Knowing several languages is a serious asset in this present age.  It’s for this reason that Montessori Kids offers a bilingual education; those languages being French and English.

In each class there is a minimum of two Montessori teachers, one French-speaking and one English-speaking, both speaking in their respective mother tongue.  In this way the children bathed all day long in a bilingual environment.  This gives each child the opportunity to learn and work on new concepts equally well in English as in French.  English-speaking children understand quickly that by addressing a French-speaking teacher that teacher will reply in her mother tongue, French, despite understanding English.  The same will apply to French-speaking children addressing an English-speaking teacher.  This environment allows the children to absorb the second language, and later on reproduce words, sentences….

The adult therefore, will speak continually in the same language using vocabulary which is concrete, clear and rich, in order that the child may absorb and eventually speak the two languages.  All the pedagogical materials can be presented in both English and French.  However, when the child is between three and four years old, the teacher will ask the parents to choose their preferred language of reference (English or French).  This language of reference will be used when learning the concept of reading.

The chosen reference language is used solely for learning the mechanism of reading.  All the other academic work will be carried out in a bilingual manner.  When the child has acquired phonetic reading, the teacher will gradually introduce the second language in writing.  The child therefore acquires the second language verbally first of all, then through writing and reading.