Montessori at Bellevue

A fun way to end term 1 - thanks to the Aquatic Survival Skills team for educating our Rakau tamariki. Take care if you’re out and around the water these holidays.

Have a wonderful Easter break, 🐣 enjoy all the choccies, and rest up ready for a fun filled term 2 of singing and dancing! 🎭

Congratulations to Montessori@Arataki for filling up all available spots for their Journey & Discovery (J&D) event this weekend. Fortunately, there are still spots left at the Montessori@Bellevue J&D event hosted by the incredible Steven Arnold the following weekend, 20-21 March. But don't delay - RSVP today ✍️💙

Thank-you to all the families who attended our Parent Information Evening at Bellevue School tonight. We were thrilled with the engagement from our preschool community. A special thanks also to Victoria Denyer who always provides knowledge and insight when she joins us - we truly value your presence 🥰

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Happy birthday to Thomas Edison!

Born February 11, 1847, Edison was a big fan of the Montessori method, saying it "makes learning a pleasure. It follows the natural instincts of the human being."

Merry Christmas to all our Montessori families! Wishing you all a lovely Christmas and summer holiday. See you next year.

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow afternoon. Come along to find out all about the value and importance of 'going-out' within the Montessori classrooms! 😊

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How Montessori Develops a Child’s Mathematical Mind 🔥

At first, Dr. Montessori held the conventional wisdom that young children should learn to count to 100 and carry out simple operations. She, like others, believed math to be uninteresting and too difficult for young children to comprehend.

She then observed that four-year-olds wanted to use the materials the older children were using. She watched as these very young children were able to compose and work with numbers in the thousands. Dr. Montessori concluded that when children are given a proper foundation and the freedom to explore, their enthusiasm, delight, and awareness of all things mathematical increase.

In the Montessori early childhood program, the child is consistently encouraged to explore concepts and strengthen abilities to fully support the math related sensitive periods that they experience during the early childhood years. Starting around 4 years of age, the child enters sensitive periods for order and precision. They become more aware of patterns and relationships in the world around them and they develop an interest in classifying and ordering the environment. At this age, the child also takes greater interest in following steps in an exact way, moving with precision, and learning the order of routines.

Also, they are experiencing sensitive periods for spatial awareness, writing, and counting. This combination of interests readies the child to positively ✅ and successfully receive more formal instruction in mathematics and to develop the mathematical mind.

From the first introduction to the Montessori classroom, the child is encouraged to think mathematically and develop their mathematical mind. They are welcomed into an ordered
environment with each curriculum having its own unique area in the classroom. The placement of materials follows a specific order, with the simplest and most concrete material placed on
the shelf before the progressively more difficult, abstract materials, moving from left to right and top to bottom. The material also has a specific order of placement on the tray, and it is laid out in the work area in order of use, moving again from left to right.

🚀 Montessori Math is a brilliant and exciting way for children to learn Math and Math concepts!