“L’istruzione non è qualcosa che fa l’insegnante, ma è un processo naturale che si sviluppa spontaneamente nell’essere umano.”
“Education is not something which the teacher does, but is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.”
— Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952) was a trailblazer of early childhood development. She believed children were naturally eager to learn and thus did not need to be “coerced” into learning. Her method sought to put children at the centre both intellectually and practically; allowing them to pursue and develop their own interests in an environment that was suited to their capabilities with furniture and materials scaled to their size. Montessori observed that under these conditions, children excelled both academically and as individuals. Her child-centered philosophy is the foundation for our schools today.
What the Montessori Method is about:
✔️ Hands-on
✔️ Self-Paced
✔️ Exploratory
✔️ Innovative
✔️ Collaborative
✔️ Encourages independence, responsibility, & self-discipline
✔️ Ownership of learning
✔️ Attuned to the child’s natural ability & natural drive
✔️ Builds self-esteem, self-awareness, & self-confidence
✔️ Creative learning
✔️ Instills a lifetime love of learning
Who We Are:
✔️ Dedicated to the natural development & nurturing of a child
✔️ Attuned to and guided by the child’s natural drive & curiosity
✔️ A holistic, calm, nurturing environment that promotes security, freedom & community within the space
✔️ Appreciation of beauty
✔️ Attention to detail
✔️ Self-directed
✔️ Communal
✔️ Structured in a way that promotes creativity, independence, & freedom of choice
✔️ Promoting self-acceptance, self-awareness, self-regulation, self-actualization, self-recognition, & self-confidence
✔️ Accountable to our own past learning and our sense of self
✔️ A place that honors the child in their stage of life
What the Montessori Method is not about:
❌ “Top-Down” lecture-style learning
❌ Grades
❌ Homework
❌ Tests
❌ Standardization of information
❌ Memorization of facts
❌ Modular (working through set lessons in a structured amount of time)
❌ Rewards “good academic performance” / punishes “poor academic performance”
Who We Are Not:
❌ Dictating to the child how to learn and what to learn
❌ Telling children how to think
❌ Telling the child who to be
❌ Sculpting children into a preset idea
❌ Learning by memorization & rote
❌ Changing who the child is
“Establishing lasting peace is the work of education”