Adjusting Your Expectations — A Montessori Approach to Reading

Kids start reading at WILDLY different ages, so it’s really important to not compare your child’s reading journey to that of your other child or the neighbor down the street or the mom bragging about it on Instagram. I get it — it’s exciting to watch your kid start to read, and we want it to happen RIGHT NOW. But this isn’t something you can control. Trust in your child, trust in the process, and continue guiding your child along on her own timeline.

Now, this isn’t to say that you should just do *nothing* and hope your child eventually figures out how to read completely on her own. Of course not! But you can’t force your child to learn something she’s not ready for. Instead, observe and follow your child to understand what next steps she’s ready for — according to HER timing, not yours.

I’ve personally had one child who took off with reading almost as soon as it was introduced, and another who took her good old time getting there. Both are now voracious readers, and you can’t tell which one started reading at an earlier age. Trust me — they don’t ask that on your college applications, and it’s not something you’ll ever have to put on a resume. Here are some posts about how to introduce reading and writing through a Montessori approach to follow your individual child’s natural development: