“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed”
“The greatest sign of success for a teacher… is to be able to say, ‘The children are now working as if I did not exist”
“Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment”
Doctor Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870. In 1896 she became the first woman to qualify as a Doctor in Italy. Her ideas and practices for education were formed early in her working career when she had the opportunity to study and observe the way in which children interacted with the world around them.
As a result she went on to devise a series of educational methods and principles which, would act as a series of enablers so that the children she worked with might experience the joy of learning in a more self-directed and experiential way.
She believed that children have an enormous capacity to learn if given an appropriate and prepared environment, which would enable them to unlock their potential and develop their self confidence and self esteem.
The Montessori curriculum encompasses a whole range of activities that allows children to explore, experience and understand.
Montessori is a holistic approach with an emphasis on giving children freedom of choice within a prepared environment, allowing them time to develop naturally at their own pace. Given such an environment children are self-motivated and develop a strong sense of independence, confidence and concentration. We provide an endless range of stimulating play opportunities for children to learn through play and exploring (engagement), active learning (motivation) and creating and critical thinking (thinking). We believe that children should have access to play opportunities both indoors and outdoors and our outdoor environment is experimental for children of all ages, giving them open ended opportunities which will increase their overall learning experience.
The carefully prepared classrooms are designed to meet all the needs of the children to develop a sense of belonging. Montessori classrooms stimulate spontaneous interaction with the materials. Every object is chosen with a specific goal for the children so that everything that they do in the classroom has a purpose. The prepared environments house all child size materials for easy accessibility and facilitate spontaneity and stimulate self development.