“Montessori is a closely knit community and the communication between parents and teachers is very, very good,” says Nicole Lavery, owner of Lavery Brewing, whose eldest daughter is a graduate of MRCS, and who has two younger children currently enrolled at the school. “There is a lot of one-to-one interaction with teachers that is much harder to get in a larger setting.”
Parent Perspectives
The Montessori classroom is a dynamic space where tables are arranged into open networks facilitating group participation and interaction. Students are free to move about the room to gather materials to complete their work. A Montessori teacher is typically engaged in preparing the environment, observing students as they work and guiding them in their discovery of solutions, a method that facilitates independence and self-reliance.
Among Lori’s criteria was finding a curriculum that could accommodate different levels of learning. Her kindergarten-aged child was an early reader, and Lori feared she would have to repeat phonics, a skill she had already acquired. To her surprise, she discovered that each child in the Montessori classroom progressed independently, regardless of age. “Differentiated learning to accommodate different ability levels is what influenced me the most,” says Bischof.
Cheryl Schodt, program and curriculum research analyst at MRCS, has been a member of the faculty and administration for 11 years. Having taught elementary education in traditional schools prior to Montessori, she appreciates the way the program focuses on meaningful and fulfilling educational experiences. “All of our students have the opportunity to manipulate materials and ideas to discover creative solutions to problems. This ability is a valuable life-long skill that will enable each of our students to live successfully and be an asset to the work force in the 21st century.”
“Once I saw the classroom and became familiar with the materials and the method, I was convinced.” Lori has two children enrolled at MRCS, and plans to have her third child attend in two more years.
The curriculum at MRCS is interwoven so that activities and discussion encompass multiple academic subjects. No subjects are taught in isolation. As students progress in the exploration of a particular topic, additional subjects are naturally introduced, building upon previous discoveries toward greater and greater degrees of complexity. MRCS also has a character education program where children acquire grace, courtesy and a sense of communal responsibility. Latin and classical studies are also offered, unique programs both locally and nationally.
As a Millcreek School District teacher and mother, Lori Bischof had specific ideas regarding the elementary curriculum she wanted for her three children. While in the process of evaluating schools, she received a flyer about MRCS. Although she knew almost nothing about Montessori education, she decided to visit the school.
Montessori’s self-directed, individual learning approach also made it the school of choice for Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the LECOM School of Pharmacy, Dr. Hershey Bell. “What distinguishes Montessori is the emphasis on critical thinking and problem-solving,” he says. “It fit our philosophical view.” Bell’s three children are graduates of Montessori and have moved on to secondary, college and postgraduate education. His eldest son is studying for a master’s degree in International Relations and European Politics at the University of Amsterdam. He also has a son entering his junior year at Clemson University who is studying abstract mathematics. The youngest, a daughter, is enrolled at Mercyhurst Prep, a school whose curriculum Bell says “aligns with Montessori.” >
Anthony Pirrello, chief executive officer of MRCS, believes that the school plays a critical role as an alternative to public education, providing parents the opportunity to find what’s best for their children on the “educational menu” of our community. “This is the free market at work in education,” he says. “We have to be flexible, to react to the marketplace. Public school choice is all about making sure that the quality remains high. Competition in the educational marketplace promotes higher quality. That’s what taxpayers deserve.”
At the Montessori Regional Charter School in Erie, students manage their own work plans and progress at their own pace in a hands-on environment.
Montessori’s Face Value
Barbara Walters once asked Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin what the secret was to their success. Their Montessori education was the key, they answered. Chef Julia Child, Washington Post owner Katherine Graham, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, business expert Peter Drucker and Princes William and Harry were also Montessori-taught. They all benefitted from visionary educator Maria Montessori, a physician and educator who grew up in Rome in the late 19th century. Her interests included psychiatry and child development, and she began teaching impoverished children and those with developmental disabilities. Her extraordinary success drew attention to her unique “method,” and during the 20th century, her approach achieved international acclaim. Montessori believed that children are born with a propensity for learning, and a basic tenet in her approach is providing opportunities to enable children to learn independently. “A child in his earliest years, when he is only 2 or a little more, is capable of tremendous achievements simply through this unconscious power of absorption,” she wrote. “After the age of 3, he is able to acquire a great number of concepts through his own efforts in exploring his surroundings.” One of the most important platforms in Montessori’s approach is to offer children a dedicated place to facilitate learning. “We must create a favorable environment that will encourage the flowering of a child’s natural gifts,” she wrote in The Secret of Childhood. “All that is needed is to remove the obstacles. And this should be the basis of, and point of departure for, all future education.” August 2013 > www.mbabizmag.com > 11