Our teaching method focuses on exercises that develop the child’s ability to concentrate, be self-disciplined, self-motivated, and appreciate order. Through these exercises and the ability to both work alone and in groups, a love of exploration and learning are developed. Our goal is to help children to become well-rounded, spontaneous and able to utilize their capabilities to the fullest through nurturing, free play, and focused learning.

We provide and promote the following “ingredients” for children’s successful learning experience:

• Mixed-age groups
• High-quality and purposeful learning materials
• Well-prepared, attentive teachers
• Intentionally-prepared environment
• Non-competitive learning atmosphere
  

Mixed-Age Groups

In mixed-age classrooms, younger children get the benefit of having older children role model mature behavior and accomplishments in a desirable and impressionable fashion. Older children have opportunities to develop their leadership skills, develop patience and caring behaviors, and reinforce their own knowledge by helping the younger ones. Those who are ready for more challenge have opportunities to work with peers who are developmentally similar, and those who are not yet ready for the next level get their needs met without judgment or drawing undue attention. Our experience has shown that these mixed-age learning experiences help to develop joyful, focused, compassionate, creative and curious individuals.

Learning Materials

Materials are introduced to the children one-on-one or in small groups by the teacher; after that, the child is welcome to work with the materials further on their own, or with the teacher. The materials come with built-in error controls; for example, when a knobbed cylinder does not fit in a hole, the child easily perceives the error. Children are able to solve problems on their own, building independence, analytical thinking, and the satisfaction that comes from true accomplishment. As the child’s exploration continues, the materials interrelate and build upon each other. Our affiliate, AppleSeed Educational, produces and distributes Montessori and other high-quality learning materials, often inspired by things our teachers have created over the years in order to facilitate children’s learning.

Teachers

Our teachers are responsible for implementing our well-developed, high-quality program. All of our teachers have some formal teacher preparation experiences in early childhood education and Montessori training, and continue to receive professional development experiences during their employment with AppleSeed. Our teachers are very keen observers of the individual interests and needs of each child, and they monitor and track the respective progress of each child, as well as communicate with parents on a regular basis. They recognize signs of receptivity and readiness, and prepare the environment accordingly to meet the child’s needs. They serve as guides, not as dictators, of children’s learning.

Environment

We believe that children learn best via sensory-rich, hands-on exploration of subject materials, rather than through traditional schooling methods, such as teacher lecturing and drilling, and worksheets. Each classroom has a rich supply of learning materials for each area of the curriculum, and they are neatly arranged on low, open shelves so that children can access them independently. Teachers rotate some materials in and out as children’s needs and proficiencies change, and introduce new items with new challenges. Our teachers are keen observers of the children, and know when the time is right to encourage a child to take something further, or to take more time with a particular subject or activity.

Atmosphere

At AppleSeed Montessori, we believe that competition in education should be introduced only after the child has gained confidence in the use of basic skills. We believe that a child should never be allowed to risk failure until they have been given a reasonable chance of success. Each child relates only to their previous work, and their progress is not compared to the achievement of other children or to artificial benchmarks. When children work in pairs or groups, they learn to work together toward a common goal, drawing on each other’s equally-valued contributions to achieve that goal.