Choosing a Montessori School: What to Look For on a Tour

Every school will tell you it is child-centred, nurturing and excellent. Brochures are not much help. What separates a genuine Montessori environment from one that has borrowed the name is visible within about ten minutes of standing in a classroom — if you know where to look. Here is what we would look at, in the order we would look at it.

Look at the classroom before you look at the brochure

Walk in and check the shelves. In a real Montessori room the materials are on low, open shelving the children can reach unaided, laid out in sequence, complete, and in good repair. There is usually only one of each thing — which is deliberate, because waiting your turn is part of the lesson. Look for wood, glass and metal rather than plastic novelties, and for real tools sized for small hands. Then look at the walls. If they are papered floor to ceiling with commercial posters and every surface competes for attention, the room is designed for visiting adults rather than for working children.

Watch the children, not the teacher

This is the single most useful thing you can do on a tour. Are children moving purposefully, or drifting? Are they absorbed in something for a decent stretch, or being moved from activity to activity by an adult with a timetable? Can they get what they need without asking permission for every small thing? In a room that is working, the adult can be hard to spot at first, because she is kneeling beside one child while twenty others carry on without her. That is not the teacher being idle. That is the whole point.

Ask about the day, not just the curriculum

Ask how long the uninterrupted work period is. Deep concentration takes time to build, and a morning chopped into twenty-minute blocks never lets a child get there. Ask how much of the day is spent outdoors. Ask what happens when a child does not want to do something, and listen carefully to the answer — it will tell you more about the school’s real philosophy than any mission statement. Ask about mixed-age grouping, and why they do or do not use it.

Ask the practical questions too

Philosophy matters, but so does daily life. What are the actual hours? What is the adult-to-child ratio? How are teachers trained, and how long have they been at the school — high turnover is worth asking about. How does the school communicate with parents when something goes wrong, not just when there is good news? What are the arrangements for food, rest and toileting? And what does the fee actually cover?

Trust what you notice

You know your child. If a room feels calm and purposeful to you, it will probably feel that way to them. If it feels tense, rushed or performative, take that seriously even if everything on paper is impressive. Visit more than one school, visit during a normal working morning rather than an open day, and if you can, bring your child and watch what they do when you let go of their hand.

Come and put us to the test

We would rather you came and looked properly than took our word for anything. Brainy Explorers Montessori is in Bortiano, Accra; our day runs from 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Monday to Friday, and our curriculum blends the Cambridge Early Years Foundation with GES and IB elements. Call or WhatsApp +233 24 919 5218, or email info@brainyexplorers.org, and come and see a normal morning.