MILWAUKEE — Tanja Price teaches K3, K4, and K5 at Maryland Avenue Montessori, a school within the Milwaukee Public School District. She’s taught young children for most of her career.
During a recent class, she helped two of her students bake bread.
“Pretty much every day, the K5s, one K5 student, will work with a younger K3 or K4 student and teach them how to make bread,” Price explained. “[It’s] something that we do. They make bread, and they get to take it home at the end of the day and it’s something they really enjoy. It’s a really popular activity.”
It’s just one of the many different activities she helps the students with — from reading, writing, math and more.
Often, the students are working on their own and together with their classmates.
“They’re self-directed and guided, and that’s part of the process,” Price said. “When they’re three, we want to develop that self directness and that independence.”
Price said there are a lot of benefits to young kids starting an early kindergarten program. For one, the students likely have the same teacher for three years. That helps them get comfortable going to school.
Jenni Hofschulte, the parent and community coordinator at Maryland Avenue Montessori, agreed.
“Getting children into school, exposed to school, having parents and guardians connected to school communities overwhelmingly shows greater payoffs in the long run,” Hofschulte said.
It’s why MPS is working hard to get the word out about the current kindergarten enrollment window, which closes at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, March 5.
Matthew Boswell is in charge of student services with the district.
He said there are a lot of choices for families looking to get their kids into an early kindergarten program — whether traditional or not.
“If you’re excited about Montessori-based education, or language immersion-based education, we have Italian immersion schools, we have Spanish, we have German, I mean, the list goes on and on,” Boswell said.
For parents who are unsure whether it’s a right fit for their students, Price said K3, K4, and K5 are nurturing environments, and their kids have a chance to thrive.
“I kind of describe this as like a family,” Price said. “They’re learning from each other, from their peers, and I think that’s very valuable.”
If you want to enroll your child in a kindergarten program at Milwaukee Public Schools, you can do so in person on Saturday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the central offices on Vliet Street.
Enrollment is open online until the end of the day Sunday. If you miss the enrollment window, the next one for the 2023-2024 school year opens on April 10.