Countryside Montessori School's philosophy is based on the work of Dr. Maria Montessori, who developed the Montessori Method over a century ago in Italy. Her fine ability to observe the learning process resulted in a method of education which is designed to help the child accomplish the task of becoming a person.
Dr. Montessori recognized early that different children mature at different rates and are ready for different learning experiences at different times of their lives. To teach children at a level for which they are not yet ready confuses them and creates a sense of nonsuccess and inadequacy which may trouble them all their lives. To teach them beneath their ability wastes their time and bores them.
The learning materials in our school are 'self correcting. This means that if a child makes a mistake, it is not the teacher who points out the error. Rather, the material itself allows the child to find and correct the error. In this way, repeated trials are encouraged without a sense of shame or failure.
Our children become responsible for their own learning and their own behavior. They learn to respect themselves and others, and they develop the inner discipline without which true freedom is not possible.
Everything in our school is designed to encourage and aid the child's natural curiosity. There is freedom to move about in any of the hundreds of available learning experiences. There is an almost total absence of time-wasting activities and routines.
We have been a full affiliate with The American Montessori Society since 1998.