves are within reach. Even the art on the walls is displayed at a child’s eye level. Everything is thoughtfully prepared to help children participate more independently in their day.

Children are also given long, uninterrupted stretches of time to choose meaningful work, concentrate, practice, and discover just how much they can do for themselves.

Want to experience a classroom like this? Tell us your city in the comments 👇

10/03/2026

Maria Montessori opened her very first classroom in 1907 in San Lorenzo, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Rome. Her students were young children from working-class families who were often left without supervision while their parents worked.

Montessori was never about expensive materials. It’s a philosophy that extends beyond the classroom — a philosophy about respecting children, trusting their abilities, and giving them real chances to do things for themselves. And that’s available to every family.

A step stool, a small pitcher, a few minutes of patience. That’s where it starts.

10/03/2026

It’s one of those feelings every parent knows. Being halfway down the cereal aisle when suddenly your child just hits their limit. And it feels like everyone. is. watching.

A meltdown doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong (and it also doesn’t mean your child is doing something wrong). It usually just means there are big feelings happening and your child doesn’t know how to manage them or more gently communicate them yet.

Being calm is actually the most powerful thing you can offer your child in these moments. And one of the best ways to make both of you feel calmer? Being prepared.

Before the next trip, talk through the plan before you go in, try to shop when they’re rested and fed, and give them a real job, like holding the list, finding the bananas, or putting items in the cart. Children who feel capable and included are much less likely to feel out of control.

And notably, these are all skills that are built naturally in the Montessori environment — the ability to handle a task, sit with frustration and keep going, recognize and communicate feelings.

What’s helped you handle a grocery store meltdown?

10/01/2026

🌱👐 Building Strong Hands Through Meaningful Work 👐🌱

In our Montessori toddler community, every activity has a purpose. As children carefully spoon, pour, transfer, pinch, stack, and manipulate materials, even sewing, they are doing much more than completing a task. They are strengthening the small muscles in their hands and fingers that are essential for fine motor development.

These hands-on experiences help prepare children for future skills such as writing, dressing independently, using utensils, and caring for themselves and their environment. Through purposeful work, toddlers develop coordination, concentration, independence, and confidence, one activity at a time.

It is amazing to watch the pride on a child's face as they master a new skill through repetition and practice. These small moments of success are laying the foundation for lifelong learning. ❤️✨

"The hand is the instrument of the mind." – Maria Montessori

🌿

10/01/2026

As we begin a new school year together, our classrooms have been filled with joyful smiles, growing independence, and countless moments of discovery. Each day, we are witnessing children take meaningful steps along their individual journeys, developing confidence, concentration, and new skills at their own unique pace. From the first lessons of the year to emerging friendships and newfound responsibilities, it has been a beautiful season of growth for our community.

10/01/2026

“Will my child struggle when they move from Montessori to a traditional school?” It’s one of the most common questions we hear from parents.

Here’s how we answer: the skills that Montessori children build in our classroom stay with them wherever they go.

Montessori education gives children the ability to focus deeply, work independently, and truly understand the foundations of math, writing, and reading. All skills that are a great benefit to a child in a traditional classroom.

Montessori isn’t a bubble that children eventually have to leave that hinders their ability to succeed in other environments. It’s a foundation that makes them more likely to succeed in those other environments.

10/01/2026

Life gets busy and schedules are hectic, and sometimes being late just isn’t an option.

But whenever we can slow down and allow a child to do something all by themselves, even if it takes a while, it sends a very clear message: you are capable.

In Montessori, those struggles ARE the work. Fumbling with a strap or wrestling their heel into place — this is the work of building independence (plus fine motor skills, focus, and persistence, and most of all a child’s belief that they are capable).

The best way to do this is to build in 5-10 extra minutes on days you can. Let them start with easy-to-manage shoes (Velcro is a fave) and offer help with just the part they’re stuck on (hold the shoe while they push their heel).

We don’t do this because we want our children to be amazing at putting on their shoes at a very young age. We do this because it makes our children feel capable — it builds an inner confidence that sticks with them as they grow older. That’s one of those gifts we can’t just wrap up and give our children when they’re teenagers. But right now, when they’re young, we can give it to them in little moments like this.

09/22/2026

09/22/2026

In a Montessori classroom, social skills blossom through meaningful interactions with peers in a warm, mixed-age community. Children learn how to communicate their ideas, collaborate on activities, show respect for others, and navigate conflicts with kindness and confidence. Through Grace and Courtesy lessons, group experiences, and everyday classroom moments, children develop empathy, independence, responsibility, and a strong sense of belonging.

Whether they are inviting a friend to join their work, helping a younger classmate button a coat, or practicing polite conversation during a shared snack, children are constantly building the skills needed to become thoughtful, caring, and confident members of their community. 🌱✨ It all starts from a lesson provided by their Guide as they work to improve on these skills and implement them in daily life, not just at school, but in life!

09/22/2026

Congratulations to our raffle winners! 🎉📚
A heartfelt thank you to for generously donating signed copies of The Bleacher Garden. We are so grateful for your support of our school community and for helping inspire a love of reading in our students. ❤️

We hope our winners enjoy this special gift and the wonderful story it holds. Thank you to everyone who participated and helped make this event so much fun! 🌟📖

09/18/2026

Open to all... come in, enjoy the evening and while you're here, enroll to secure the last few classroom spaces in our Children's House Community!!