Montessori School For International School

Montessori School - How it All Started

Montessori School was founded by Maria Montessori who was both an educator and physician of Italian origin. Montessori gained some of her inspiration from philosophers Seguin and Itard. The Method

While previous methods of education included using tactile methods that allowed children to learn and maintain their attention in a tangible manner, Montessori chose to expand the horizons with a technique that involved making the child concentrate on a task without stress or effort. This technique was proven to be more effective as children were successfully learning without the pushy motivation often put onto students from their teachers. The customary learning method encompasses the theory that a child must acquire reading and writing skills before they turn five, so they can have additional training in a learning environment before they begin to go to school.

Montessori's method is even more efficient in that children learn through making their own associations and correlations between several objects and concepts, making them motivated to learn on their own. Montessori teachers understand when a child is ready and how vital it is to make sure they begin the next level of learning as soon as possible. The Montessori schools offer a learning method which should be explored by both parents of school-age children and those who are merely curious about the education of children. An Italian teacher, Maria Montessori, formulated the theories in the beginning of the century that these schools are based upon. While many schools will call themselves a Montessori school, and they may do so proudly, there are things you should keep in mind. While a school may say 'Montessori', it may have a loose definition and with no standards for using the name Montessori, you will find that the standards and method of teaching may vary greatly from another Montessori School.

Traditional public school typically operate where the children sit at desks and are given written material to work with. Montessori schools, on the other hand, seek to foster learning in the child by enlarging on the child's existing interests. You can expect Montessori schools to be very proactive and engaging during the evaluation process. One goal of the Montessori method is that children can learn the most in bursts of intense focus and concentration. When you are looking at schools that use the Montessori method, you will find that they are most commonly elementary schools or junior high schools. Montessori high schools are a bit rarer but they do exist.

One reason that you will see so many Montessori elementary schools and middle schools is due to the theory that states that a child has a very absorbent mind from birth to the age of six. Examining the Montessori teaching principles will show you the multiple benefits of such an education for your child, not only academically but personally. There are a lot of things to think about when looking into a Montessori school program for your child. There are now more than 4000 Montessori schools spread across the continent but they all owe something to the school begun in a Toronto basement by a woman named Helma Trass.

Trass was a student of Maria Montessori in the Netherlands where Ms. Montessori began her institute for training educators in her philosophy and methods. Trass was actually surprised to find that the Montessori philosophy had not taken any hold in North America but she took the opportunity to found the Toronto Montessori Schools. Trass began the school in 1961, working out of a rented basement in the Toronto suburb of Don Mills. Today the school she began has an enrollment of over 700 students including pre-school to grade 12. While Montessori has spread to every major city throughout North America, it's also important to remember that not all Montessori schools are the same. Parents looking for an "orthodox" Montessori school need to check if the school they are considering is accredited by any of a number of accrediting bodies that arbitrate Montessori education. Accrediting bodies include the North American Montessori Teachers' Association (NAMTA), The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), The American Montessori Society (AMS) and The Canadian Council of Montessori Administrators (CCMA), among others.

Montessori's influence reaches far across the continent today, seen not only within schools bearing the Montessori name but in almost every classroom where teachers have had some education in Ms. Montessori's philosophy and methods.

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