Welcome to our Mission Montessori Blog!

“The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist.” -Maria Montessori-

Welcome to our Mission Montessori Blog! A place where we will share interesting ideas, suggestions, and resources for you and your family. We hope this will be a place where you can ask questionsand gain insightful tips for home.

To start off, let’s tackle what we like to call Montessori 101. A key element in Montessori is the idea of the child having ownership over their environment (classroom). The teachers are guiding the children throughout their learning process, not telling them what to learn or how to learn. This allows the child to gain self-confidence in their own abilities to learn and to try! It helps them know that they are fully capable to accomplish what they put their minds to. In order to do this, though, the environment needs to enable not hinder them. This is why everything is at the child's level.  When they want to choose a different material off of the shelf, they can without asking for help. When they want to wash their dishes after snack, they are fully capable of doing so. Even their cubbies are at the right level so they can independently get their things. This decreases the need for the child to have to ask for help from the teacher, unless they truly need it. The sense of wonder on a child’s face when they complete a task from start to finish is amazing to see!

Another common question is why the mixed ages in the classroom. Why would you put a nearly six year old with a barely three year old? The answer is that children benefit from being around older and younger children than themselves. An only child, for instance, can get the experience of being the youngest/middle/oldest within their class. The older children learn how to help the younger children with those harder activities, such as putting on shoes or opening a lunch container. When a younger child observes an older child doing a particular lesson, it creates the longing to be able to do that. When they finally get to that stage, they are so excited that they are now the “Big Kid”. It is an even bigger sense of fulfillment because they got there on their own. The sense of community via mixed age group creates an experience that children might not get elsewhere and will always treasure.

One of the greatest achievements in our Montessori Classrooms is to help the child learn how to do it themselves.This is a key element in Montessori Pedagogy and a crucial aspect in every thing we do here at Mission Montessori. We know this will set them up for success in all areas of life!