Little Miners Montessori is built upon the educational legacy of Dr. Maria Montessori, which began over 100 years ago. Dr. Montessori was the first female physician to graduate from the University of Rome Medical School. In 1907, she discerned a fundamental premise about children – all children are uniquely intelligent. As obvious this concept is today, it was unique for this time and continues to be innovative. Dr. Montessori’s focus on the whole child moves away from the traditional adult-centered classroom to an environment and methodology that is designed to facilitate the development of the child’s independence and sense of personal empowerment.
Little Miners blends the pedagogy of Montessori with current and state-of-the-art educational tools and resources. Dr. Montessori believed that the goal of early childhood education should not be to fill the child with facts from a pre-selected course of studies, but rather to cultivate their own natural desire to learn. In our classrooms this objective is approached in two ways:
- Children enter this world with a powerful drive to learn. Thus we allow each child to experience learning by their own choice, rather than being forced.
- Montessori sees learning as active, not passive. We view children as competent beings capable of self-directed discovery. In the classroom, students move from activity to activity – both independently and in groups-rather than sitting still passively learning. Teachers move around too, observing, guiding, facilitating – asking questions far more often than providing answers.
In a Montessori environment, children are able to learn at their own pace, according to their own interests. Through their own work with specially designed materials, children learn and make their own discoveries. The end result yields confident and happy children who possess a love for learning and an ability to think on their own.
