| St. Maarten Montessori School |
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Maria Montessori (1870 - 1952), developed her
educational method from a profound appreciation for
the power and mystery of the child. The child, given
primary respect, makes spontaneous choices within an
environment, and is free to create himself. The basic idea of the Montessori philosophy of education is that all children carry within themselves the person they will become. In order to develop physical, intellectual and spiritual potential to the fullest, the child must have freedom; a freedom to be achieved through order and self-discipline. The world of the child, say Montessori educators, is full of sights and sounds, which at first appear chaotic. From this chaos, children must gradually create order, learn to distinguish among the impressions that assail their senses and slowly but surely gain mastery of themselves and their environment. Dr. Montessori developed what she called the Prepared Environment which already possesses a certain order and allows children to learn at their own pace, according to their own capacity and in a non-competitive atmosphere. Never let children risk failure until they have a reasonable chance of success. The years between three and six are the years in which children learn the rules of human behavior most easily. These years can be constructively devoted to civilizing children, freeing them through the acquisition of good manners and habits, to take their places in their culture. Dr. Montessori recognized that the only valid impulse to learning is the self-motivation of the child. Children move themselves toward learning. The teacher prepares the environment, directs the activity, and offers the child stimulation, but it is the child who learns, who is motivated through work itself (not solely by the teachers personality) to persist in a given task. If Montessori children are free to learn, it is because they have acquired an inner discipline from their exposure to both physical and mental order. This is the core of Dr. Montessoris philosophy. Social adjustment, though a necessary condition for learning in a schoolroom, is not the purpose of education. Patterns of concentration, stick-to-it spirit and thoroughness established in early childhood produce a confident, competent learner in later years. Montessori teaches children to observe, to think and to judge. It introduces children to the joy of learning at an early age and provides a framework in which intellectual and social discipline go hand-in-hand. |
| Details of Montessori Education |
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Multi-age grouping: Children are grouped in mixed
ages and abilities in three year spans: 3-6, 6-9 and
9-12. There is constant interaction, problem
solving, child-to-child teaching, and socialization.
Children are challenged according to their ability
and never bored. Work centers: The environment is arranged according to subject area and children are free to move around the room instead of staying at their desks. There is no limit to how long a child can work with a piece of material. At any one time in a day, all subjects - math, language, science, history, geography, art, music, etc. are being studied at all levels. Teaching method: Rather than lecturing to large groups of children, the teacher is trained to teach one child at a time, and to oversee a class of children working on a broad array of tasks. Areas of study: All subjects are interwoven, not taught in isolation. A child can work on any material he understands at any time. Schedule: There are uninterrupted work periods each day, not broken up by required group lessons. Adults and children respect concentration and do not interrupt someone who is busy at a task. Groups form spontaneously. St. Maarten Montessori School follows a multi-faceted Montessori curriculum at all levels. The Montessori Method engages all senses and appeals to all styles of learning. In addition to setting strong academic goals, Montessori education fosters respect, responsibility, resourcefulness and imagination in all students. At the Primary level, children participate in lessons and activities in the areas of Practical Life, Sensorial, Mathematics, Language and Culture. In Lower Elementary, children receive individual, small-group and class lessons and perform independent follow up in Arithmetic, Geometry, Language, Zoology, Botany, Geography and History. In Upper Elementary, students continue their work in these seven core subjects; in Level VI, students begin a study of Human Biology. Each Week, all students receive specialized instruction in music and a second language (Dutch or French). Art and physical-education activities are provided. Assessment In all Montessori classrooms, daily and weekly assessment of students progress begins with observation of childrens ability to work independently and accurately with Montessori materials. Children proceed as they are able to demonstrate concrete and abstract mastery.In addition, we assess students performance with regular Albanesi Montessori achievement tests in our Lower and Upper Elementary classrooms. Similarly, we monitor childrens reading progress with the SRA (Silent Reading Activity) graduated reading-comprehension series. Four times yearly, parents receive detailed anecdotal report cards, describing their childrens academic and social/behavioral progress in the classroom. Regularly scheduled parent-observation opportunities and parent-teacher interviews are key, to ensuring students progress. |
| Goals and Objectives |
The specific goals for the children who attend the school are:
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