AG Montessori School

en of all levels of mental and physical ability as they live and learn in a natural, mixed-age group which is very much like the society they will live in as adults. The classroom is prepared by the teacher to encourage independence, freedom within limits, and sense of order. In early childhood, Montessori students learn through sensory-motor activities, working with materials that develop their cognitive powers through direct experience; seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, and movement. In the elementary years, the child continues to organize his/her thinking through Montessori materials and an interdisciplinary curriculum as they begin the application of knowledge to real-world experiences. We offer a very unique way of learning. Montessori is very different from what most of us experienced in schools as children. Montessori teachers lead children to ask questions, think for themselves, explore, investigate, and discover. Activities promote the development of social skills, emotional growth, and physical coordination as well as cognitive preparation. In order for self-directed learning to take place, the whole learning environment must be supportive of the learner. We provide necessary resources, including opportunities for children to function in a safe and positive climate. Our materials are multisensory, sequential and self-correcting materials designed by Dr. Maria Montessori that facilitate the learning of skills and lead to learning of abstract ideas. Children are free to work at their own pace with materials they have chosen, either alone or with others. The teacher relies on her own observations of the children to determine which new activities and materials she may introduce to an individual child or to a small or large group. The aim is to encourage active, self-directed learning and to strike a balance of individual mastery with small group collaboration within the whole group community.