Philosophy

Is Montessori Right For Your Child?

Children from a variety of cultures and backgrounds all over the world have benefited from Montessori education. Your child will as well.
Academic readiness is not the issue. Whether the child can count, identify colors, or use scissors properly is not the focus. The Montessori teacher is interested in the child’s developmental readiness to respond to the sensory stimulation of the Montessori environment.

Who was Dr. Maria Montessori?

Children teach themselves. This simple, but profound truth inspired Dr. Montessori's lifelong pursuit of educational reform, methodology, psychology, teaching - all based on her dedication to furthering the self creating process of the child. Maria Montessori was in many ways, ahead of her time. In 1869 she became the first female physician in Italy. In her medical practice her clinical observations led her to analyze how children learn, and that they build themselves from what they find in their environment.

In 1906, she accepted the challenge to work with a group of sixty children of working parents in the San Lorenzo district of Rome. It was there that she founded the first Casa dei Bambini, or "Children's House". Every piece of equipment, every exercise, every method Montessori developed was based on what she observed children to do "naturally " by themselves, unassisted by adults.

Dr. Maria Montessori was nominated for the Nobel Prize three times - 1949, 1950, and 1951. Maria Montessori died in Noorduijk, Holland (1952), but her work lives on through the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) an organization she founded in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1929 to carry on her work.

The Parent Educator

Maria Montessori believed strongly that parents play a critical role in their child’s education. Education begins with the parent’s in the home, at birth. The parent is the child’s first and most influential teacher. No one knows and cares for your child as well as you do.

As a parent you have a unique opportunity to lead your child into areas of interest and activity that are meaningful and fulfilling to both of you: hobbies, intellectual pursuits, spiritual values, cultural and environmental appreciation. You, as the primary teacher, are the most significant influence on your young child’s absorbent mind.The Montessori school is the natural extension of your home. That is why Montessori schools encourage parents to be involved in school activities such as orientation meetings, class observations and parent teacher conferences.