Montessori Preschool
• Private daycare• Trilingual Montessori preschool program
• 3 to 5 years old
The Montessori Preschool Centre is a private, subsidized institution. The Montessori pre-kindergarten, a pioneer daycare in Montreal, opened its doors in 1960. Our educational program is inspired by the values and unique approach of renowned Italian educator, Dr. Maria Montessori.
The Montessori Educator
A Key Factor
in Your Child’s Development
At a Montessori daycare, the educator is, above all, an observer who is highly attentive to each child’s individual needs. The educator focuses on sparking the child’s interest and provides encouragement. S/he acts as the dynamic link between the child and his surroundings, all while fostering a harmonious, calm, fair and open-minded environment.
The Montessori Classroom
Customized, for every child
The Montessori classroom is a reflection of a child’s world, specifically equipped to meet their size, interests and learning needs. Our educational daycare program is tailored for children ages 2 ½ to 6. The classroom is designed to maximize their freedom within prescribed limits, in an organized environment that offers a variety of appealing exercises and activities. At a Montessori daycare, there are always a plethora of on-going activities to choose from. Learning from objects and materials requires physical movement such as walking, pulling, carrying, pouring, etc. Children work at tables or on small carpets on the floor where they are naturally more comfortable.
Children are encouraged to learn through discovery, action and touch rather than through lengthy verbal instruction, which instills greater satisfaction. For example, more than just a number written down on a piece of paper, a mathematical unit is something a child can hold in is or hand. Similarly, a verb can actually be executed, rather than just understood ‘theoretically’ through workbook text.
Montessori – a world-renowned educational method
Over 100 Years of Excellence
« Let us not bring up children for today’s world. This world will no longer exist when they grow up. Our priority should be to help children cultivate their ability to create and adapt. »
Dr Maria Montessori,
The Absorbent Mind
Who was Maria Montessori?
Born in 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy, Dr. Maria Montessori was a renowned physician, educator and the founder of the “Montessori Method” of education. Despite endless obstacles and prejudice, Montessori became the country’s first female physician in 1896. Following graduation, she worked at the Rome University Psychiatric Clinic. It was there that she became very interested in the study of children’s learning and began to develop her philosophy of education.
In 1901, she went back to school to study philosophy and psychology and was influenced by the works of renowned educators Jean Itard and Édouard Séguin. On January 6, 1907, in the San Lorenzo district of Rome, Dr. Montessori officially inaugurated the opening of the first Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House). Based on a child-centered approach, the Casa dei Bambini fostered children’s natural desire to learn. News of the school’s success soon caught-on, with Montessori daycares opening throughout Italy, Europe, Asia, and the United States.
Throughout her career, Dr. Montessori travelled extensively to give lectures on her novel educational method and was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace prize. Her long life’s journey came to an end in 1952 in Holland.
Currently, there are more than 22,000 Montessori schools, in 110 countries worldwide.
A Bilingual Program
Mastering Two Languages, Simultaneously
At our Montessori daycare, children have the opportunity to learn two core languages: French and English. In order to nurture a fully bilingual environment, each class is led by three educators: a Francophone educator, an English-speaking educator, and a bilingual educator. Using Montessori materials, children learn to read and write in both languages.
Introduction to Spanish
Discovering a Third Language Through Play
Once a week, a Spanish teacher comes to class for an activity that allows the children to familiarize themselves with Spanish. Through singing, rhymes, stories, and role-playing, the children discover this language through the spirit of play.
Stimulating the Child's Interest
Fun and Enriching Content
Our educational daycare program is divided into five main categories:
Practical daily life exercises (all liquid transfer exercises) and sensorial materials (cylindrical blocks, geometric cabinet) involve the use of fine motor skills; indirectly, this helps prepare the child for pre-writing. In contrast, sandpaper letters, metal insets and the movable alphabet directly help in developing concrete writing skills, including practice with handwriting.
Moreover, the “I Spy” game, sandpaper letters and movable alphabet introduces children to the reading process. Using these class materials, children begin to read simple phonetic sound combinations and words.
Our daycare’s mathematics program is highly structured, with clearly defined priorities. Numbers are taught through concrete quantities while symbols are introduced independently later on. Finally, numbers and quantities are combined.
While at Montessori Preschool, your child will acquire a sensorial impression of the four operations –
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Examples of math activities include golden bead work, group activities and the stamp game.
Through the manipulation of various geographic landforms, children are invited to observe and use their sense of touch to understand the concept of a ‘waterway’, including lakes, islands, bays, capes, isthmi, peninsulas, straits and gulfs.
By using the geography puzzles, the children learn the continents, countries and Canadian provinces. One continent and one country are chosen for further exploration. The culture and the specific characteristics of the location will be discovered.
Children learn to recognize the different aspects of their immediate environment: their neighbourhood, city, and country. Their knowledge broadens when they are put in contact with the map of the world, the seven continents, and the different countries.