Montessori on the Mountain is awaiting Ministry of Education licensing. Follow our social media for updates.
Programs
The Young Children’s Community is specifically designed for children under 3 years old. Our beautiful, prepared environments are sensorially-rich, allowing for optimal learning conditions where children can work towards independence. Through individual and group lessons, the children work in many different areas of the curriculum, such as Language, Care of Self and the Environment, Manipulatives, Arts and Culture. The children learn through sensorial exploration and work on building practical life skills where they can improve their fine and gross motor skills, expand their vocabulary and express themselves through language and movement. The children are gently guided towards independence in toileting, self-care, dressing, food preparation, movement, communication, and much more. With loving and welcoming arms, our Guides always take extra care with the inner spirit of each individual child. We are truly honoured to have children in our care. It is our mission to endow each child with as many experiences and opportunities as possible to self-construct in an environment where they feel safe, respected, and loved.
Toilet learning is part of the YCC program.
"We must help the child to act for himself, will for himself, think for himself; this is the art of those who aspire to serve the spirit.”
Maria Montessori | Education for a New World
The Montessori Casa classroom has been carefully crafted for children ages 2.5-6 years old and is designed to allow for optimal conditions for learning based on child development and the teachings of Dr. Maria Montessori. Our approach is child-centred and each child is given ample freedom within clear and reasonable boundaries. We work everyday towards physical, intellectual, social and emotional independence and we believe it is best to help the child to help themselves. Children will learn how to think for themselves, solve their own problems (including social conflict) and express their emotions in an appropriate manner.
There are four main areas of the Casa curriculum: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language and Mathematics; with cultural activities underlying all four areas. We set children up for success by providing them with all the tools necessary for learning and growth, within both the tangible and intangible environments. Our classroom is sensorially-rich and allows for hands-on learning; after all, the hands are the instruments of the mind!
The Casa classroom operates on a 3-year cycle, where children attend the same classroom for 3 years. This cycle allows for a beautiful micro-society that is interdependent and interconnected. There is a spontaneous dynamic where the older children become a role model and teacher to the younger children and the younger children look up to the older ones. Discipline in the Casa classroom is centred around respect for all people in the classroom and the materials within it.
Some characteristics often seen of children at the end of their time in Casa are: independence, confidence, curiosity, thoughtfulness, kindness, compassion, holding a strong academic foundation and a love for learning. This program builds a solid foundation that will remain with the child for the rest of their life.
Children in the Casa program are expected to be using the toilet independently.
“He enters upon life and begins his mysterious task; little by little to build up the wondrous powers of a person adapted to his country and its times. He constructs his mind step by step till it becomes possessed of memory, the power to understand, the ability to think. And here he is, at last, in his sixth year of life.”
Maria Montessori | The Absorbent Mind
Extended Care
Our extended care program is available to children ages 18 months - 6 years old, and runs from
8-8:30a.m. & 3:30-5p.m., Monday-Friday.