Montessori has been in Geelong for over 44 years and yet many people don’t even know what it is.
Dr Maria Montessori developed through her observations, a learning environment for young children in which they choose their own activities and direct their own learning.
This Montessori prepared environment is broken into five main areas, practical life, sensorial, language, mathematics and culture.
Practical life activities teach concentration, co-ordination, independence and manual dexterity, through practical activities required for daily living and social relations.
Sensorial activities are designed specifically to develop and refine each of the five senses.
Mathematics activities are a progressive sequence of concrete equipment based on the decimal system, the children firstly learn to understand the role of numbers 1-10 and then beyond.
Language activities and equipment explore and extend the child’s oral language, including clarity of speech and expression, listening, interpreting and understanding. These activities extend to reading and writing as the child progresses.
Culture activities is the term used to describe all aspects of human activity and interaction with the environment. It covers learning areas such as science, history, geography, music, art, LOTE, health and physical education.
The Montessori Method educates the whole child, mind, body and spirit through the training and refining of the senses, preparing them for the real world with real life skills. It is an approach to the ‘whole child’ that enhances the child’s own self and helps them to respect each of their classmates naturally, creating a deep sense of community through the multi-aged environment.
Southern Cross Montessori provides a traditional Montessori prepared environment in a three and four year old kindergarten setting in Torquay. They have created an environment where children can be creative, engaged, lifelong learners. Their classroom is home-like with lots of natural light but at the child’s level with a sink they can use to wash their dishes and a functioning washing machine to wash their towels at the end of the day.
As more parents discover the benefits of a Montessori education, the preschool attracts families from as far away as Lara, Point Cook, Geelong West, Barrabool, Barwon Heads, Belmont, Bannockburn, Anglesea and of course as close as Torquay.
Montessori is always difficult to explain in words however one visit to their wonderful centre and you can see the difference Montessori can make to any child’s educational journey.
