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| Why Montessori? |
The Montessori Environment
A Montessori classroom is a prepared environment where a child is free to be himself and do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it. The materials are designed to meet the sensorial needs of the child to feel, smell, lift, and hear. The Montessori materials are materials of development, not teaching aides. They are designed so the child develops himself through his work.The classroom is divided into five areas:
- Practical Life - exercises that help a child learn to take care of himself and his environment, and refine his physical movement. Grace and courtesy exercises are also a part of this curriculum.
- Sensorial - exercises designed to help sharpen a student's senses.
- Mathematics - Using manipulatives, the child internalizes concepts of number, symbol, sequence and operations.
- Language Arts - basic skills in writing and reading are developed using sandpaper letters, phonetic sounds, moveable alphabet and various presentations.
- Cultural Activities - introduces the child to basics in geography, history, science, music and art, and cultures different than his own.
Most of our classrooms have mixed age groups. Children learn from one another. This can be seen in family and play situations where children are free to observe and interact in a variety of activities. Young children learn higher-level cognitive and social skills not only through mental development, but also by observing others as models. Multi-age grouping helps children develop a sense of community and supports social development. Older children act as role models and (sometimes) teachers of younger children. This aids in the development of personality, collaboration, and cooperation. Montessori classrooms have used mixed age groupings for over 100 years!
We believe that each child has sensitive periods in which he can learn a given skill easier and better than at any other time in his life, so we believe in individual instruction.We know that children need to have group learning situations, and we also provide group learning opportunities each day.
We believe children should be free to be themselves. They can talk with friends, work with friends or by themselves. They are free to do what they want to do as long as they are not disruptive or destructive.
We believe in self-discipline. Each child will learn to discipline himself, and we try to help achieve this goal.
We believe that play is a child's work, and good play is important to his development.
We believe in a prepared environment in which he can easily find the tools he needs to achieve his goals. When we are having a difficult day, we don't ask what's wrong with the children, we know something is wrong with the environment.
We believe that a child absorbs knowledge like a sponge. He has an absorbent mind.
We believe that you should never do for a child what he can do for himself. Let him do it.
We believe that no one can educate another person. Education is something he has to do for himself. Therefore, we provide an environment that is conducive to learning.
We want to help each child develop a love of learning, self confidence, and independence.
We will help each child know that he is perfect just as he is, and will help him realize his potential.
We will help each child develop self-discipline, a sense of organization, and a positive attitude toward problem solving.
We will help each child learn to respect other people and their property.
We will follow the lead of the child and help him build the person he is meant to be.
We will follow the teachings of Dr. Maria Montessori ....
