Montessori education offers a unique experience designed to help your child maximize their potential; an educational environment that is purposefully designed to meet her unique developmental needs and adults who are specifically trained to observe and put her in touch with exactly what she needs at that very moment to learn.
A school is a group of people who come together with a common purpose; education is the experience that your child has with these people. We work diligently to provide a positive and formative experience that will serve a child now and for the rest of their life.
The conventional educational system was designed during the industrial revolution, when the masses moved into urban areas to work in factories. They created an effective method of training the following generations of factory workers. Children were instructed to memorize and regurgitate facts – to stop working when the bell rings – to sit in nice, neat rows of desks and ask for permission to move. It is no longer relevant in our modern culture.
Today, successful people work on projects, not factory lines. They are rewarded for creating things rather than following orders. And, they are expected to adapt quickly to change within their profession, rather than working at the same job for 50 years. As we peek into the uncertain future of the 21st century, AMI Montessori programs offer a safe harbor for parents: a research-based method that has been proven to develop some of the brightest minds of our times and is well positioned to develop the movers and shakers of tomorrow.
But what exactly is Montessori education?
At its core, it simply is a way of being with children that allows each child to develop fully into the person he or she was destined to be. Just as you make every effort to ensure your home is loving and safe – so your child feels secure and well-adjusted – we work diligently to ensure the physical environment, the teachers and the student community will meet your child’s needs with respect and support at each step in his educational journey.
Instead of expecting that he pays attention to the teacher in front of a class of 30 children, it is the Montessori teacher who pays close attention to your child which fosters a trusting relationship – an education partnership of sorts – in which he will have faith that his teacher truly understands and respects him for the human being into which he is transforming.
Our world doesn’t need more test takers, memorizers or followers.
Now, more than ever, we need critical thinkers, entrepreneurs and do-ers. Montessori education prepares children to take on the future with confidence and zeal, propelled by the gift of self-knowledge and a lifelong passion for learning.
21 Century Education with a 150-year History
Our society has changed over the last several decades. We have moved from an industrial-based economy to an information-based economy. Yet, our education system has not changed to meet the demands of this new economy; the format and curriculum remain very much the same as when it was created during the Industrial Revolution.
But with the recent rapid changes in technology, the ever-increasing need for a change in how we educate our children has become more apparent and the education reform movement becoming stronger and more vocal. “21st Century Education,” the education reform movement dominating today’s headlines, is focused on going beyond the “three Rs” of traditional education towards a more skill-based curriculum.
Google the phrase “21st Century Education” and you’ll find partnerships, organization, foundations, blogs and articles all advocating a reinvention of curriculum and teaching methods at both public and private schools.
But you’ll find no such changes at Montessori School. Why? Because the 21st Century Education buzzwords – creativity and innovation; collaboration; critical thinking and problem-solving; and character – have been the foundation of Montessori education for over 100 years.
In a Montessori classroom children are given the freedom to follow their interests, to go deep into a topic that piques their curiosity, and learn at their own pace. Because there are no grades and no tests, children can dive into the curriculum without the fear of failure. Children who are allowed to learn from mistakes, rather than being punished for mistakes (bad grades, etc.) become teenagers and adults who aren’t afraid to try, to innovate, to imagine, to change the world.
Montessori education is based on the idea that children want to learn, it’s a natural instinct. Children receive an intrinsic reward from learning
Traditional education is based on the idea that you have to offer extrinsic rewards (good grades, gold stars) to make children learn or punishments (bad grades, detention, extra homework) if they don’t learn.
A Montessori classroom is a place of joyful learning like no other. A classroom where every child, from age 18 months to 14 years, has the opportunity to transform the 21st Century.
