Given the positive results we have seen, we are continuing our individual learning support. It is open to children up to the age of 8, by appointment only.
The approach
Materials designed for concentration
Montessori education comes with a rich and varied set of materials. Maria Montessori developed them through close observation of children throughout her life. She discovered that children must be allowed to become deeply concentrated so that they can calm down, awaken, build themselves and develop their intelligence (the “phenomenon of attention”).
All of Maria Montessori’s materials were designed to meet these fundamental needs.
The sensitive periods
Maria Montessori also identified the child’s “sensitive periods”, which occur between birth and age 6. These are temporary, specific inner predispositions that draw the child towards a particular aspect of their environment that is needed for their development at that moment and corresponds to a stage in their growth. When we respond to these periods, the child concentrates and learns naturally, with pleasure and without strain. There are six of them:
- Order
- Language
- Movement
- Sensory refinement
- Social development
- Small objects
The sessions
Individual support is offered to children who struggle with concentration or who are behind in learning to read, write or do maths.
The sessions rely on the Montessori materials: they are appealing, and they make concrete and sensory what can sometimes feel too abstract for some children in mainstream schooling. By listening to the child and respecting their pace, we (re)visit and absorb the fundamental concepts of language and mathematics, and build self-confidence and self-esteem.
For example
In mathematics
The child handles a unit, a ten, a hundred and a thousand.
For example
In language
The sandpaper letters combine sight, hearing and touch. The child comes to know each letter through movement (a kinaesthetic approach). This meets the needs of the sensitive periods, and it also makes the learning stick.
Who is it for?
From age 6
Children who need help
Children who need help in one or more areas (maths, French). This may sometimes mean going back over the basics.
From age 4
A different way of learning
Children who would simply like to discover a different way of learning, based on concrete, hands-on activity.
Good to know
- So that as many children as possible can benefit from this wonderful approach, priority is given to children who do not already attend a Montessori school.
- These sessions are not homework help.