Montessori House
of Children

We appreciate what we understand
We understand what we are taught

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About Us

“We appreciate what we understand
We understand what we are taught”

Firm Foundation is providing a stimulating and positive learning environment for students from 18 months to 6 years of age. Small classes ensure personalised guidance and attention. The students belong to a harmonious community and there is recognition of each child’s individual needs and learning styles. Education at the Firm Foundation offers your child an opportunity to develop independence, self-confidence and self esteem.

‘Working together to help our children to help themselves’

  • To inspire a passion for excellence
  • To nurture the curiosity, creativity and imagination born within us all
  • To awaken the human spirit of every child

What Makes Montessori Different from Other Education?

The child learns and is motivated through the work itself (not solely through the teacher) to persist in a given task. Each child has their own programme suited to its developmental stage and needs. Each child receives individual attention, wherever possible and certainly wherever needed, all instruction is one on one in the early years or in small groups of similar ability. One of the most important advantages is that each child can and does work at his/her own pace. Children are expected to work, and there is no competitiveness, only the child’s own drive and desire to learn. The child is neither pressured to keep up with the group, nor bored by having to wait for others to catch up, consequently the child is happy to learn and come to school.

The Montessori
Philosophy

Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.

The Montessori Philosophy

The Montessori approach to education is child centered and is based on mutual respect and cooperation. The teacher in a Montessori classroom is more of a guide and facilitator respecting the concentration and varied learning approaches of the children. Non-aggression and non-interruption, tolerance and concern for others are stressed. Montessori is about learning to balance responsibility with freedom of choice. It offers children the opportunity to realise their potential in a non-competitive environment and seeks to promote in them:

  • Self confidence and self esteem
  • A sense of achievement and self worth
  • Initiative and self motivation
  • Independence and adaptability
  • Respect for work
  • Concentration and persistence in completing a task
  • A sense of responsibility for themselves and their actions
  • Cooperation with others and a sense of community
  • Respecting the rights and needs of others

A Montessori
Education

When dealing with children there is greater need for observing than of probing

A Montessori Education

Respect for a child’s personality and trust in their inner potentialities are prerequisite to the foundation of an adequate educational alliance, between parent and teacher, parent and child and between teacher and student.

Our aim is to assist in the development of each child’s innate potential, by creating a school environment in which the child can do and think for him/herself. Patterns of concentration, focus and thoroughness established in early childhood produce a confident, competent learner in later years. Montessori teaches children to observe, to think, to judge and provides a framework in which intellectual and social discipline go hand in hand.

The following principles list some of her major ideas about how children learn and develop:

  • Movement and Cognition - that movement and cognition are closely entwined, and movement can enhance thinking and learning
  • Choice - that learning and well-being can be improved when people have a sense of control over their lives
  • Interest - that people learn better when they are interested in what they are learning
  • Extrinsic rewards are avoided - that tying extrinsic rewards to an activity like money for reading or for high grades for tests, negatively impacts motivation to engage in that activity when the reward is withdrawn
  • Learning with and from Peers - that collaborative arrangement can be conducive to learning
  • Learning in Context - that learning situated in meaningful contexts is often deeper and richer than learning in abstract contexts
  • Teacher Ways and Child Ways - that particular form of adult interaction are associated with more optimal child outcomes
  • Order in Environment and Mind - that order in the environment is beneficial to children

Classroom
Programmes

The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind.

Classroom Programmes

The Montessori Programme is designed for children from 18 month to 6 years old. Children attend a daily session for five days a week. This provides a regular and established routine at an optimal time of the day for learning.

As in a family, the children learn from and assist one another. They are free to move about, talk and work with familiar materials that can be divided into the five basic areas of the pre-school curriculum:

  • Practical life materials provide the link between home and school and enhance the development of coordination, confidence, concentration and independence. They help the children adapt to their environment. The Practical Life activities include social skills, polishing, washing, pouring, and dressing skills.
  • Sensorial materials are designed to help children become more perceptive to understand concepts and focus on the details of the world around them, and are in direct preparation for later work. Activities involve grading and matching shape, weight, touch, taste colour and sound.
  • Language materials increase vocabulary, explore the sounds and syntax of the English language and help children to read and write. Activities commence with oral language work such as stories, speaking and sound games, through to working with sandpaper letters, writing with a movable alphabet and then reading.
  • Mathematical concepts are offered to children concretely. Hands-on materials create an enjoyable approach to arithmetic and geometry. Children will learn to count and then to operate decimal systems and fractions. From this solid base abstraction occurs naturally.
  • Cultural materials provide children with experiences in geography, art and natural sciences. As in other areas the child first experiences culture on a concrete level. Activities include puzzle maps for geography, bells for music, personal time-lines for history, simple science experiences such as sink and float and a range of paints and materials for art.

Children in First Stage gradually develop a new level of social and emotional maturity, which usually indicates a readiness to enter the Stage 2. To help in this transition, children are encouraged to spend more time in what will become their new classroom where materials and methods overlap from the pre-primary. In this way a gradual transition into Primary is achieved, as there is a continuity and logical progression through each stage.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Montessori & traditional education?

Montessori emphasizes learning through all five senses, not just through listening, watching, or reading. Children in Montessori classes learn at their own, individual pace and according to their own choice of activities. Learning is an exciting process of discovery, leading to concentration, motivation, self-discipline, and a love of learning. Montessori classes are vertical grouped (children of different ages in same class), forming communities in which the older children spontaneously share their knowledge with the younger ones.

Montessori is designed to help all children reach their fullest potential at their own unique pace. A classroom whose children have varying abilities is a community in which everyone learns from one another and everyone contributes. Moreover, vertical grouping allows each child to find his or her own pace without feeling "ahead" or "behind" in relation to peers.

There are more Montessori programs for ages 0-6. Infant/toddler programs (ages 2 months to 3 years), as well as elementary (ages 6-12), adolescent (ages 12-15) and even a few Montessori high schools.

Research studies show that Montessori children are well prepared for later life academically, socially, and emotionally. In addition to scoring well on standardized tests, Montessori children are ranked above average on such criteria as following directions, turning in work on time, listening attentively, using basic skills, showing responsibility, asking provocative questions, showing enthusiasm for learning, and adapting to new situations.

The Montessori Method encourages the child to be self-disciplined, self-confident, independent, and creative. Children find joy in learning itself rather than in the teacher's approval or any reward. It creates an enthusiasiasm in learning and improves concentration. Montessori education provides a framework in which intellectual and social development goes hand in hand.

Most children adjust readily to new classroom situations. They have developed a high degree of self-discipline and independence in the Montessori environment and adapt well.

Upcoming Activities

Language learning

"To home another language is to possess a second soul." (Charlemagne)

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Chess

"Chess is everything : art, science and sport." (Anatoly karpov)

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Phonetic Based reading session with word wall

"Phonics instruction is: Beneficial to all, Harmful to none and crucial for some."

Summer School

"Every student can learn just not on the same day or in the same way"

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Blogs

What is a Montessori School?

Montessori system of education was figured by Maria Montessori in the mid 1900s...

Montessori's educational philosophy

Dr. Maria Montessori established the Montessori Method in Italy in the early 1900s and her scientific approach to education was formed around the individual needs of the child...

Montessori Summer Camp Programs

Montessori Summer Camp is filled with exploration of each sort! From art to sports and games to scholarly work in our Montessori classrooms...

Firm Foundation offers the best skill and curriculum of knowledge at reasonable fees.

Ensure to foster and develop your child and raise them to the international community.

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