"The child who has felt a strong love for his surroundings and for all living creatures, who has discovered joy and enthusiasm in work, gives us reason to hope... hope for peace in the future." - Maria Montessori
Preprimary
"The Prepared Environment"
How can a young child be trusted to handle fragile items independently? Montessori teachers believe that children learn from their mistakes. If nothing ever breaks, children have no reason to learn carefulness. Children treasure their learning materials and enjoy learning to take care of them "all by myself."
Montessori teachers make a point to handle Montessori materials slowly, respectfully and carefully, as if they were made of gold. The children naturally sense something magical about these beautiful learning objects. As children carry their learning materials carefully with two hands and do their special 'work' with them, they are actually learning through a brilliantly designed curriculum that takes them, one step at a time and in a predetermined sequence, through concepts of increasing complexity.
- American Montessori Society
What you might see in our classrooms:
- a 4-year-old forming words using 3-dimensional letters called "the movable alphabet"
- a 3-year-old may be sitting by a teacher, ever so carefully pouring water from one tiny pitcher to another
- several children kneeling on the floor may be intently struggling over a puzzle map of South America
Throughout the room, children will be sorting, stacking and manipulating all sorts of beautiful objects made of a range of materials and textures--polished wood, wicker, fabric, ceramic--as well as items from nature such as seashells and bird's nests.