The Montessori Approach
Background
Montessori is a respected method of education that regularly features in reports concerned with positive educational outcomes.
The Montessori educational approach was first developed by Dr Maria Montessori through intense scientific observation of children from many ethnic, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds from birth to maturity. She believed that education begins at birth and that the first six years of life, being the most formative, are the most important both physically and mentally. It is during this time that a child’s powers of absorption are highest, and attitudes and patterns of learning that will last a lifetime are formed.
The Montessori approach is a well researched, non religious, educational approach used in more than 22,000 schools worldwide. It was first adopted in Australia in the 1920’s and is now available for children of all ages with programmes offered for children as young as 8 weeks old to age 18. The Montessori approach is being implemented across early childhood education and care services, preschools, kindergartens, and primary and secondary schools.
The Montessori approach to education is designed to inspire children towards a lifelong love of learning, by following their natural developmental trajectory. It believes that children are creating their building blocks for life from the ages of 0 to 6 years and that children are naturally interested in learning and engaging with what they see around them.
The Montessori approach respects culture, individuality and diversity – throughout the world Montessori schools are highly sought after for parents who want to nurture these attributes, along with a genuine love of learning, in their children.
Our Implementation
The Montessori Framework is one that nurtures the whole child, and encourages children to have ownership of what they are learning and master skills at their own pace. Our Montessori classroom is flexible enough to allow children who prefer to spend a long time on quiet tasks to flourish alongside children who prefer to engage for a shorter time on more boisterous tasks.
At Armidale Montessori Preschool, we create an active learning environment that lets children have fun as they learn. In our multi-age classroom, your child will learn everyday life skills to help them become independent and confident, as well as the foundations for literacy and numeracy skills and broader curriculum areas such as world culture, history, geography, science, music and art.
We support the development of independent learning, and children work through the activities and learn at their own pace. Our program is tailored to suit each child’s individual learning and skills, fostering a love of learning through exploring and ‘doing’ and allowing self-esteem, autonomy creativity and skills to be developed in a harmonious and natural way. Through this process the children become confident, responsible, independent learners, who trust in their own abilities. Our Montessori educators support children through this process, by initially showing children how activities can be done and then allowing children to explore activities for themselves, and to work with them in their own unique way.
Within this framework for all children is the teaching of respect, both for classroom materials and their classmates and teachers.