Is there a curriculum?  How do I learn about it?
Every lead teacher has received extensive training and is certified by Association Montessori International (AMI).  Teachers learn a broad curriculum as part of their training; they also learn to keenly observe children and to evaluate individual levels of readiness for lessons.  Each teacher supplements this training yearly through workshops and seminars.  We invite and encourage parents to learn about the curriculum by attending Montessori Parent Education Nights held throughout the year.  Detailed literature is also available in the office.

Why do Montessori classes have mixed ages?
Mixed age groups naturally reflect family, neighborhood, and work place environments.  In mixed-age classroom, younger children have opportunity to learn from older classmates; older children gain confidence from sharing their experience.  This interaction fosters independent learning and creates a stimulating classroom atmosphere.

What is the student-teacher ratio? Do Montessori students have too much freedom?
Class size is designed to be large enough to foster independence and an optimal learning environment, but small enough to allow for appropriate guidance and supervision – 2 teachers for 28 children.  Children in a Montessori classroom choose their own work within guidelines set by the teacher.  This framework offers a great deal of freedom, but each freedom has a corresponding responsibility.

I have heard that Montessori children do whatever they want, whenever they want.  Is this true
No! It is true that an important element in the Montessori classroom is to allow the children to follow their own interests and to take personal responsibility for their own education.  But this freedom is always accompanied by the responsibility required for success, and accomplished within the boundaries established by the child’s directress.  This freedom is meant to give students access to the ability to move at their own individual pace.  Direction and re-direction are always available to those who need more guidance, although independence is continually encouraged.

What is the difference between Montessori and traditional education?
Montessori emphasizes learning through all five senses, not just through listening, watching or reading.  Children in Montessori classes learn at their own, individual pace and according to their own choice of activities from hundreds of possibilities.  Learning is an exciting process of discovery, leading to concentration, motivation, self discipline and a love of learning.  Montessori classes place children in three year age groups (3-6, 6-9, 9-12 and so on), forming communities in which the older children spontaneously share their knowledge with younger ones.  Montessori represents an entirely different approach to education.