All our teachers have their ECE license from Victoria as well as their Montessori training and first aid training. Criminal record checks are done for all teachers and substitutes.
We teach the children the phonetic sound of each letter. This is typically taught at the age of 4, but if a younger child showed interest we would present the lesson. Once the child has learned all 26 phonetic sounds we begin to spell three letter phonetic words such as fox, cat, bug, pen and pig. After mastering the three lettered words we begin to form 4 more lettered phonetic words such as banana, pompom and truck.
Introduce your child to love of reading by reading 3 English stories to them every night. Practice writing lowercase with your child and your child’s name. Please allow your child to be as independent as possible. For example, getting dressed, going to the bathroom, feeding him/her self, washing hands, setting the table, cleaning up their toys, making the bed, emptying the dishwasher, helping fold laundry, putting away laundry, helping with dishes, pouring his/her own drink and putting on their shoes and jacket by themselves are just a few ideas of what they could be doing at home.
Yes, we have 4 big concerts per year; our winter (December) and year end concert (June). We also have a mother’s day tea in May and father’s day coffee in June. We end off the year with a sports day with both classes in May/June.
During the school year we also acknowledge all cultural celebrations within our cultural studies.
Yes, we have about 3-4 field trips a year, usually one per term. We try to relate our field trips according to what we are learning in class. For example if we were learning about sea life we would visit the aquarium. All field trips are parent participation; parents drive their own children to all field trips, or carpool with another parent.
Yes, our program is a 3 year program. Children may stay for their third year, their kindergarten year in our half day program.
Yes, once the school year has started in September, we then begin a wait list for the upcoming school year. Families on this list will then be contacted and notified about any upcoming program information sessions. Should an opening arise in any of the school programs during the current school year, families on the waitlist will be contacted.
All new families interested in enrolling their child at Absorbent Minds Montessori are required to attend a program information session. Program information sessions are held in the fall, winter, and spring. After attending the program information session, a follow up phone call will be made to schedule a classroom observation. After attending the classroom observation you are required to submit your child’s registration package along with all necessary paperwork, this will secure a spot for your child for the upcoming school year.
Yes, all children are required to be fully toilet trained before they attend the preschool program. Please note pull ups are not accepted.
We accept children ages three to five years of age. Children who start school in September and are 2.5 years of age must turn 3 before or by December 31st.
Montessori educated children are generally very flexible and adjust quite easily to public schools. They are often better students and spend their time in more productive ways because they are self-directed and have a positive attitude toward learning.
Socialization is very much a part of the Montessori Method. In the classroom you will notice children interacting, choosing to work on projects together, and older children helping younger ones. Each day there is a group gathering time.
This is Montessori’s name for age periods when the child shows unusual capabilities in acquiring particular skills. Dr. Montessori found that the child is able to absorb different subjects more readily at different ages or periods of growth.
Children are free to move about the classroom at will, to talk to other children, to work with equipment or ask the teacher to introduce new materials to them. They are not free to disturb others at work or to abuse the equipment so important to their development.
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.
The Directress works with individual children, introduces materials, and gives guidance where needed. One of the primary tasks is careful observation of each child in order to determine his/her needs and to gain the knowledge needed in preparing the environment to aid his/her growth.
A Montessori class is a child-sized world. Materials and curriculum center on practical life, sensorial, language, math geography, history, science, art and music. 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 complex ones.
A Montessori educational environment emphasizes learning through all five senses, not just through listening, watching, or reading. Children in a Montessori educational environment learn at their own, individual pace and according to their own choice of activities from hundreds of possibilities.
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.
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.
Experience tells us that “creating” cannot be taught. It is the child’s environment that tends to foster or restrict a child’s creative potential. To foster creativity, Dr. Maria Montessori realized the environment must be beautiful itself and based on reality, not fantasy.
Children therefore need freedom to develop creativity, freedom to select what attracts them in their environment and be able to relate to it without any interruptions. Creativity is involved with the intellectual and aesthetic process of the mind. Children in a Montessori environment are free from judgment.
This unique educational experience was developed over one hundred years ago by Dr. Maria Montessori and is now used and celebrated worldwide. Dr. Maria Montessori was an Italian doctor and educator. Her aim was to develop a system that ignited a child's innate desire to learn, while recognizing that every child is a unique individual with innate talents and abilities upon which to build.
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.