A Montessori Education

The goal of Montessori education is to foster a child’s natural inclination to learn. Montessori teachers guide rather than instruct, linking each student with activities that meet his interests, needs, and developmental level. Although Montessori schools are divided into multi-age classrooms, the prepared environments introduce an uninterrupted series of learning curriculum that builds year over year. The curriculum reflects the natural learning characteristics of children at each stage of development.

The Montessori Curriculum is an integrated thematic approach that ties separate disciplines together into wider learning experiences. In this way, one lesson leads to many others. Everything in a Montessori classroom has a specific use or purpose. There is nothing in the prepared environment that the child

cannot see or touch. Unique learning materials beckon from accessible shelves, inviting small hands to take on new challenges, one concept or skill at a time. Montessori materials are designed so a child can check his own work; we call this a built-in "control of error." The intention of the materials are not to keep the children dependent on these learning aids forever; they are used as tools to help children work and learn at their own pace, to see abstract ideas presented in a very concrete, three-dimensional way, and to help them grasp and understand what they are working on. Montessori students learn not to be afraid of making mistakes.

The classrooms are designed to allow movement and collaboration, as well as promoting concentration and a sense of order. Montessori classrooms have a busy, productive atmosphere. Within such an enriched environment, freedom, responsibility, and social and intellectual development flourish!