We Follow the Montessori Philosophy
The Montessori Philosophy
The Montessori teaching philosophy is based on the approach to education developed by Dr. Maria Montessori. In her studies of young children, Montessori came to understand that each child learns and develops in a unique way.Today, more than a century later, the Montessori philosophy of education has reached around the globe. Children are learning and thriving in thousands of classrooms on six continents.
Our classrooms and practices are structured to facilitate this development through the introduction of multisensory activities and an awareness of all areas of the child’s development.
Drawing on the proven Montessori materials and on the latest research into creativity, brain development and multisensory learning, we foster children’s love of education by…
- Above all, respecting the children and their desire to learn,
- Involving the children in a balanced educational program,
- Inspiring independent, goal-oriented children.
Montessori & More
An Integrated Model of Primary Education
As educators of your children, we are dedicated to providing an enriched environment that inspires and nurtures the child's natural love of learning as a life-long process.
We aim to support children in learning how to be part of a community, and we focus on helping them learn about the people around them and about themselves.
Within this classroom structure, the Montessori program is complemented by a number of other disciplines, our multi-disciplinary approach to music education as well as a choice of two different foreign languages, Spanish and French, physical education and art.
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Connecting Oral & Written Language
All oral language prepares children for writing.
Developing the ability to recognize sounds (aural), understanding the varied sound and rhythm of language (phonetic), and creating and observing symbolism (art) all contribute to children’s ability to associate sounds with symbols—which is at the basis of written language.
Many individual approaches and activities in our classrooms may be used to foster written language development: For example, children may be invited to tell a story about their painting. Such a conversation associates the imagery they have created with their oral language.
As their learning develops, children move from the simple association of images and storytelling, to ‘encoding’—the isolation of specific sounds— to ‘decoding’—the unification of multiple sounds— and so on, until they are writing, and we are discussing the rules and importance of grammar.
Children learn by proceeding through a logical, sequential process, accumulating progressively more difficult skills, and learning reading, handwriting and written expression as a consolidated body of knowledge.
It is an approach that benefits all students, no matter what their learning pace or style.
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The Importance of Children’s Attachments
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The Child /Teacher |
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It is through these supportive interactions that we begin to establish trust. This sense of trust is reinforced when teachers continue to recognize and respect each child’s needs and interests, ensuring they feel understood and psychologically safe while facilitating guided education for young children.
The Child / Family Relationship
It is our goal to foster each child’s individual needs and interests together with their parents. Based in our understanding of child development, and on the importance of the support provided by the family environment, we recognize the importance of connecting with children through connections made with their parents.
We do this by sharing our vision and approach, and our understanding of children’s development and learning styles during parent education sessions.
We encourage parents to take advantage of our open door attitude, booking parent / teacher conferences and observations at their convenience. We value and strive to maintain open dialogue with parents should any concerns ever arise.
The Child / Community Relationship
Whether it is the child’s immediate community—their classmates and instructors—or the general community in which we all live, it is important that children are made to feel part of them.
We firmly embrace the adage “It takes a village to raise a child.” Therefore, whenever possible, we try to bring parents and the community together, developing events and activities that ultimately support the child. We might work together to build a playground, or we participate in community events such as parades.
Children learn from the community in which they grow and thrive, and this is as important to their development as in-classroom teaching.
The Child / Positive Social Skills
As teachers and parents, we witness every day the need for explicit instruction to support the social and emotional development of our children.
At our school, we believe in the importance of teaching social awareness and pro-social skills, drawing on expectations from the norms of North American culture.
The goal of using a curriculum for pro-social skills in the preschool is to create a secure, loving environment, where children are aware of different pro-social skills that they can employ in their everyday interactions. By explicitly teaching these, an atmosphere of care and safety is built and expectations are clear.
By bringing together the teaching of these skills along with the traditional Montessori presentations of grace, courtesy, respect of others, ourselves and the environment, ensure expectations are clear for everyone and children develop skills in empathy, impulse control and anger management.
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