 Montessori Program
Waverley Annex
Room 214
1225 Oak Street
Columbia, SC 29204
Phone: (803) 231-6709
Fax: (803) 231-7149
Mail Code: 687
Gail Hornsby, Interim Montessori Programs Consultant
| "Education is the natural process spontaneously carried out by the child, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment." |
-Dr. Maria Montessori |
What Exactly Is The Montessori Approach?
The Montessori method is based upon the child’s natural desire to learn. This method stresses active, hands-on learning in a prepared classroom environment containing attractive, carefully sequenced materials.
For more than 90 years, children throughout the word have been educated with the method and the materials developed by Dr. Maria Montessori. Dr. Montessori believed that education was an "aid to life", a help to the natural unfolding or development of the unique potential of every child. Respect for each child’s rate of development is demonstrated by the individualized, self-paced approach to learning.
In the Montessori classroom the child’s growth as a whole person is emphasized. This development takes place in an environment which offers both freedom and structure. The freedom comes from the choice available and the structure from the ordered environment.
Montessori At A Glance
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Individualized instruction |
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Hand-on learning |
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Multi-aged classes |
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Specialized materials |
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Prepared environment |
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Opportunities to observe, discover, and experiment |
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Emphasis on respect for self, others and the environment |
What Does A Montessori Classroom Look Like?
In the Montessori program, classes have more than one age level of students. The primary level has classes of 3-5 year olds; lower elementary level has classes of 6-8 year olds; and upper elementary has 9-11 year olds.
Dr. Montessori believed that learning should occur in multi-age classrooms where children at various stages of development learn from and with each other.
Materials are grouped into centers of learning.
These include: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language Arts, Math, Science and Geography.
Richland One Montessori Program
Richland One opened its first public school Montessori Program in August 2000 at Brockman Elementary. All students at Brockman are educated in Montessori classes.
Programs are also located at Logan, Caughman Road and Gadsden as schools-within-a school model.
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