Shepherdstown Montessori
Shepherdstown Montessori follows the principles and methodology of Dr. Maria Montessori in creating a well prepared environment enriched with a wide variety of learning opportunities within different curriculum areas.
The Montessori Guide
The Montessori guide (lead teacher) observes the children and presents individual and small group lessons, allowing each child to develop spiritually, emotionally, socially, and intellectually at their own pace. The lead guide identifies sensitive periods within each child’s development and provides meaningful lessons in order to help each child master many skills within each curriculum area. In a Montessori classroom, children may work with a material they choose for as long as they wish, allowing them to develop attention to detail and increased concentration.
Grace and Courtesy
Grace and courtesy is the Montessori approach to guiding a child towards respect for the materials and environment and being sensitive, caring, and kind towards others. These values are necessary for moral development and contribute to helping the child acquire a positive self-image.
While utilizing the Montessori Method, the classroom is carefully prepared for the children to work and play with a mixed age range (2.5 to 6 years old). The children are guided through academic learning to provide them the opportunity to develop their full individual potential and put them on the path to becoming functionally independent.
The Curriculum
The curriculum is based on Maria Montessori's theories and principles, offering a prepared environment that allows freedom within limits. Children can gain a sense of self while experiencing practical life skills, sensorial, language development, mathematics, art and music, gross motor activities, geography, science, grace, and courtesy.
A child's first year forms the foundation for each subsequent year as the curriculum is considered emergent. The children stay in the same classroom with the same lead teachers until they are ready to transition to first grade. This atmosphere creates a wonderfully intimate and caring environment.
The Kindergarten year is the culminating event for a child attending a Montessori school. During this year, the child shows mastery of the knowledge learned in the years previous and begins to engage in challenging extension activities. This last year of a Montessori education provides the opportunity for the child to be a leader, which develops problem solving, self-reliance, self-confidence, and compassion as they teach their peers.