The Montessori Approach to education originated in the early 1900's by Maria Montessori, the first woman doctor in Italy. Her educational ideas grew out of her experiences, first as a physician with mentally challenged children, and later as an innovative organizer of a day care center and schools for children of normal abilities.

Dr. Montessori's ideas were forerunners of contemporary ideas we know as "individualized education" and "the open-classroom structure".

The first school opened by Dr. Montessori still operates today in an housing complex, a few blocks from the Coliseum in Rome, Italy and utilizes the same concepts and the same educational equipment that we use in our schools today. Our goal of fostering a healthy mind and sound body is aided by these same principles that we stated above and practice in our schools.

Core ideals

The identification of early childhood as a distinct period of life, with certain specific needs and characteristics of it's own.
The idea of "sensitive periods" of development during which a child is highly receptive to certain learning's.
The development of child-sized furniture and equipment.
An emphasis on concrete materials for the teaching of concepts.
Recognition of the importance of repetitive behavior associated with emerging mental abilities.
The basic design for an educational environment which fosters the development of independence in the individual and recognizes the interdependence of freedom and discipline.

Montessori Curriculum

We offer a traditional Montessori Curriculum that embodies both our philosophy and method of education. Our programs focus on each child individually by encouraging their independence and tailoring our curriculum to their abilities through our specially trained teachers, Montessori materials, and the prepared classroom environment.

All of our classrooms are mixed-age rooms. This is an important part of the Montessori environment as the children have the opportunity to learn from each other when they are younger, and move to leading other children when they are older. We empower students to learn both socially and academically together in this environment. Each child learns and develops at their own pace in the prepared environment that accommodates varying levels of knowledge and skill.

Montessori teachers are traditionally trained to observe each child in their environment and design lessons specifically based on that child’s abilities, curiosity, and exploration. During the course of the work period, the teacher will observe children, give lessons, demonstrate many of the concrete sensorial materials and sequential activities, and work one-on-one or in small groups of students. The teacher has all of these things planned to ultimately help the child associate complex and abstract concepts with the concrete, hands-on learning experiences provided in the classroom.

What is Montessori?