The Montessori Approach

By providing for every aspect of the children’s development in a safe, beautiful, loving environment we encourage the children to reveal their true selves and cultivate their social, intellectual and creative potential. We respect the children’s need to do things for themselves and understand that developing their physical independence brings them emotional independence and strength of character.

In the Montessori tradition we teach by “following the child” and so we’ve prepared a classroom that offers the child freedom within limits that they may meet their own needs and show the teachers how they learn. The classroom is highly organized with the didactic materials grouped into areas for each of the main subjects: practical life skills, sensorial exploration, language, math, music, geography and sciences, arts. Through guided exploration the children master skills of gradually increasing difficulty and cultivate a lifelong love of learning.

Offering freedom within structure, respecting the child and following their interests and learning style for a customized academic program yields wonderful, long-lasting results for children and families. The class is able to form a harmonious children’s society; one that serves as a model for a peaceful community and a peaceful world.

PRACTICAL LIFE

These are familiar everyday activities such as sweeping, pouring water, buttoning and scrubbing. These tasks empower children and build their confidence for less familiar, more abstract activities like math and language. The child develops gross and fine motor skills, logical sequencing, concentration and work ethic: laying the foundation for academic exploration and achievement.

LANGUAGE

Montessori language materials empower and excite young children. A series of gradual steps first encourage self -expression through writing. After the child has been sounding out words and writing for a while, the process of reading comes quickly and naturally.

SENSORIAL

These materials are scientifically designed to stimulate the child’s senses. Each material isolates one quality such as color, shape, sound, weight or texture. Through repeated use of the materials the child perceives finer and finer distinctions and his intellect begins to categorize and find order in his impressions of the world.

MATH

The Montessori math materials make abstract concepts concrete and easy for the child’s mind to absorb. Montessori provides a deep understanding of how numbers function rather than rote memorization and children learn to use the language of math to describe the world around them.

EXTENSIONS

Geography exploration is key to the Montessori experience. Along with an understanding of the world and its political boundaries, the students gain an appreciation of the cultures, languages and arts that make up our global community.

Botany and Zoology are explored in depth and then within the context of the ecosystems, lifecycles and food chains of different habitats around the world. As children deepen their understanding of plant and animal geography they begin to apply the skills of scientific analysis.

Creativity and self-expression are encouraged through the various mediums of painting, drawing, collage, clay, music, movement and the study of folk and fine art.