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PhilosophyAn Education for Life
The Children’s House
While most of the day is spent in individualized activity, mornings usually begin and end with group activities. Music, drama and stories revolve around biological, geographical or historical themes of interest to the class. Lessons demonstrating courteous ways to deal with social situations are also included. Daily outdoor play is provided, weather permitting, and is safe and closely supervised.
A Guide Along the Way
A Community of Children
Looking Toward ElementaryThe skills, abilities and attitudes that a six-year old developed while in a primary program will be to his advantage in whatever educational setting he now finds himself. Inevitably, some parents are so impressed with what their child has already gained through his Montessori experience, that they want him to continue in our school through his elementary years. For these families, we offer the Montessori Elementary, continuing Education for Life in a program that involves his newly awakened social sense, reason, and powerful imagination.
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It is the
task of each child to develop himself into as complete a human being as
possible. All around us children are going about this task, sincerely and
energetically, everyday. Nature has endowed these young children with
wonderfully absorbent minds and acute sensitivities, allowing them to acquire
certain kinds of knowledge and abilities more completely and easily before age
six, than at any time later in their lives. How successfully each child
accomplishes this task in these early years has a bearing not only on the amount
of knowledge and skill he will have at his command in later years, but, more
importantly, the attitudes toward himself, his world, and learning that he
embraces. Montessori education is based on a heart-felt respect for this task
of the child, and on a careful observation of the process by which it is
accomplished. What we offer is a thoughtful response to this natural unfolding
so that, in each case, it can be as successful and complete as possible. Our
goal for the child is the development of an attitude toward himself of
confidence and esteem; toward the world, of care and respect; and toward
learning, of joy and enthusiasm.
When a
child enters the Montessori classroom, she finds herself part of a busy
community of children, each with a sense of her own purpose, each contributing
to the life of the class in her own unique way. While one girl writes labels
for the parts of a flower, another arranges flowers in vases, adding beauty and
brightness to the shelves and tables. Three children are counting and combining
quantities of beads and thereby experiencing the process of carrying in addition
with large numbers. After listening to one bell, a boy searches from among a
group of bells for one with the same pitch. A girl arranges various shapes of
colored paper into a collage design pleasing to her eye. With the teacher’s
help, a group of tiny children trace sandpaper letter shapes with their fingers
while making the phonetic sound of each letter. “z-z-z, like in zoo!” one
says. An older girl nearby knows all of the phonetic sounds, and arranges
cut-out letters to compose her own delightful story. After a boy carefully
replaces the last country in a puzzle map of Europe, he invites a friend to
assist him in carrying it back to the map stand.
It is no coincidence that Montessori teachers
are referred to as guides. The teacher is trained to recognize and respect the
developmental tendencies and unique potentials operating within each child, and
strives to guide him to the activity best suited to him at that moment. Through
careful presentations of sequence and handling, she introduces the child to new
activities. He is free to use any material to which he has been introduced, and
will tend to return to certain materials over and over again for a period of
time, repeating the same use or creating new variations until an inner need is
satisfied. In this way, he comes to master the concept, skill or quality that
the material embodies, developing concentration and self-direction at the same
time. The guide carefully observes each child’s progress, giving new points of
interest and challenge when appropriate, but always leaving for the child the
joys of accomplishment and discovery.
Because children from age three to six have
many characteristics in common, a rich learning environment has been created for
them to explore together. Children usually begin in Montessori at age three and
continue in the same class, with the same teacher and core group of friends,
until after their sixth birthday. Each morning all ages mix freely in the
classroom. The younger children absorb much of the value from the activities of
the older children around them. Each older child, in turn, gains the experience
of self-confidence and responsibility that comes with the role of leadership. A
bond between the children develops naturally in this setting and can be seen in
mutual caring and respect. Around the fifth birthday, the child becomes ready
to extend her day into the afternoon, engaging in more advanced activities
within a smaller group of peers and strengthening friendship bonds that become
so important at this age.