Dr. Maria Montessori observed “Education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.” A child learns by interacting  with his surroundings, and when given freedom to move through a developmentally stimulating environment the child will become self-directed as he develops intellectually, physically and psychologically. The prepared environment in our program is a beautiful, simple, orderly and harmonious place. It consists of six areas of learning:

Practical Life: Often considered to be the most important part of a 3-6 classroom, this area consists of a variety of exercises of everyday living which  develop concentration, independence, a strong sense of self, integration of mind/body, hand/eye co-ordination, and an inner calm.

Sensorial: Montessori agreed with Aristotle’s philosophy that there was nothing in the intellect which does not first exist in the senses. This area contains materials to isolate, develop and refine the five senses, and provides a subtle preparation for academic learning.

Language and Math: Early academics is a hallmark of a Montessori education. While not the direct objective, this occurs as a result of presenting young children with the tools with which to teach themselves, while taking advantage of the acute transitory developmental sensitivities of this plane of development. A careful foundation of concentration and ‘completion of task’ laid down by the Practical Life activities, work in perfect concert with the heightened senses developed by the Sensorial area to prepare the child for introduction to phonetic study and concepts of quantity and numeration.

Cultural: The Montessori approach to geography is to give the child the facts of his physical world using his sensitivity for order:   The earth is organized into continents, countries, provinces and states, each with their own particular shapes, names, capitals and flags. The plant and animal kingdoms are explored and labeled, laying the foundation for detailed animal and plant classification study in the 6-9 classroom.

Art/Music: In our classroom the child’s eye will constantly be drawn to color, form and beauty, indirectly developing awareness, aesthetic sense and artistic appreciation. This indirect approach encourages creativity and freedom of expression.  The study of famous artists and composers is an integral part of our program, and a regularly ‘refreshed’ Art/Music area  will provide the child with a daily opportunity to explore with a variety of artistic media  and simple musical instruments.