FAQ (click the questions for the answers)
- Q. Abbotsford Montessori Curriculum
- A. Abbotsford Montessori's curriculum focuses on six areas. PRACTICAL LIFE : The children learn how to tie their shoes and put on their coats, prepare their own snacks and drinks, go to the bathroom without help, and clean up after themselves if they spill something. SENSORY AWARENESS EDUCATION: These exercises make sure children use all five senses to learn. For example, a child studying about fall gathers leaves and feels how brittle they are. LANGUAGE ARTS : Children are encouraged to express themselves verbally and are taught to trace and recognize letters as a precursor to learning reading, spelling, grammar, and handwriting skills. MATHEMATICS and GEOMETRY : Children learn about numbers through hands-on learning using concrete materials, such as the golden beads that represent the hierarchy of the decimal system, for example. CULTURAL SUBJECTS : Children learn about other countries (geography), animals (zoology), time, history, music, movement, science, and art. SOCIALIZATION : Children learn about relationships and cooperative activities through parties, special events like Mothers Day Tea and the Fathers Day Woodwork Project.
- Q. Are Montessori children successful later in life?
- A. Research studies show that Montessori children are well prepared for later life academically, socially, and emotionally. In addition to scoring well on standardized tests, Montessori children are ranked above average on such criteria as following directions, turning in work on time, listening attentively, using basic skills, showing responsibility, asking provocative questions, showing enthusiasm for learning, and adapting to new situations.
- Q. Do you encourage parent involvement in the school?
- A. We encourage parent involvement through conferences,observations, discussions, etc. The staff feels that the more parents can understand the experience of the child in the classroom, the better able they are to follow through at home. When parents follow through at home, the child benefits even more because he has a consistent environment in which to grow.
- Q. Does Montessori employ current research and theory in education methods?
- A.Montessori is not a static or closed system of education. While there are certain materials and methods that have been proven effective during the years. Montessori is as much an attitude about education and children as it is a specific method. **Note. Abbotsford Montessori is Progressive Montessori and therefore does not exclude modern products like computers, cell phone replicas, power tool replicas and other high tech materials.
- Q. How do children interact in the environment?
- A. As the children develop their sense of pride in their "work", a feeling of confidence, well being and joy begins to manifest itself in the child. A "new child" is born. A classroom of Montessori children is a joy to watch. There seems to be a spirit of respect, love, and cooperation among the children that is not found too often.
- Q. How do Montessori children adjust to public schools?
- A. Children who have been in a Montessori environment are generally very flexible and adjust quite easily to the public school situation. They are generally better students and spend their time in more productive ways because of their self-direction and positive attitude towards learning.
- Q. How is Montessori pre-school different from other pre-schools?
- A. In most preschools the children are taught educational concepts in a group by a teacher. In a Montessori Preschool the children learn concepts spontaneously as they work independently with the many materials in the environment.
- Q. How much does Montessori cost?
- A. (NAMTA, 1998) All Montessori schools are operated independently of one another, and therefore, tuitions vary widely. According to a 1996 NAMTA survey of U.S. and Canadian Montessori schools, tuitions range from a low of under $999 per year to a high of over $11,000 per year. The Median annual tuition by age level was as follows: Infant/toddler: $3,480, Preschool for a 3-hour day: $2,550 and Preschool for a 4-hour day: $3,300 **Comparatively, in 2006, Abbotsford Montessori's annual tuition was $2100.00 for the 3.5 hour day.
- Q. Is Montessori good for children with learning disabilities? What about gifted children?
- A. Montessori is designed to help all children reach their fullest potential at their own unique pace. A classroom whose children have varying abilities is a community in which everyone learns from one another and everyone contributes. Moreover, multiage grouping allows each child to find his or her own pace without feeling "ahead" or "behind" in relation to peers.
- Q. Is Montessori more expensive than regular preschool?
- A. Not when considering the extensive materials, encompassing environment, curriculum and trained staff. It is, however a very reasonable cost in contrast to other activities you would plan for yourself and your child. It becomes a matter of what you value most. To give your child the finest possible experience in his most sensitive years is to give him a strong foundation throughout his life. The child who enjoys learning and becomes self-directed at the critical preschool age will benefits throughout their life.
- Q. What about socilization and group work?
- A. Socialization is very much a part of the Montessori method. In the classroom you will notice children interacting continuously, choosing to work on projects together and older children helping younger ones. Each day there is some group activity and play outside.
- Q. What is in a Montessori classroom?
- A. The Montessori classroom is a child-sized world. Whatever is in the world outside can be incorporated meaningfully in the Montessori classroom. To a child, the world is unmanageable ... it is too big, too complex and too confusing. By careful selection of materials by the directress, an environment is set up that allows the child to explore life on a level he can understand. The materials or exercises are designed to stimulate independent exploration. This prepared environment entices the child to proceed at his own pace from simple activities to more complex ones. Through this process the child's natural curiosity is satisfied and he begins to experience the joy of discovering the world about him. Materials and curriculum center around Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math, Geography, Science, Art, Music, Drama and Dance.
- Q. What is the best age for a child to start?
- A. Maria Montessori outlined various periods of "sensitivity". During these times, a child is more capable of and interested in learning specific concepts. At age 2 - 3 a special sense of order, concentration, coordination and independence begin to emerge. This time is ideal to begin a child's training in Montessori as he is at the perfect period to build a strong foundation for future learning.
- Q. What is the difference between daycare, nursery school, and preschool?
- A. Day Care Centers are generally for the purpose of caring for children on an all-day basis. Nursery Schools are generally experiences in socialization and play. Preschools are oriented toward educational experiences combined with socialization and play.
- Q. What is the difference between Montessori and traditional education?
- A. Montessori emphasizes learning through all five senses, not just through listening, watching, or reading. Children in Montessori classes learn at their own, individual pace and according to their own choice of activities from hundreds of possibilities. Learning is an exciting process of discovery, leading to concentration, motivation, self-discipline, and a love of learning. Montessori classes place children in three-year age groups (3-6, 6-9, 9-12, and so on), forming communities in which the older children spontaneously share their knowledge with the younger ones. Montessori represents an entirely different approach to education.
- Q. What is the Montessori Method of Education?
- A. The Montessori Method of Education is basically a unique approach to learning. Rather than "teaching" the child concepts, an environment is designed to stimulate the child's interest and facilitate his understanding and learning capacities spontaneously with little or no adult intervention.
- Q. What is the purpose of the Montessori Method?
- A. The main purpose of the Montessori method is to develop an environment where the child can unfold spontaneously and manifest the greater person within. According to Maria Montessori,"The child is the father of the man." As the child begins to developt his inner self, his love of life and learning expands continuously.
- Q. What is the role of the Montessori teacher?
- A. The Montessori teacher is called a directress because she facilitates the classroom activity. She carefully plans the environment in the interests of the children and she helps the children progress from one activity to the next. She is trained to deal with each child individually allowing him to choose from many activities within his range of ability. She stands back while a child is working and allows him the satisfaction of his own discovery.
- Q. Where did Montessori come from?
- A. Montessori (pronounced MON-tuh-SORE-ee) education was founded in 1907 by Dr. Maria Montessori, the first woman in Italy to become a physician. She based her educational methods on scientific observation of children's learning processes. Guided by her discovery that children teach themselves, Dr. Montessori designed a "prepared environment" in which children could freely choose from a number of developmentally appropriate activities. Now, nearly a century after Maria Montessori's first casa dei bambini ("children's house") in Rome, Montessori education is found all over the world, spanning ages from birth to adolescence.
- Q. Who accredits or oversees Montessori schools?
- A. Unfortunately, there is no way to limit the use of the name "Montessori." Parents must carefully research, and observe a classroom in operation, in order to choose a real Montessori school for their child. There are several Montessori organizations to which schools can belong. The two major ones operating in the United States are the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI, with a U.S. branch office called AMI-USA) and the American Montessori Society (AMS). Parents considering placing a child in a Montessori school should ask about the school's affiliation(s).
- Q. Who is the Montessori Method designed for?
- A.The Montessori method is an "approach to learning" and as such has no distinction of class or intelligence. It has been used successfully in all parts of the world and in all types of programs, i.e. Headstart, gifted, mentally challenged etc.
- Q. Why should I send my child to pre-school?
- A. Most educators and psychologists today agree that the most important period in the development of a persons intelligence occurs between birth and age five. A child's mind is extremely absorbent and curiosity is at a peak during these early years. When properly nourished and stimulated, the child's mind forms patterns for learning that serve them well throughout life. The Montessori system of education has been proven one of the most effective methods to guide a child through those critical years.
- Q. With all the freedom, is there confusion?
- A. The concept of freedom within the classroom is one of freedom within limits. A child is allowed to work freely so long as he does not disturb others. Actually, the children having the freedom to follow their interests are generally happy and busily involved with their work.