Montessori
In 1896, Dr. Maria Montessori became the first female physician in Italy. She would soon after shift her focus from her medicine practice to her desire to improve her understanding of the learning process of children.
Shortly after the turn of the century, she founded Casa dei Bambini, or "Children's House." It was here that the now famous Montessori Method developed, based upon Montessori's clinical observations of children and the ease at which they naturally learned by absorbing knowledge and manipulation of materials in their environment.
Montessori found that children have a profound ability to teach themselves, and dedicated her life-long work to the pursuit of educational reform and teacher training.
Dr. Maria Montessori believed that the years from 2½ to 6 are the most crucial in a child’s development. She recognized that young children possess a remarkable ability to absorb the world around them and referred to this ability as “The Absorbent Mind.”
Mt. Hood Montessori encourages this quality in children to foster physical, social and intellectual independence and to support children’s mastery of self and environment. The environment is rich and beautiful allowing children to choose activities in all areas of the curriculum while also developing a sense of responsibility to the entire community of children with which they share the classroom.
- A prepared classroom environment that fosters children’s discovery of learning.
- Individual and small group lessons that encourage children to trust in their ability to learn which results in a self-confident, independent learner.
- Students are consistently nurtured by their teachers, assistants and staff.
- Placing children in a multi-age setting where they usually work individually and have opportunities to work in small groups fosters peer learning and mentoring.
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