"The young child has one intuitive aim -- his self-development. He wants to do and see for himself, through his own senses and not through the eyes of an adult. He becomes a full person."
Goria Dei Montessori follows the philosophy and system of education developed by Dr Maria Montessori, 1870-1952. This international developmental and scientific approach provides the individual child with a prepared environment designed to stimulate and develop his/her intelligence as well as his/her physical, spiritual, social, emotional, and psychological abilities.
The basic idea in the Montessori Philosophy of education is that every child carries unseen within him the man he will become. In order to develop his physical, intellectual and spiritual powers to the fullest, he must have freedom – a freedom to be achieved through order and self-discipline. The world of the child is full of sights and sounds which at first appear chaotic. From this chaos the child must gradually create order and learn to distinguish among the impressions that assail his senses, slowly but surely gaining mastery of himself and his environment.
Dr. Maria Montessori developed what she called the “prepared environment” which already possesses a certain order and disposes the child to develop his sense and intelligence at his own speed, according to his own capacities, and in a non-competitive atmosphere in his first school years. “Never let a child risk failure, until he has a reasonable chance of success,” said Dr. Montessori.
Within this environment children are free to choose activities, to work at their own pace, and to work independently or with others. Dr. Montessori believed that the best way for children to learn was through the active undertaking by the learner for knowledge; therefore, the children are given the freedom within limits to choose their own work.
The multi-age groupings provide many opportunities for the children to reinforce their learning by teaching others in the classroom and working cooperatively in pursuit of knowledge.