About Montessori Education

What is Montessori Education?

At its core, it simply invites the child freedom to develop at their own pace. The child has all the ingredients to fulfill their innate desire and capacity to learn. In the Montessori environment, children are encouraged to follow their interests, and external motivators -rewards and punishments- are unnecessary. The dynamic relationships between the physical environment, the guide, and the student community will meet your child’s needs with respect and support at each step in his educational journey.

Montessori Fosters Independence

At Grow Montessori School, we feed your child’s hunger for independence by supporting freedom of choice. Children’s innate drive toward independence is enriched, most notably in the Practical Life area, where they will acquire many of the skills necessary to care for themselves, care for the environment, and navigate a variety of social interactions with grace and courtesy lessons. Our goal for your child is to become a curious, joyful, and self-directed learner.  The skills developed by the child will easily translate from the Montessori classroom into their homes and other nurturing environments.

Beautiful Classrooms Inspire Beautiful Work

Dr. Montessori believed that beauty is essential in a learning environment because a cheerful, clean, well-ordered space honors the child’s dignity and invites exploration and work. The Montessori classroom is orderly, easily accessible, and aesthetically pleasing for the child. Expertly crafted materials are made from natural textiles and fabrics such as cloth napkins, ceramic dishes, glass vases, lovely fabrics and tapestries, cultural artifacts, and reproductions of masterworks of art that appeal to the child’s tactile and visual senses.

We Value Kindness and Peace

Kindness expressed toward an individual means to honor another child’s work, concentration, and space. Kindness in the environment means using materials with purpose, cleaning up after oneself, and returning materials to the shelf in pristine condition. Kindness in the community means working in ways that are harmonious, safe, generous, and responsible.  Kindness yields space for peace to flourish.

Mixed-Age Classrooms

In a mixed-aged class, children work together harmoniously. Younger children develop a healthy, genuine admiration for older members of the community, and older children enjoy the privilege of teaching and assisting their younger peers. In her work, Dr. Montessori found that younger children were inspired by, not envious of, their older peers. The children trusted that, with time and practice, they would rise to the same level. Similarly, she found that older children—rather than exhibiting contempt for or condescension toward their younger peers—graciously took on the roles of protectors and exemplars.

We Value Formative Assessment

We want each child to become “friendly with error.” Rather than looking at mistakes as a sign of failure, children should experience mistakes as an opportunity for further exploration, repetition, and refinement. The guide presents a lesson, observes the child, and records their progress. The guide’s formative assessment is mostly gathered during the three-hour, uninterrupted work cycle that offers the child the best opportunity for deep concentration. Through concentration, the child experiences the integration of mind-body-spirit resulting in contentment and joy. Furthermore, we believe that repetition builds competence, and competence builds confidence!

We Follow the Child

The trained adult in a Montessori environment is called a “Guide,” as opposed to a “teacher,” because their job is not to impart knowledge but to link the child to the materials in the environment. The Guide is educated and experienced to engage the physical and psychological developmental stages of the child.  It is by actively working with the materials— not by passively listening to a presentation—that your child truly learns!