At Montessori of the Village parents and staff members work together to promote the welfare, happiness, growth and intellectual development of our children. Our programs are designed to help them:
Appreciate themselves and the world around them
Develop effective learning skills and healthy social attitudes
Understand important facts and basic fields of human knowledge
Enjoy warm and enriching relationships with their teachers and fellow students in a stimulating and productive classroom environment
They will acquire not only an excellent educational background but also increased self-esteem.
Most experts today agree that the greatest opportunity to influence mental growth and development occurs during the first six years of life. Positive attitudes and sound learning patterns can be established when young minds are bursting with curiosity, eager for knowledge and open to change.
Montessori education emphasizes internal (self) motivation. The classroom is a precisely prepared environment for individual instruction and self-paced learning. Well-tested teaching techniques and materials are designed to maximize children’s time in the classroom. Teachers show students how to create order and discover principles by means of carefully demonstrated lessons that can be practiced at will.
Credentialed Montessori teachers encourage effort and monitor progress but do not pressure their students to perform according to any preset standards or schedules. Introduction of new lessons are tailored to the individual needs and interests of each child. Discipline is mainly self-discipline. With constructive limits, a student can work on his or her lessons at whatever pace and in whatever order he or she chooses. Independence, initiative, responsibility for making choices and persistence in seeing tasks through to completion are qualities fostered by the Montessori Method.
The Montessori Method of education has been successful for students with diverse abilities and age ranges. It emphasizes respect for each child as a unique individual. Teachers and parents are viewed as guardians and protectors of the child’s right to develop his or her potential in a nurturing physical and social environment. It is not surprising that Dr. Montessori was a champion of children’s rights and child-welfare legislation. In Dr. Montessori’s view, children are even more important as a resource for the renewal and improvement of human civilization. The Montessori Method was thus intended not only as a pioneering effort to improve early education, but also as a crusade for general social progress.