Lakewood Montessori

Studies have shown that the most proliferate learning period for a human is from age 0 through 6.  And we know that the mind of a child processes things differently than the mind of an adult.        

Montessori educators believe that education is child centered rather than teacher centered and that each child is truly an individual with individual needs, differences and gifts.  One child will learn things at a different pace and at a different time than another child of the same age.   

The Montessori teacher knows that a child needs to be nurtured and taught in many different areas in order to be all that he/she is capable of being.  This includes the intellectual, physical, social and spiritual soul inside each and every child.  A child in a Montessori environment, then, receives guidance in more than just academic areas. Your child’s teacher believes that education should respond to meet the specific need and sensitivities of each age and each individual child.  This is why you do not see all of the children doing the exact same work at the exact same time.

A normal Montessori classroom will be filled with students who are working at their own pace, within their own interests, gently guided by their directress/teacher in an open and free flowing environment.  The structure and discipline can’t easily be seen for it is a discipline that has been internalized by each individual child.  It is a peaceful freedom within learned and disciplined limits.  

The environment in a Montessori classroom is specially prepared for your child to develop and grow to become capable, successful, independent thinkers.  The classrooms, and work within, are intended to be beautiful and peaceful.  The furniture and the materials are more child-sized and made for the child’s comfort and benefit.  The shelves are set up for the children to easily access materials and put them back with ease.  The layout of the classroom is such that a student can flow from one area of learning to another with ease and purpose.  You may have noticed that it is set up in specific and different subject areas: practical life, sensorial, mathematics, language, cultural, biology and botany. Everything in the Montessori classroom environment has a purpose.  It is an environment of whole learning and order.
 
Anita Murnighan
Lakewood Montessori, Boise, Idaho