Maria Montessori’s philosophy is based on the principle that children possess their own inner time clock for cognitive growth (just as they do for physical growth), and that the best way to help children fulfill their own potential is to help them develop naturally at their own pace.

She believed the only valid impulse to learning is the self-motivation of the child. The adult prepares the environment and directs the activity but it is the child who learns and who is motivated through the work itself to persist in his or her given task.

Montessori children are free to learn because they have acquired, from their exposure to both physical and mental order, an “inner discipline.” Patterns of concentration, persistence, and thoroughness established in early childhood produce confident, competent learners in later years.

Bayside Montessori School strives to follow Maria Montessori’s philosophy.

The following concepts are the foundation upon which all Montessori practices are based:

• Children are distinctly different from, not smaller versions of, adults.
• As the nurturance of children is one of the fundamental tasks of families and society, the school must include the family and the community in the education process.
• Children begin to learn at birth, and they learn through interacting with their environment. As such, the nature of that environment is important. The child takes a natural pleasure in mastering the environment.
• The hand and the senses lead the child through the learning process. True learning occurs by active acquisition, not by passive acquisition of data.  The capacity to do things for oneself is vital for true learning to occur.
• Each child is endowed with a unique potential and capacity. The teacher’s mission is to meet the needs of each child within the context of that child’s social, emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual development.

Montessori education is based on the fundamental concept that a child learns best within a social environment, which supports each individual’s uniqueness.  Montessori educators recognize that self-motivation is the most valid impulse to learning.

 The Montessori child is free to learn because he or she has acquired “inner discipline” through exposure to the physical and mental order of the Montessori curriculum and environment.  Habits of concentration, persistence, and thoroughness, established in early childhood, produce a confident and competent learner in later years.  Montessori education introduces children to the joy of learning at an early age and provides a framework in which intellectual and social discipline go hand in hand.