MONTESSORI MORNING GLORY SCHOOL

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Montessori Morning Glory School

“The child grows best in an environment of peace and serenity, secure and trusting.”

Welcome to Montessori Morning Glory School. It is such a privilege to have you consider having us care for your child. And we do care. When a child comes to us, we begin to develop a deep and personal relationship with this little person that we spend so much time with. I know how much it means to you to have someone who notices sniffles, who is concerned because toes seem to be a little too splayed, or who is elated with the child’s first grasping how to read. I share with you the desire to have the best possible preschool academics, the most nutritious meals, and stimulating cultural activities.We care for children from birth to age six. The children are in three groupings; infant, toddler, and primary. The infant program cares for children from birth to between 14 and 20 months old. The toddler program provides a transition stage until the child is 2 1/2 to 3 years old. The primary program is for our children until they graduate to go into the first grade.

The child’s competence is the first goal of Montessori Morning Glory School. Every child is born with a pattern for greatness. Our role as a preschool is to enable that power by creating an environment that does not hinder the child. When we follow the child and support his drive to be the best he can be, our whole society will become better. The child grows best in an environment of peace and serenity, confident that he knows what to expect and what is expected of him. This confidence is based on a consistent routine of coming every day to a teacher he’s known for years with friends who have been with him for an equally long time. This routine encourages every child from the youngest infant to our graduating kindergartners. The peace of knowing that he will come to competence in his own time and in his own way enables him to put all his energy toward accomplishment and growth, not needing to divert an iota of energy to worry or protection of himself. In this environment of competence and peace, a beauty appears. It’s the beauty of simplicity and naturalness, lacking artificeWhen we consider deeply what we want for our children, we have to admit that it’s the same things we also want for ourselves. Montessori Morning Glory School uses a list developed by Dr. Wayne Dyer in his book What Do You Really Want for Your Children? as a philosophical attitude for everything we do at the school. These things we want express an ideal summary of what it means to be a no-limit human being. Children can be brought up to value themselves rather than to have low self-esteem; to celebrate their own potential greatness rather than to fear it; to be creative rather than be one of the herd; to have peace and love in their hearts rather than anger and hate; to feel powerful and useful rather than unimportant and bored; to experience a stress-free life rather than relying on drugs and pills; to enjoy life rather than competing against it; and to be motivated by a desire to grow rather than to repair deficiency.

* value themselves * are risk-takers * are self-reliant * are free from stress and anxiety *have peaceful lives *celebrate * have an attitude of wellness * whose needs are fulfilled * love and belongingness *self-esteem and respectability *security needs *freedom *justice *order *individuality *meaningfulness * self-sufficiency *simplicity *playfulness * aliveness *higher needs * truth * beauty *aesthetic apprecaitoin *goodness *spirituality

The playground is an integral part of our children’s experience. In fact, play is what children do to learn about their worlds and to construct their own worlds. They need physical challenge from a playground: the opportunity to literally reach new heights and to run free. They need the stimulus of risk; they need choices in climbing, sliding, and swinging so they can determine the excitement and challenge they are ready for. Climbing structures allow a challenge just past where the child is comfortable with which to build self-esteem. Equally important are breakaway points for those who change their minds or need more time to act – alternate routes up and down, graduated challenge, and a range of opportunities to build self-esteem without pressure.

 

The other advantage of playground time is the opportunity to be out of the air conditioning and the things that people control into a world of varying temperatures, humidity, creatures, and light. Our children need to learn how to adapt to lots of conditions, and more than to adapt, to enjoy. Learning is not something to be poured into children and repeated back in practice. It is an active, intellectual, and hands-on process. Our children need to learn that there are very few if any, right ways to do things, but that there are lots of ways that work. On the playground, they get a chance to try some of those ways in a noisy, sometimes push and shove way. At Greystone House, we consciously choose to have our children on the playground at least four hours out of the twelve that the school is open each day. If rain is not actually falling from the sky, we are
outside that day.

The child’s competence is the first goal of Montessori Morning Glory School. Every child is born with a pattern for greatness. Our role as a preschool is to enable that power by creating an environment that does not hinder the child. When we follow the child and support his drive to be the best he can be, our whole society will become better. The child grows best in an environment of peace and serenity, confident that he knows what to expect and what is expected of him. This confidence is based on a consistent routine of coming every day to a teacher he’s known for years with friends who have been with him for an equally long time. This routine encourages every child from the youngest infant to our graduating kindergartners. The peace of knowing that he will come to competence in his own time and in his own way enables him to put all his energy toward accomplishment and growth, not needing to divert an iota of energy to worry or protection of himself. In this environment of competence and peace, a beauty appears. It’s the beauty of simplicity and naturalness, lacking artifice.

 

The basic principle in the Montessori philosophy is that every child carries within himself the potential of the adult he is to 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 that appear chaotic at first. From this chaos, the child must create order and learn to distinguish the impressions that assail his senses. Slowly he gains mastery over himself and his environment. Dr. Montessori developed what she called a “prepared environment” which possesses a definite order and disposes the child to develop at his own speed according to his own capacities in a non-competitive atmosphere. “Never let a child risk failure until he has a reasonable chance of success,” says Dr. Montessori, understanding the necessity for the acquisition of a basic skill before its use in a learning situation. Providing positive direction, the Montessori directress, and the parents realize the importance of allowing the child to develop in his own time.

 

The method by which children are taught in a Montessori school is extremely disciplined. And since the child has learned to work independently in the prepared environment, he is ready to enjoy the presence of other children without necessarily working directly with them. Thus, the Montessori teacher is able to work with each child individually, illustrating the use of the equipment. Because most of the Montessori equipment is designed so that errors are self-evident to the child, adult intervention in the child’s work is not necessary and is even undesirable once the use of the equipment has been demonstrated.

 

Dr. Montessori recognized that the only valid impulse to learning is the self-motivation of the child. Children naturally move themselves toward learning. Adults often intervene, with the best intentions, and place obstacles to learning in the child’s path. To this effect, Dr. Montessori stated that any unnecessary help given to the child hinders him in his growth. The teacher prepares the environment, observes and directs the activity, functions as an authority and protector to the children and environment, and offers the work according to the readiness and need of each child. What you see in the classroom is not a group of children eagerly circled around the teacher waiting to be taught, but children actively pursuing what they most need to learn at their own unique stage of development. Because their teacher has been trained to be a keen observer of the individual child, she has demonstrated the material and then allows the child ample time to perfect himself. In some cases a child will zoom through the material and clamor for more. Other children will practice and perfect, maybe extend and explore for days with one piece of equipment. Either need is accommodated in the classroom where all the equipment is available to all the children for long work periods every day.

 

The Montessori classroom offers every child the opportunity to choose from an incredible variety of specially designed materials. The child can grow as his interests lead him from one level of complexity to another. He works in a group composed of individuals of various ages, abilities, cultures, and interests and is not required to follow anyone else’s program. This process provides younger children models for imitation and older ones an opportunity to reinforce their own knowledge by helping the younger ones. In this way, the child contributes to the group as he receives from it what he needs.

 

Philosophy

The child’s competence is the first goal of Montessori Morning Glory School. Every child is born with a pattern for greatness. Our role as a school is to enable that power by creating an environment that does not hinder the child. When we follow the child and support his drive to be the best he can be, our whole society will be advanced.

The child grows best in an environment of peace and serenity, secure and trusting. The child is confident that she knows what to expect and what is expected of her. The peace of knowing that she will come to competence in her own time and in her own way enables her to put all her energy toward accomplishment and growth, not needing to divert an iota to worry or protection of herself.

In this environment of competence and peace, a beauty appears. It’s the beauty of simplicity and naturalness, lacking artifice. The child understands that it’s the process itself that is beautiful. Many times, product is extraneous because the child is already moving forward again toward the adult he is to become, toward the ultimate product of his life.

Phone: (713) 932-0126
737 Bunker Hill Road
Houston, TX 77024


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