From the Grove

This year feels especially meaningful at Little Grove Preschool as we begin our fourth year as a school.

Four years may not sound like a long time, but in the life of a young school, it represents a tremendous amount of growth: countless mornings of welcoming children through the door, friendships formed, challenges navigated, discoveries shared, and all the feelings that come with watching a child go from those first day jitters to a confident member of our school community.

As we begin another school year, I find myself thinking about growth; not just our growth as a school, but the beautiful way Montessori invites us to recognize growth as something that unfolds gradually, naturally, and over time.

The Montessori Three-Year Cycle

One of the hallmarks of Montessori education is the three-year cycle.

Rather than approaching each school year as a completely separate experience, Montessori education views the three-year classroom community as a continuous journey. Children typically enter the primary classroom as young three-year-olds and remain with the same community through age five or six. During that time, they grow from newcomers who are learning how their classroom works into confident, capable leaders who understand their environment deeply.

The first year is often a time of orientation and discovery. Children are getting to know their teachers, their classmates, the routines, and the materials. They are learning how to move through the classroom, how to care for their environment, and how to become part of a community.

The second year brings deepening confidence. Children know the rhythms of the classroom and can build upon the skills they developed during their first year. They begin to see themselves not simply as learners, but as contributing members of the community. They can help younger classmates, take on new responsibilities, and approach their work with increasing independence.

And then comes the third year—a time of leadership, mastery, and integration. The children who once needed guidance in almost every aspect of classroom life are now the ones showing younger friends how to roll a mat, prepare a snack, care for a plant, or choose work thoughtfully. Their growing independence becomes visible in ways that can be both surprising and deeply moving.

This is one of the reasons we love the Montessori three-year cycle so much: we get to see the whole arc of development.

We don't have to rush children toward the next milestone. We can give them time.

Time to repeat a work until they feel satisfied; to observe before participating; to struggle with something and try again; to become comfortable in their environment; and to grow into leadership when they are ready.

Our Fourth Year: Growing Into Ourselves

As Little Grove enters its fourth year, along with our partner school Mountain City, I think of how we are experiencing our own version of the three-year cycle.

Our first year was, in many ways, our orientation year. We were building something new together, learning our community, establishing routines, and discovering what it meant to bring our shared vision for Montessori education to life here in Asheville.

Our second year brought more confidence and deeper roots. We learned from our experiences, strengthened our relationships with families, and continued shaping the culture of our school.

Our third year allowed us to see some of the fruits of that work. We began to recognize the traditions, rhythms, and relationships that make this school uniquely ours.

And now, in our fourth year, we find ourselves in the wonderful position of having completed our first three-year cycle and are embarking on the next. We are still growing, but we are no longer brand new.

Looking Forward

As we welcome everyone back for another school year, we are excited about all the things we cannot yet see.

We don't know which child will discover a passion for botany this year. We don't know who will suddenly begin reading with confidence, master a challenging material, make an unexpected friendship, or discover that they are capable of doing something they once thought was impossible. We don't know which returning child will surprise us with how much they have grown.  And we don't know what this year's newest members of the Little Grove community will teach all of us.

That uncertainty is part of the beauty.

Montessori reminds us that children are constantly becoming. Our job is not to hurry that process along, but to prepare an environment where growth can happen, and then to pay close attention.

So, as we begin our fourth year, we are doing what we hope to give our children the opportunity to do every day: begin again, build upon what we have learned, and continue growing.

I am grateful to the families who have trusted us with their children. I am grateful for the educators who pour their care and intention into our classrooms. And we are excited to welcome another year of exploration, independence, friendship, wonder, and growth.

Here's to year four - and to all the years of growing still ahead!