Welcome
At Follow the
Child Montessori, we provide a
quality, Montessori experience for children ages three to six. Dr.
Montessori referred to this type of environment as a “Children’s House”
for the tables and chairs are sized perfectly for the child and
inviting materials are placed neatly on low shelves, inviting children
to “work” with them. We refer to their use of the materials as their
work, not in the adult sense of the word, which is synonymous to
drudgery, but in the child’s sense of important discoveries of the
world. Often this work is completed with a total sense of
accomplishment and joy.
Children begin at the age
of three and remain in the same class, with the same Directress
(teacher) and the same peers for three years. A sense of family emerges
as the youngest children learn by example from the older ones, and the
older children have the opportunity to give lessons to their newfound
friends. Their last year, their kindergarten year, becomes a
culmination of all they have learned. During their third year, children
are able to internalize the concrete experiences from their first two
years at school.
Our classroom is located
in an historic home near downtown Bath. The
classrooms are spacious, yet warm and inviting and the yard offers half
an acre of lawn for playing and gardening. Inside, the children
can
read by the fire (actually painted by a parent), watch and feed our
resident turtle, prepare their own snack, as well as work with the full
complement of Montessori primary materials. We welcome visitors to come
and observe the class at work or tour the facility after class is done
for the day.
Any child who is self-sufficient, who can tie his shoes, dress or undress himself, reflects in his joy and sense of achievement the image of human dignity, which is derived from a sense of independence.
Maria Montessori