Why Choose a Montessori Education For Your Child?

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It is up to parents to determine the best education for their children.  Our own experience as teachers and parents has taught us that children in a Montessori environment:

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• Learn to work independently and in groups

• Are encouraged to make decisions from an early age

• Are problem solvers who can make choices and manage their time well

• Are encouraged to exchange ideas and discuss their work freely with others

• Develop healthy self-images and confidence to face challenges and change with optimism

 

Montessori education provides a child with the essential tools for developing the foundational habits, attitudes, skills and ideals essential for a lifetime of creative thinking and learning.

 

What is Montessori?

In the early 20th century, Italian physician and educator, Dr. Maria Montessori, observed that a truly educated individual learns when motivated from within by a natural curiosity and love for knowledge.   Her belief is that the goal of early childhood education is to cultivate the child’s own natural desire to learn.  She developed an approach to education based on careful observation and respect for the natural development of the child, one that enables the child to function independently and successfully in a trusting environment.  For Dr. Montessori, education was not merely a search for intellectual skills, but preparation for life. 

 

The Montessori Method

A basic premise is that all children carry within themselves the person they will become.  With a prepared environment, allowing a child to learn at his or her own pace, according to their own capacities and in a non-competitive atmosphere, a child is able to move themselves towards learning. The Montessori approach recognizes that a child is responsive to certain learning experiences at particular times (“sensitive periods”).  A child learns best within a social environment that supports his or her own unique development. Careful observation allows a Montessori teacher to recognize these sensitive periods when a child is ready for a new learning experience.  The teacher can then direct the child towards materials that will satisfy his or her developmental needs.  These purposeful activities reinforce a sense of value and achievement; thereby giving each child the chance to fulfill his or her potential to become an independent, secure and balanced human being.

 

What is a Montessori Classroom Like?

In a Montessori classroom, the environment is very carefully and thoughtfully prepared with developmentally appropriate materials.  The child experiences the excitement of learning rather than being forced.  The teacher helps the child perfect his or her natural tools for learning, so that the child’s abilities will be maximized for future learning situations.

 

Moving about the classroom, children learn that each child’s work is inviolable.  No one has the right to interrupt a person who is working or to force him or herself on another without an invitation from the worker.  They respect each other’s wishes and learn that their feelings and desires are valid and important.  This sense of their own importance fosters an inner discipline that shows itself in their love of the environment, of their work, and of each other.

 

At Montessori Education Center of Hawaii, our classroom is divided into areas of interest, including practical life, sensorial/motor development, physical and natural sciences, cultural and geographical studies, reading and mathematics, and gardening. We carefully and thoughtfully plan a stimulating environment that enables children to determine their own program of learning in a trusting atmosphere with the close guidance of teachers.