The preschool classrooms are for children ages three to six years old. This three-year age span guarantees that children at various stages of development can learn from and with each other. Dr. Maria Montessori designed an environment for children that offered them the potential to be free to engage in those activities that she observed were characteristic and beneficial for their age group.

Dr. Montessori believed that the goal of early childhood education should not be to fill the child with facts from a pre-selected course of studies, but rather to cultivate his own natural desire to learn!

At the center of the Montessori method is your child! Your child’s individual interests motivate his choice of materials. The experienced, certified teacher will demonstrate the appropriate use and method for each material and/or lesson and individually assist each child in the classroom.

In the Montessori classroom this objective is approached in two ways: first, by allowing each child to experience the excitement of learning by his own choice rather than by being forced; and second, by helping him to perfect all his natural tools for learning, so that his ability will be at a maximum in future learning situations. The Montessori materials have this dual long-range purpose in addition to their immediate purpose of giving specific information to the child. The child is then free to use the materials until the desired skill or concept has been mastered. Consequently, he may then choose to “teach” that material to another child or to move on to a new and/or higher level of interest.

The Montessori method embraces the development of the whole child: intellectual, social, emotional, physical and spiritual. Freedom is a positive component for growth. The child’s ability to choose his own lessons and work at his own pace provides each and every child the opportunity for his own self-directed future success. With the freedom to choose among this broad range of manipulative materials, the child is presented the opportunity to develop his own independence, grow in competence, gain confidence in himself and achieve positive work habits that will lead to an everlasting appreciation for learning.

Mismatch Day!