7 Top Benefits of A Montessori Preschool

Engage Team • Dec 07, 2016

Choosing Eden Prairie Montessori Can Give Your Child An Advantage In Life….

Here are the 7 big benefits of a Montessori preschool, child care, & early childhood education program:

1. Your child will gain confidence with custom, hands-on learning.

One of the greatest benefits of the Montessori Method, particularly during the early learning experience, is the focus on hands-on learning. Eden Prairie Montessori preschool students enjoy a classroom and curriculum designed around their specific needs and abilities that allows them choose, explore and work freely with activities. Everything in the classroom is within reach of the child, and furniture is sized for children to sit comfortably. Children can work at tables or on rugs in a natural environment, learning to remove learning materials from their places on their own and return them when they are ready. This helps the child gain confidence and gives them the opportunity to say “I CAN DO IT MYSELF.”

2. Your child can learn at their own pace, awakening their spirit, imagination, and passions.

Many child care centers and early childhood programs focus on a specific curriculum, using a one size fits all approach. However, teachers in the Montessori classroom are mentors and guides that are there to facilitate the learning experience, rather than determine what it will look like. At Eden Prairie we like to call them the ‘Montessori Adult.’ While they do not instruct or determine the pace of the classroom – that is strictly up to individual students- the Montessori Adults are there to ensure the ground rules are followed, strive to remain as unobtrusive as possible and encourage students to perform tasks at their own pace. All Eden Prairie Montessori Adults are trained in the Montessori method of teaching for their specific positions with appropriate credentials, as well as in CPR & First Aid.

Our educators have four principle goals:

3. Your child learns cooperation and community with multi-age classrooms.

Many child care center’s are segregated by age. Because Eden Prairie’s Montessori Adults are trained to be facilitators rather than directors, it encourages children to share and work cooperatively across ages to explore the various stations in the Montessori classroom. The multi-age classroom re-creates a family structure. Older children enjoy stature as mentors and role models; younger children feel supported and gain confidence about the challenges ahead. The Adults model respect, loving kindness, and a belief in peaceful conflict resolution. Children in Montessori classrooms, by the very nature of the environment, learn to respect one another and build a close, caring community fostering the development of good social skills.

4. Your child will develop a lifelong love of learning.

Children (and everyone, really!) are always more excited to learn when they’re learning about things in which they are interested, and Eden Prairie Montessori kids are enthusiastic and active participants in deciding what their focus of learning will be! We understand that internal satisfaction drives the child’s curiosity and interest which results in joyous learning that is sustainable over a lifetime. Since children are allowed to choose their activities and work at them on their own terms, creativity in the classroom is encouraged. Children work at tasks for the joy of the work, rather than the end result, which allows them to focus more on process than result – a natural path to creativity.

5. Your child will learn independence.

Everything about a Montessori classroom fosters independence. Our classrooms at Eden Prairie, commonly referred to as ‘prepared environments, are carefully designed with materials to support the child’s emerging “self-regulation” (ability to educate one’s self, and to think about what one is learning), beginning at an early age. As the year progresses, all children are given developmentally appropriate opportunities for increased responsibility, freedom, positive choices and active learning. Care and attention is given to creating a learning environment that will reinforce the child’s independence and intellectual development.

6. Your child will develop with the learning style that is best for them.

Each child is valued as a unique individual. Montessori education recognizes that children learn in different ways, and accommodates all learning styles. Each child at Eden Prairie Montessori is presented with activities and materials according to their progress and ability, and are allowed to explore concepts at their own comfortable pace. This naturally encourages children to try more challenging areas, which accelerates their learning experience while being gently guided by our teachers and an individualized learning plan.

7. Your child will get a multicultural experience and learn from daily Spanish lessons and a multicultural environment.

Unique to the Montessori classroom is a rich cultural curriculum. Dr. Maria Montessori was passionate that the key to a peaceful world was held within the peaceful child. By exploring cultural activities including maps, music, food, and artifacts, with a focus on the similarities on people throughout the world, the child builds awareness of the world around them. Exposure to a wide variety of cultures also encourages children to broaden their thinking about the world and address those concepts in a variety of ways. At Eden Prairie Montessori we are proud of our diversity. Our students and our staff come from a varied background of countries and cultures, which gives us the unique ability to recognize and celebrate a wide range of cultures and holidays of the world with authenticity. In addition to a multicultural environment, all children have the opportunity to learn Spanish from a native speaker. Our Spanish education begins in our infant room with our bi-lingual staff speaking to our babies in both Spanish and English. It continues into Toddlers and Preschool/Kindergarten with daily class lessons taught in a fun and engaging way. Your child will learn from an early age to respect and cherish the qualities that make us all different and unique, while recognizing that we are all bound by a common thread of humanity.

Does this sound like it might be a perfect place for your child to thrive? Give us a call at (952) 944-8466 to book a tour and come see for yourself what a Montessori education is like!

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