North Atlantic Montessori School in Portland Maine is a new school founded in 2009 and housed in a state-of-the-art building for the purpose of providing a Montessori education for children ages birth to six years old.  It is equipped with beautiful Montessori equipment and child sized furniture based on Maria Montessori's principles that an ordered, well organized environment will allow children to learn intrinsically through curiosity and desire.  The goal of having the environment support the learning is to facilitate the child's desire to "do it myself", allowing them to have their own power to learn in their own unique style at their own pace and to become masters of their skills.  A Montessori teacher would never tell a child "you must work on writing for the next 15 minutes and turn your paper in for a grade or a star".  Learning is not based on time frames, on forced or on competition.  Montessori education never forces a child to be like someone else, the emphasis is solely on the child feeling great about themselves through their own accomplishments and desires.

"Never let the child risk failure until he has a reasonable chance of success."

-Maria Montessori

 

"It is true we cannot make a genius, we can only give each individual the chance to fulfill his potential possibilities to become an independent, secure, and balance human being."

-Maria Montessori, from The Absorbent Mind

 

The ultimate goal of a Montessori education is to create a child's own excitement and desire to be a life long learner.

Maria Montessori was a brilliant doctor, born in the town of Chiaravalle, in the province of Ancona, Italy, and was a visionary.  She overcame obstacles to educate herself during a time period when a woman would not have been accepted in this world.  Her vision for the future of humanity was awe inspiring, taking peasant child running wild in the streets of Italy into her classroom. Dr. Montesorri created her curriculum based on utilizing all of the child's senses for concrete learning.  Because of this, the child was allowed to learn naturally, in as many ways as humanly possible.  The modern Montessori classroom is still based on the principles that children learn through their senses and are sensitive to both direct and indirect stimulus of the purposely, planned environment.  Through this environment the children are able to absorb and act upon materials presented and available.  The Montessori teacher carefully plans and presents materials that provide beauty, function and relevance when considering the classroom environment.  The classroom is deliberate, meaningful and with purpose.

"The first aim of the prepared environment is, as far as it is possible, to render a growing child independent of the adult."

-Maria Montessori, from The Secret of Childhood

In a Montessori classroom there is no front of the room and no teacher's desk as a focal point of attention.  Stimulation for learning comes from the total environment.  Dr. Montessori always referred to the teacher as a "directress" because her role differs considerably from that of a traditional instructor.  She demonstrates the correct use of materials as the children choose them individually.  The Directress carefully watches the progress of each child and keeps a detailed record of his work. Each teacher has been trained to recognize individual periods of readiness.  The Directress is a guide or facilitator whose task is to support the young child in his or her process of self-development.  The Directress is foremost an observer, unobtrusively yet carefully monitoring each child's development, recognizing and interpreting each child's needs.   On a broader level, the Directress provides a link between the classroom and the parent, meeting with each child's parents to discuss progress and communication about our school community.

Also unique to Montessori programs is multi-age classrooms.  Children are grouped in three age levels.  The children in our "Nest" are divided into: infants to eighteen months, eighteen months to three year olds. The preschool is for children age three to six year olds. North Atlantic Montessori School also provides a subgroup of infant/toddlers for children between the ages of 18 months to 2.5 years. If it is felt that the child is developmentally ready at 2.5 years, he/she may be placed in the preschool program. Younger children learn by becoming excited when watching their older role models. The older children develop self-esteem by becoming leaders when helping their younger peers.  Both younger and older children are also able to socialize together, if they choose, in this environment. Dr. Montessori's approach in the multi-age classroom allows children to choose their friends based on common interests, not just age.

Discipline is the second pre-requisite condition for learning.  Montessori discipline is an "inner discipline", an inner control that the child develops from his or her own behavior with the help of Montessori materials and in conjunction with his or her home environment.  Dr. Montessori noted that many so-called undisciplined children were really frustrated by the lack of proper stimulation and on inadequate opportunity to achieve.  She noted that young people become happier and more self-controlled after a period of time in a Montessori class.  They experienced challenging tasks, which not only absorbed their energies, but also resulted in a sense of achievement.

 "Our task is to show the way to discipline.  Discipline is born when the child concentrates his attention on some objects that attract him and provides him with a useful exercise but with a control of error."

-Maria Montessori from The Absorbent Mind