Montessori classrooms are peaceful, happy places designed to meet the developmental needs of each child in every stage of life. The Montessori classroom is not merely a place for individual learning. It is a vibrant community of children, where the child learns to interact socially in a variety of ways.

When children first enter a Montessori environment, there is an immediate and touching moment when they realize that this place is for them.

Every material in a Montessori classroom supports an aspect of child development, creating a match between the child’s natural interests and the available activities. Children can learn through their own experience and at their own pace. They can respond at any moment to the natural curiosities that exist in all humans and build a solid foundation for life-long learning.

Montessori classrooms are designed to meet the physical and psychological needs of the child at each stage of development. In Montessori, the curriculum is embedded within a learning environment or classroom, in the form of a carefully designed and sequenced range of hands-on learning materials and activities. Montessori materials are designed to stimulate the child into logical thought and discovery.

The beauty, order and accessibility in the classroom serve to entice the child into activity. Guided by the Montessori teacher, the child explores the materials independently, and this is when the learning occurs. Children are able to engage with the activities according to their individual interests and at their own pace. In this way, learning becomes highly personalized.

Montessori classroom helps to:

• foster the growth of functional independence, task persistence and self-regulation.
• promote social development through respectful, clear communication and safe, natural consequences.
• contain a large variety of materials for the refinement of sensory perception and the development of literacy and mathematical understanding.
• offer opportunities for imaginative exploration leading to confident, creative self-expression.

Guiding Principles

• Respect : Montessori profoundly respected children and the developmental powers that drive them to seek certain experiences. Montessori education reframes the adult/child relationship to place the child at the centre of his own learning.
• Prepared Environment : Children’s needs change as they move through stages of development. At each level of Montessori education, this difference is honoured through the preparation of the classroom environment.
• Hands-On Learning : Montessori classrooms are interactive environments in which hands-on exploration is not only encouraged, it is necessary. By using the mind, the body, and the senses, learning becomes an activity that engages the whole self.
• Discovery : One of the most profound differences between Montessori education and conventional education is that, in Montessori, children are given the experience of discovering the answer for themselves. This leads to a much deeper learning experience, and creates a lifelong love of learning as a self-directed process of problem-solving and discovery.
• A Montessori-Trained Adult : The trained Montessori teacher links the child to activities and experiences in the prepared environment. Specialized training results in a deep knowledge of child development, the purposes and use of each activity, and an understanding of how to foster and maintain social harmony in the classroom.
• Imagination : Montessori classrooms support the development of imagination and creativity at every stage of learning. The open-ended activities allow children to explore new ideas and relationships, providing a foundation for self-expression and innovation.
• Freedom of Choice : In Montessori classrooms, expectations are clear, and children experience the natural and logical consequences of their choices. This freedom within limits allows for the natural development of self-regulation within the society of the classroom, as well as mirroring behaviours expected by society in general.
• Independence : From the moment of birth onwards, humans strive towards independence. Children feel this need very strongly; they want to do things for themselves, and to participate in the world around them. In Montessori classrooms, this natural drive towards independence is fostered through practical, social and intellectual experiences. The child becomes an active agent in her own education, saying, “Help me to do it myself”. We honor this by helping children move to increasingly higher levels of independence and self-reliance.