Montesorri or Day Care??

[Rachel23]

My son is turning 4 in May and has been attending a montessori school since he was 2 (in playgroup). He's now in "childrens' house' and attends part time at the moment (9-12) although he has the option of going full time.

The school is great and the teaching philosophy is wonderful. They're free to explore their own creativity and they can focus on what they enjoy doing. They have cooking lessons, they get taught life skills (washing dishes, cleaning shoes, crockery..etc.) They day is structured but there is a sense of freedom in the classroom. It's not so much sit down and do this, they can find a 'job' they want too do and are free to do it.

I couldn't speak highly enough of the montessori schools.



This is the one Nicholas attends. It has some info on the the schools philosophy. Hope it
helps

Riverlands Montessori School

Here is a little info from the page.

The Montessori Method:
Maria Montessori was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree. She worked in the fields of psychiatry, education and anthropology. She believed that each child is born with a unique potential to be revealed, rather than as a "blank slate" waiting to be written upon.
Maria developed a method of education based on the observation of children. She achieved remarkable results which attracted word wide attention. Dr Montessori observed that children passed through successive stages of growth during which their development is guided by special sensitivites. She created an educational environment that assisted the child by meeting these inner needs. Such an environment does not encourage the use of rewards or punishments as movivators for children's learning.
By attending to the child's motor, sensory and social functions the Montessori method aims to develop each child's concentration, self discipline, orderliness, desire to learn, independence and sociability.
Maria Montessori wrote "Scientific observation has established that education is not what the teacher gives; education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment"
Her message always was to turn one's attention to the child, to "follow the child". Because of this and the observation guidelines left by her, Dr Montessori's ideas will never become obsolete.