Montessori Philosophy

Every child carries within himself the person he will become. Palm Valley Montessori School aims to provide children an education that fulfills their intellectual, social, and emotional potential. In order to fully develop, the child is given significant freedom in a specially prepared environment and is respected as an individual capable of great works. The child joyfully explores his environment and makes his own discoveries while guided and encouraged by his teachers. The child learns with deep understanding because he is allowed to interact thoroughly with the material. According to Montessori, all children share an aspiration to become competent and independent human beings. Palm Valley Montessori School aids this desire by providing the best stimuli at the ideal time. However, it is the child who is the author of his own education both in his preschool years and his lifetime.

The Montessori method of education was developed by Dr. Maria Montessori through a process of careful observation, scientific design, research on child development, and trial and error over five decades. Dr. Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870. She gained recognition as the first female physician in Italy upon her graduation from medical school in 1896. She was a scientific observer and it was through her clinical observations that she formed her theories about how children learn. She returned to university in 1901 to study psychology and philosophy and soon became a professor at the University of Rome. However, she was drawn to work with young children. In 1906, she gave up her medical practice and university chair to work with poor children in the San Lorenzo district of Rome. It was there that she established the Casa dei Bambino or “Children’s House.” The results were extraordinary. Young children from the poorest families in Rome, thought to be incapable of civilized living, were transformed into excelling students. Montessori's revolutionary teaching methods caught the attention of the world community and a movement was born. Today, thousands of Montessori programs exist in private, public, and charter schools all over the world. The Montessori method is revered as a natural and joyful way to engage the child in learning and develop his potential.

Montessori education moves the child toward normalization. This term is frequently used in Montessori education and, unfortunately, frequently misunderstood. Dr. Montessori did not intend to imply the child be made “average” or “typical.” Normalization is a technical word borrowed from the field of anthropology. Think of this term as meaning possessing an inner peace and confidence in one’s role. This confidence, peace, satisfaction in one’s role is developed through concentrated work and self-discipline. Dr. Montessori wrote, “Only "normalised" children, aided by their environment, show in their subsequent development those wonderful powers that we describe: spontaneous discipline, continuous and happy work, social sentiments of help and sympathy for others. . . . An interesting piece of work, freely chosen, which has the virtue of inducing concentration rather than fatigue, adds to the child's energies and mental capacities, and leads him to self-mastery. . . . One is tempted to say that the children are performing spiritual exercises, having found the path of self-perfectionment and of ascent to the inner heights of the soul." (Dr. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, 1949) Assisting the child in this development is the true goal of Montessori instruction.

Academic success is only one of the yardsticks by which we can measure the benefits of a Montessori education. The Montessori method is truly an education of the whole person, not just the mind.

A Montessori child will…

• understand himself and develop greater self-respect and self-assurance
• develop critical thinking skills and apply past experience to solve new challenges
• learn for the pure delight of learning and this trait will last a lifetime
• work independently and think independently
• develop great self-discipline and make appropriate choices
• develop intrinsic motivation and the desire to challenge himself
• judge his own performance and progress
• develop excellent concentration