About Montessori Education
Montessori is a way of education envisioned by Dr Maria Montessori - one of the first female physicians in Italy. Montessori was very interested in how children learn; she analysed the small, developmental stages which children instinctively progress through as they learn to move, talk and acquire new skills, knowledge and understanding.
In her role as a physician Montessori worked with children with special learning needs. behavioural and social difficulties; she developed a range of learning materials and a teaching method to introduce the materials to children at 'sensitive periods' - just when children were ready for the next stage of learning. |
The children with learning difficulties developed so well that they passed the state educational exams and teachers came from all over the world to watch them working with the specially designed materials. Dr Montessori wanted to see if her approach could also make a difference for all children, not exclusively special children. The early Montessori schools were called 'Casa dei Bambini' - or in English - Children's Houses.
Montessori ran many International Teacher Training courses and many teachers were sent to Rome from the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) and from many other areas in the UK. Subsequently, the 'Montessori Method' was adopted as the state education system in many countries around the world. These days there are Montessori schools everywhere from Palm Springs to Putney and from Nigeria to Nepal. |
Many modern Montessori schools do not have any children with special needs, but they all follow the same pedagogy and philosophy; an orderly, peaceful classroom where children learn to value and respect themselves, others, and their learning environment. Here in England most Montessori schools are in the private sector, but more and more often children with learning or behavioural difficulties are referred to Montessori schools by doctors or social workers.
A Montessori teacher is called a 'directress' or 'director' because s/he directs, guides or facilitates learning rather than imparting information. Montessori teacher training involves studying child development and learning to spot the child's 'sensitive periods' - just when a child is ready to move on in his or her own learning.
A Montessori teacher is called a 'directress' or 'director' because s/he directs, guides or facilitates learning rather than imparting information. Montessori teacher training involves studying child development and learning to spot the child's 'sensitive periods' - just when a child is ready to move on in his or her own learning.
Wildwood Montessori
At Wildwood Montessori we are mindful of Dr Maria Montessori's philosophy.
Unlike today's physicians, many of whom prefer to treat conditions such as hyperactivity with drugs, Dr Maria Montessori believed that children's powers of attention could be improved through better education. She bemoaned how children were kept for many years in the irksome task of loading their memories with words, spoken by the teacher from the front of the class. The children often fell victim to mental fatigue or acquired a disagreement for education altogether. Such schooling ignores the great readiness with which we all attend to certain subjects and objects rather than to others. The peculiar idiosyncrasies, or dispositions of each child are seldom sufficiently attended to; hence it frequently happens that many children, although endowed with many natural talents, remain inattentive during the early part of their lives. If they improve afterwards, it is owing to self-tuition, or accidental circumstances having fortunately thrown such objects of science in their way as are fitted to awaken new desires, and kindle the flame of curiosity in their minds. Moreover, teachers should acknowledge that children have variable powers of attention and should adjust their tuition accordingly. |
At Wildwood Montessori we observe each child's interests, needs and abilities - and each and every observation underpins our preparations for individual opportunities for each child to seek out and find interests, motivation, independence and achievement.
We offer beautiful, well planned indoor and outdoor spaces that cater to the innate needs of each child within our uniquely prepared environments. Our aim is to ensure that every child within our prepared learning environments is acknowledged for who they are - and we foster this uniqueness through our respectful care and authentic relationships. Our goal is to build a strong sense of community and foster strong connections with our local community. Our vision is to enable every child at Wildwood Montessori to gain the best possible experiences and know that this is their place, to be who they are, where respect and collaboration is the core of our community of learners. Our children have the opportunity to follow their intrinsic motivation by making their own choices and knowing that each and every one of them is valued and an important member of our school. We believe that this will empower our children to enter the world with resilience resourcefulness and reciprocity to ensure positive outcomes for themselves and for society. Our vision is, therefore, as always, to bring out the best in each and every child at Wildwood Montessori. |