Harmony Montessori Children's House Philosophy and Goals

The Centre operates on the Montessori Philosophy that "Education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment."  At Harmony Montessori Children's House we aim to provide the materials and environment which will aid children's development.  The teacher is a skilled observer and as such will form the knowledge to be able to respond when help is needed.

Learning in the Early Childhood years is critical as it sets the stage for later attitudes towards the child’s lifelong learning. The following concepts underpin our philosophy:

• Respect for oneself, for each other and for our environment
• Compassion love and care for all living things
• Diversity acceptance of self and understanding of others
• Independence developing practical skills for life, a strong self image and confidence
• Peace developing patience, calm and the ability to ‘be still’; living in harmony with one another
• Expression freely express ideas and communicate well with others

It is Montessori philosophy that schooling should work with the nature of the child instead of against it therefore education should be based upon scientific study and observation of the child, resulting in an understanding of the processes of development and learning.  It is our philosophy to offer mainly individual lessons thus catering for very specific individual needs of each child.  We aim to provide the environment in which children's spontaneous goodness and natural desire to learn can be cultivated and developed.  This is done through self discipline and freedom to produce socially and emotionally balanced individuals who have a sense of worthiness in society and contribute as such.

Our classrooms are grouped in mixed ages: 15 months to 3 years and 3 to 6 years. This encourages development of leadership skills and peer scaffolding. The learning environment is carefully prepared by the teachers to be inviting and warm. The learning environment encourages successful competent learners through choice, structure and open-ended activities.

Our curriculum encompasses:

• Practical life skills of daily living (care of person, care of environment, grace and courtesies, movement)
• Sensorial exploring the world (colour, size, dimension, shape, form, sound, touch, taste, smell)
• Mathematics from concrete to abstract (reasoning, calculation, estimation, number, measurement)
• Language from spoken to written (speech, vocabulary, alphabet, writing, reading)
• Cultural (art, music, history, geography)
• Outdoors expanding the boundaries of the classroom (plant care, flower arranging, animal care, gardening, exploring the open sky: cloud formations, shadows, weather)

“Solicitous care of living things affords satisfaction to one of the most lively instincts of the child’s mind.” Maria Montessori

We believe that play is a valuable mode of learning and vehicle for developing creativity, imagination and social skills. Our teachers document the way each child engages with the curriculum and this is available for parents to see at any time.

We teach respect to children through our own actions, of grace, courtesy, manners and order. We promote self-care and self-respect. Staff are aware that they are role-models for children. Staff facilitate relationship building between children and encourage socially appropriate behaviour. Behaviour management strategies used are positive and focus on a child’s behaviour, not the child and respect a child’s dignity and self-respect. Behaviour management strategies encourage staff to look at the deep seated reasons of why the child is showing inappropriate behaviour

We respect that parents are the primary caregivers and strive to support them in their child's development with information and accessible services.  Encouragement is given to parents to discuss beliefs and values with staff so the centre can ensure that each families needs are met.  This is done formally upon enrolment, however we aim for a line of open communication to be continued which will enable staff to be kept up-to-date with each family’s needs. Parental involvement in the centre is always welcomed.

It is our philosophy to maintain a multicultural approach to education and our programme and show no bias toward any ethnic or cultural background.  We encourage parents of various ethnic backgrounds to participate where possible in the programme.  It is our belief at Harmony Montessori Children's House belief that to provide exceptional education, staff must also aim to be exceptional.  This is done by continual growth, learning and evaluation both as individuals and as staff and most importantly by supporting all members on staff to work as a team.

"Out of all this comes a marvellous order and expression of childhood."

Maria Montessori

Sourced from: Kahn. D (1995) What is Montessori Preschool. NAMTA: USA

Reviewed by staff and parents April 2009, August 2009

Some Useful Resources

• Montessori Calendar
• Download our Brochure