Kingston Montessori School
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Our logo is an easy-to-access tree house, symbolic of discovery and learning in a spirit of adventure and fun!
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Welcome to Kingston Montessori School, Kingston’s longest running Montessori School (since 1974!) We offer a quality 3 year Preschool Montessori program, beginning with half-day, every day when your child is 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 years old, and a full-day program as your child is ready.
Kingston Montessori School is a school, not a day care, or a part-time Montessori. We are dedicated and committed to giving our children the best Montessori experience that we know how, and that is the basis for our Montessori program. Starting their first year at around age 3, they often begin full days (9-3:30, with a hot lunch) in their 2nd year, and usually continue on to the important 3rd year, usually at about age 5 . The 3rd year is the year that the child “blossoms” (as we have so often seen in our school!). All the activities he or she has worked on in the first 2 years, lead him or her to the culmination in the 3rd year. Reading, math, geography, art, are all an integral part of the program. The older children become leaders and are full of confidence and self-esteem. If they leave KMS to enter Public Grade 1, they are well prepared for new adventures in their lives, and we are happy to have been a part of that foundation!
The Preschool is licensed by the Ministry of Community and Social Services. The staff at KMS are highly qualified, nurturing and well experienced with young children. We have two AMI Montessori Directresses and an assistant, as well as a cook and a French teacher.
A Montessori school is designed to take advantage of the sensitive years between the ages of three and six, when the child is most able to absorb information from his environment, following the philosophies and teachings of Dr. Maria Montessori, a world-renowned educator. Although a Montessori child has the advantage of beginning her education without drudgery, boredom or discouragement, very early learning is neither the norm nor the objective in Montessori education. The Montessori ideal is only that learning should occur naturally, at the proper moment for each child.
“It is true, we cannot make a genius... We can only give each
individual the chance to fulfil his potential possibilities to become an
independent, secure, and balanced human being.”
Dr.Maria
Montessori
Dr. Maria Montessori was the first woman to receive a medical degree in Italy. She later became a world-renowned educator. Born in 1870, she devoted her life to the study and education of young children. Today, in Montessori schools all over the world, her teachings still lead the way for those of us who believe in the overwhelming influence of the first six years of life.
For more information on Dr. Montessori, and for links to other interesting sites,
follow this link: More info on Montessori
Although there are many high quality daycare centres and nursery schools where creative daily programs are followed, most do not follow a single philosophy of child development as does Kingston Montessori School. The Montessori method is a complete integrated approach to childhood education based on a single individual's life work. Dr. Montessori's incredible insight and her scientific observations of children's development have proven accurate many times over, all around the world. The “secret” lies in the way the children are respected, and the way their inner needs are met through a carefully prepared Montessori environment. Although the classroom is “child centered” and not “adult centered”, the adult, or “Directress” plays a very important role both in preparing the environment, or classroom, and “directing” or “guiding” the children in that environment. A Montessori classroom is often quieter and calmer than a daycare or nursery school environment, and we often get comments from visitors that the children are very well behaved! They ask us if we ever have discipline problems. Discipline usually comes from the child, as self-discipline, which is learned in the Montessori environment through the use of the wonderful activities available every day. Re-direction to purposeful activity which meets a need of that child, and inspires him to intense concentration virtually eliminates the need for outward discipline.
When a child enters a Montessori classroom for the first time, she is given “lessons” on activities which are suited to her age and skill levels. If the child wants to work with these activities, she may do so at any time, for as long as she likes. Indeed, to interrupt a child who is working well, concentrating, and enjoying his activity, would be to break one of Dr. Montessori's basic tenets, which is never to disturb a child who is focussed on work. To do this would be to stop a child from ever increasing his attention span.
People who write children's television shows think that children have short attention spans, and therefore change themes and ideas quickly, every few minutes or so. This is far from the realities of child development, as we see every day in our classrooms. Children as young as three and four can concentrate on a single activity for as long as twenty minutes to an hour! Most children spend an average of ten to fifteen minutes on a single activity, more on activities they especially like, or that is meeting a need in that child. A three-year-old, who loves repetitive movements, can spend twenty minutes spooning rice from one bowl to another, and back again, before stopping. A five-year-old, who happens to be incredibly interested in math at the time, can spend all day (five hours) working steadily on a single math activity, not because he is told to (he can put it away whenever he likes) but because he WANTS to! If he were never given the opportunity to work with concentration for extended periods of time, he would never be able to do this. Montessori once said, “Concentration is the best gift we can give our children.”
Our classrooms are full of happy children who are doing the activities that they want to do -- activities that have been observed for more than 100 years as the things that all children like to do, and that help children to grow, mature, and become active participants in life.
“And so we discovered that education is not something which the teacher
does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in
the human being. It is not acquired by listening to words, but in virtue
of experiences in which the child acts on his environment. The teacher's
task is not to talk, but to prepare and arrange a series of motives for
cultural activity in a special environment made for the child.”
Dr. Maria Montessori: The Absorbent Mind
In addition to the way children are ”taught,” our school differs from daycare in that although we do offer full-day programs, including a hot lunch, we follow the public school calendar, which includes two weeks off at Christmas, one week for March Break, and two or three P.D. Days interspersed throughout the year. The classes are finished for the year in June, and resume again in September. Parents are responsible for finding alternate care for their children during the summer months and holidays.
Our Summer Fun Programs have always been great successes! Every summer, for 7 or 8 weeks, KMS offers a Summer Program for preschoolers
(three to five years old). Different themes each week! Sign up for a week at a time. Please click on the sun for more information:
KMS has two beautiful well lit classrooms, with a maximum capacity of 36 children. Both doors lead to a large fenced playground, complete with sandbox and other gross-motor activities. We have a beautiful climber, and lots of room to run. Our downstairs space is also used for our Summer Program.
Our classrooms are prepared environments designed to support the child's need for purposeful activity. Each classroom is divided into separate areas, all of which interrelate. These areas are: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math, and Culture, which includes science, botany, biology and geography, as well as music and art. Please follow this link for a detailed explanation of each area: KMS Program
The children are free to choose their own activity, or “work,” to watch another child work, or to work with a small group. The classroom is like a “mini-community,” with lots of social graces, interaction with each other, and community spirit. The needs of the children are respected by all, work is returned to the shelf ready “for the next person,” and chairs are tucked in so that others will not trip. We gather together at least once a day for stories, songs or quiet group games, so the children can learn to become part of a larger group.
“When the child has been allowed a little room in the world, in time
he proclaims as the first sign of his eager defence: 'Me want to do it!
Me do it!' In the special environment prepared for him in our schools,
the children themselves found a sentence that expressed their inner
need: 'Help me to do it by myself!' His work will no longer weigh him
down.”
Dr. Maria Montessori
Dr. Montessori found two childhood traits that were present in all children: “sensitive periods,” and “the absorbent mind.” In a nutshell, sensitive periods are those points in time when skills and concepts are learned easier than at any other time in a child's life. Although specific periods differ between individual children, generally in children under six, we see the following sensitive periods: order, movement, fascination with small objects, grace and courtesy, refinement of the senses, writing, reading, language, spatial relationships, music and mathematics. For more on sensitive periods, follow this link: http://www.montessori.org/library/sensitiveperiod.htm
In the Montessori classroom, we specially prepare the environment to meet these sensitive periods in the children, and to help the children fulfill their learning potential.
The other childhood trait has been termed “the absorbent mind” by
Dr. Montessori because it describes the plane of development in which
information and impressions from the environment are literally
“absorbed” by the mind of the child. This is done unconsciously,
and only in the first six years of life. The sensitive periods are part of this
absorbent mind. It then follows that an environment permitting the
child to take advantage of the absorbent mind gives the child the tools
from which his personality will be formed. Our classroom takes advantage of
the period between three and six years, when language, writing, reading, and
math are being absorbed daily. The other sensitive periods are also met
in the classroom, also being absorbed on a daily basis. The child isn't
“trying” to learn these things, but by the fact that they are
present in her environment, she is unconsciously absorbing them
into her whole being. For more on the absorbent mind, follow this link:
http://www.proaxis.com/~cms/cms/salutations/sal119910.html
You are welcome to come and visit our classroom, and see us
“in action”! We also have a video of our school available to borrow
and share with your family. To make an appointment to visit, please call
613-541-1275.
The Preschool classroom consists of children from two and one-half years up to six years of age, and the Elementary classroom children six to nine years of age. This mixture of ages allows the children to learn from each other, the older children helping the younger ones with various problems and activities. This allows the younger children to become more independent and not to rely totally on adults. The older children learn to be patient and tolerant of others, especially as the younger children learn accepted social behaviours. They are often wonderful at soothing hurt feelings or helping new children to adjust.
The older children love to share their knowledge with the younger ones,
and by doing so reinforce what they already know. By watching the older
children work, the young ones strive to challenge themselves and look
forward to future activities. A Montessori classroom thrives on the
age mixture, and helps to form a bond only seen in small social
communities and families.
Children who start school at around age three do best in the Montessori classroom. This is because he or she will have the benefits of the complete three-year program, each year building on the knowledge and skills attained in the previous one. Children who start at age four or five also benefit from the program, but don't have the advantages of those who have been in since age three.
Parents of children who enter Montessori at any age need
to be aware that their child will gain the most benefits in their final,
usually their third, year. This is why almost all children stay at KMS
until grade one. A full-day program is available at the Preschool level so that the children can
spend more time in this ideal environment. Four- and five-year-olds thrive
in the full-day program!
All children who attend Kingston Montessori School's Preschool program do so on a full-time basis,
five days a week. Some children attend the morning class from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.,
and older children stay all day, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We have found that
young children do best when their schedule is consistent and they can safely
know where they will be each day. This gives them a sense of security, and helps
them to become independent. They develop good self-esteem and confidence. They
enjoy coming to school, and build each new day upon the accomplishments of the
last.
KMS is not affiliated with any religion. We deal with religion as
part of daily life, catering to the children who are in the class, and
to forming an understanding of other religions. We observe the Christmas and
Easter Holidays, but also learn about Hanukkah and Passover, Purim and
Ramadan, Kwanza and Valentine's Day! Christmas and Hanukkah are discussed,
songs are sung and crafts are made. At our annual Holiday Tea, we share
what we have learned with our families in a family celebration. Often, we
invite parents of children who celebrate differently to come and share their
customs and traditions with us. Easter and Passover are also usually
discussed around the same time. Easter is seen as a celebration of new life,
and Passover is an exciting story of hope and also new life. Religion is not
the main focal point in any of our daily activities.
Registrations are accepted for the Preschool program all year round. Our yearly cycle begins in
September, but if there are spaces available, a child may start at
any time throughout the year.
Your Preschool child should be toilet trained enough
to make it through a two and one-half hour morning. “Accidents”
do and will happen, so a clean set of clothes is always available for your
child to change into. Pre-registrations are also accepted at any time, for any
school year. We are taking pre-registrations now for as many as three years
from now. Acceptance into KMS depends on a first-come, first-served basis,
with priorities given to children already in the school, and their siblings.
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