Our School
Phoenix Montessori School was established in 1999 - opening as a single classroom of 19 children aged 3-6 years old. Since then it has grown to seven classrooms of children from birth to age 12. We are currently located at 2 Station Road in Mimico and are accepting enrolment for children of all ages.
The Nido
The Nido (Italian for 'nest'), is a program for children from birth to 18 months. This program runs all year long, 5 days a week from 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM. Drop off and pick up is available at anytime during these hours depending on the individual needs of the family. Upon registration for this program a meeting will be arranged with you and your child's main caregiver so that we may gather information relating to your child and your family's daily activities. Together you will create a schedule for your child that you believe will be similar to that which already exists within your own home. You will be in close contact with your child's caregiver at all times, and therefore will be able to make any adjustments to your child's individualized program as necessary.
Young Children's Community
The Young Children's Community is for children from 18 months to 2 1/2 years. The environment is set up in order to maximize the child's movement towards independence. All of the shelves and furniture are child-sized in order to allow the children to access the materials on their own and to work comfortably with things that are in proportion to their size.
Children in this environment do not wear diapers, as toilet learning is a large part of their movement towards independence. The classroom Guide and support staff will work closely with the children and their families to successfully execute this process in their extended environments.
Casa
The Casa (Italian for 'house') is a prepared environment for children from the age of 3 to 6 years old. The classroom is set up with all the Montessori materials that they will ever need in an orderly fashion on shelves in the classroom. Once the child has been given an individual presentation with a piece of material, they are free to choose that work whenever they would like. The classroom Guide, chooses the presentations that they give the children based on age, interest and development.
This program is a 3-4 year program and upon registration you will be asked to commit to registering your child with us for this length of time. It is important that a 3 year age mix be preserved in the classroom at all times in order to give your child the most authentic Montessori experience possible.
Elementary
The Elementary is a program for children ages 6 to 12 years old. The beginning of this program is a continuation of the child's Casa education, so much so that many of the language and mathematical concepts overlap. The child will continue to work with Montessori materials as a way of sensorially exploring and working with educational concepts, however there is a huge developmental change that takes place at this age which is reflected in the way in which lessons are executed. The children in this plane of development are very interested in their peers and the society they are a part of. For this reason lessons are given in small and large groups in order that the children may draw and share information from and with the other children.
Later in the Elementary, children begin to move completely away from the materials and towards abstraction. At this stage children are given lessons which illustrate key concepts and then are encouraged to go beyond their immediate environment to gather more information. This may involve visiting the local library, consulting a professional, visiting a museum, or attending a performance.
