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 The Namasté Children's House (NCH) offers an educational program based upon the discoveries of Dr. Maria Montessori, (1870 -1952), the first woman in Italy to qualify as a physician: her educational philosophy focuses on the child's developmental needs for freedom within limits, as well as a carefully prepared environment which guarantees exposure to materials and experiences. Through this, the child develops intelligence as well as physical and psychological abilities. The Montessori method of education is designed to take full advantage of the child's desire to learn and the child's unique ability to develop his/her own capabilities. The Montessori Connection web site is a is a good place to find additional information on the Montessori Method of education.
Namasté Children's House formerly named the Manchester School of Montessori was founded in 2002 to foster a love of learning and to educate children to be caring, socially responsible citizens of their community and world. The educational programs involve children from 2 years and 9 months to 6 years of age. NCH seeks to educate the whole child, applying the Montessori philosophy, in a family-oriented environment. The philosophy of NCH is based on the principles of Dr. Maria Montessori, whose holistic vision of education focuses on the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical needs of the child. For Dr. Montessori, and for NCH, education is preparation for life. NCH follows the tenets of Dr. Montessori by offering a child-centered and multi - sensory environment. The curriculum, the classroom and the teacher's role are all carefully designed to honor self-paced growth while encouraging group awareness and social cooperation.
In the classroom, each curriculum area has its own set of materials placed on child-sized shelves to allow for free choice. The curriculum is presented in an ordered fashion through lessons and - sequenced on the shelves from simple to complex, concrete to abstract. The curriculum is designed to provide integrated age-appropriate experiences in the sciences, arts, cultural studies, geography, math, and language. The emphases of the curriculum is to empower children of all learning styles to develop their independent growth.
The classroom materials, designed principally by Dr. Montessori, isolate a specific skill or concept. Children choose materials and work at their own pace, uninterrupted, often repeating a process many times. This process allows for the inner mastery of the isolated skill the material offers.
The teacher takes an active role in the education of each child, presenting individual lessons based on observation of the child's work choices and interests as well as the child's developmental readiness on each area of learning. The teacher also creates small - group and whole class lessons and activities to promote social interaction and cooperation and to provide diverse learning opportunities. Namasté Children's House is dedicated to providing its students with a rich and varied social environment. NCH offers multi- age groupings with each program, where children learn from each other and help each other, both academically and socially.
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We respect and view each child as a unique personality and the most important person in our environment. Our goal is to assist young children to reach their fullest potential as healthy, creative, constructive members of our community and to respectfully cultivate a genuine desire for lifelong learning. Part of this assistance is to work closely with the parents, to respect the individual child and his/her needs, and to nurture the qualities of imagination, honesty, loyalty, grace, and resilience.
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