MONTESSORI PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE

MULTI-AGE GROUPING

This is based on Montessori's plane of development. The children are grouped in 3 year spans and stay with the same teacher as much as possible.

WORK CYCLE

Montessori schools respect the child's freedom to complete his cycle of work in his process of self-construction. A minimum of an uninterrupted 3-hour work period per day is experienced by the child at any level.

HUMAN TENDENCIES

True Montessori schools believe in the innate potentials of the child regardless of his culture, race or religion. These tendencies are the bases of the Montessori method. Its application is based on - to move, to explore, to orientate, to share with a group, to be independent and make decisions, to order, to create abstract ideas from experience, to imagine, to repeat, to concentrate, to work.

THE PREPARED ENVIRONMENT

Since the child exhibits different sentivities at the various planes of development, the environment that is offered to him is a place that will nurture these potentialities. He learns to glean knowledge from many sources. Thus, the teacher's role is to prepare the environment and link the child to it. He facilitates the child's exploration and creativity.

DIRECTRESS, TEACHER AND THE TEACHING METHOD

Textbooks are not required in a Montessori environment as there is not exactly one textbook that can answer the child's quest for knowledge. Children do not study the same lesson at the same time. They learn directly from the experiences that they go through in the environment.

The teachers are trained with the method to teach one child at a time or in groups. No lessons are given to the whole class. The children learn not only by what they do individually but at the amazing variety of work that are happening in class during the day. The teachers are equipped with the basic lessons of math, language, sciences and arts. Scientific observation of the children is done by the teachers. Teachers record observations and study them.

COSMIC EDUCATION

The Montessori curriculum believes in the interrelationship of all the elements in the universe. Thus, all subject areas are interwoven. Math, Language, Arts and Sciences are not isolated from each other.