There is nothing more fascinating than watching a child’s brain at work. When they are engaged in imaginative play, they build worlds, populate them with characters, and create intricate stories and plots. When they learn a new skill, they are engaged, absorbed, and persistent. When they solve a problem, they are inventive and determined. At Townsville Montessori School in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, it is exactly this kind of curiosity, love of learning, and resilience that is modeled and nurtured daily in the classroom.
The Montessori philosophy is one of individualized learning, with an emphasis on movement and respect for self and others. Children master skills and concepts at their own pace and are given the autonomy to choose their own activities as they move freely about their classroom, developing fine and gross motor skills, self-monitoring their actions, and practicing successful peer interactions. Multi-age classrooms, usually spanning 3 years, recreate a family structure and enable younger students to observe and learn from the older students who function as role models and mentors. This method of teaching gently by example gives the support they need to build their confidence and courage to tackle new challenges.
Teachers at Townsville Montessori School model respect, loving kindness, and peaceful conflict resolution. Montessori is not just about the materials and the classroom aesthetic; it is also a way of guiding and teaching the Montessori way of life. Teachers at Townsville Montessori follow a whole child approach to education, observing each unique child and providing them with an environment of exploration and academic pursuit designed to serve each child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical needs.
In bright, open, modern classrooms, and with private outdoor spaces, students are presented with activities and experiences in five distinct but interconnected areas including: practical life, basic life skills that set the foundation for all other areas of development, sensorial activities that encourage children to use the five senses to understand the world around them, language skills that form the foundation for writing and reading, hands-on mathematical approaches to number concepts and operations, quantity and symbol recognition, the decimal system, fractions, skip counting, and geometry, and culture, science, and geography environments that support each child’s interest in the world around them and supports their global citizenship. Children have exposure to geography and science through the study of world maps, solar systems, planets, oceans and through the biomes of our earth.
Townsville Montessori School is a true multi-age environment for children 2.5 years to 6 years old. Each child is valued as unique and is encouraged to experience the excitement of learning by making their own choices that allow them to actively explore their individual curiosity and interests.
Enrollment is now open for the 2024-2025 academic year. For more information or to schedule a school tour of Townsville Montessori School, please visit their website, or email [email protected].
718 Palisade Ave
Cliffside Park, NJ
