The Primary Classroom

Children begin the Primary level at the age of 3 and remain three full years with the same teacher and class. It is with great joy and enthusiasm that the children develop a sense of responsibility and belonging, much as they do in a family. Maria Montessori called her school “The Children’s House” because it is designed with child size furniture, the space for them to move freely and perfect their motor coordination with real materials that have purpose and meaning to a child. The teacher guides the child to put him/her in touch with a rich variety of activities in the environment that facilitate cognitive, social, and spiritual development. Children learn to become competent in practical life skills, censorial education, language, math, and geography/cultural lessons. The revolutionary philosophy of Maria Montessori aims to foster the growth of the whole child in all developmental areas: cognitive, social, physical, and emotional. In this philosophy, students are in charge of their own learning. They can work in groups or independently, doing activities they choose to do under the guidance of a trained Montessori teacher. In our Primary classrooms we maintain a student to teacher ratio of 8:1.

Montessori schools have multi-age classrooms, mixing children of varying ages so that younger students can learn from and work together with their older peers. In turn, the older students can use their interactions with their younger peers to reinforce concepts they've already learned.