A little about Montessori
Maria Montessori was the first woman to graduate with a medical degree from the University of Rome, in Italy. Soon after graduating she was appointed assistant doctor at the psychiatric clinic in San Giovanni Hospital. While working closely with these children Maria developed a great interest for them and began to observe them. She worked confidently with them and gradually saw progress as they were responding to her teaching. Maria then realised that if children with defects and mental disabilities could show such a great response and improvement when working with the equipment and methods of teaching that she discovered, how effective it could be on children without difficulties. In 1906 Maria opened her first school where she combined the stimulation of senses and education of movement as a system of her own. She observed the children in her school for a long time and came to the conclusion that children enjoyed working. She also noticed that the children repeated activities continuously until they had successfully completed it. Their concentration and interest in an activity was powerful.
Montessori’s concepts & Aims:
– The teacher must pay attention to the child, rather than the child paying attention to the teacher.
– The child proceeds at his own pace in an environment, controlled to provide means for learning.
– Imaginative teaching materials are the heart of the process
– Each activity is self-correcting, thus enabling the child to proceed at his/ her own pace and notices his/her own mistakes as well as correct them.
– To facilitate the development of the child’s unique personality.
– To help him/her become socially and emotionally well-adjusted and grow up as a physically strong and happy child.
– To help make it possible for him/her to develop to their full intellectual capacity.
Extras that we include
- Washing hands and cleaning is not enough as bacteria are living organisms that migrate from surface to surface
- Sprinkle Spray focuses on creating a healthier environment at your facility and eliminates bacteria on all surfaces
- Soft toys, puzzles, baby cots, beds, etc are sprayed too as our disinfectant is non-toxic and safe to use
- The microfilm helps to shield surfaces and objects from bacteria which leads to reduced chances of cross-infection
- A disinfectant microfilm is left on the surface that stays active for days as our method doesn’t leave any residual moisture behind
- Unique application method that sends millions of charged molecules
to all areas - Sprinkle Spray is applied weekly
Every Friday we have Cake and Candy! One parent will be asked to bring a treat for each child and the other children will each bring R5 so they can buy their treat.
Some ideas for treats: Fizzers, biscuits, crisps, suckers, cupcakes, etc. We like to encourage parents to take this opportunity to bake with their little ones – the children get so much enjoyment out of selling something they have helped to make.
On Fridays we like to do something special!
These are some of the fun filled activities we will be having on Fridays: Pyjama Day, Funky Hair Day, Hat Day, Hot Chocolate Day, Teddy Bears Picnic, Movie/ Date Night, What I Want To Be When I Grow Up, and many more…
These will not be held every Friday, but we do like to have at least one or two every month. These days are always good for fundraising and are great fun for both the children and the teachers.
Our in-house speech therapist
C.V. HAYLEY NICOLE LLOYD:
I qualified at The University of the Witwatersrand at the end of 2001 and obtained a bachelors degree of Speech and Hearing Therapy (with distinction). During my first year as a speech and language therapist I worked at mainstream primary school working with children from grade R-3. My passion though is working with preschoolers and I’m an active early interventionist.
I was a therapist who was part of a multidisciplinary team at the Children’s Communication Centre in Parktown for six years treating children with severe speech, language and/or hearing problems. Since my own two children were born I have been outsourced as a private therapist at Bedfordview Pre Primary, St Andrews Preschool and Little Minds Montessori.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with young children (aged 2-7 years) over the past eighteen years. During my career I have treated children with articulation and phonological disorders, auditory processing difficulties, developmental language disorders; early intervention; social communication difficulties, behavioural difficulties, stuttering, apraxia, second language English stimulation and autistic spectrum disorders.
We are proud members of the South African Montessori Association (SAMA)
SAMA is the official liaison between its member body and government departments through our membership with NAISA (National Alliance for Independent school of South Africa); including ECD chambers of government as well as the Department Social Development (DSD) and the Department of Basic Education (DBE). This representation is paramount in keeping best practice and integrity in member Montessori schools.
