770-284-6883
Our Philosophy
Committed to the child
The goal of Kay Shell Montessori is to foster independence and to support children into moving towards a mastery of self and the environment. Our classrooms are prepared Montessori environments designed to encourage children in their self directed discovery of the world. Interest-based activities encourage children to develop a love of learning and a trust in their own ability to learn.
The basic idea in the Montessori philosophy of education is that all children carry within themselves the person they will become. In order to develop the physical, intellectual, and spiritual potential to the fullest, the child must have freedom: a freedom to be achieved through order and self-discipline. Montessori teaches children to observe, to think, to judge. It introduces children to the joy of learning at an early age and provides a framework in which intellectual and social discipline go hand-in-hand. A truly educated individual continues learning long after the hours and years he or she spends in the classroom because that person is motivated from within by a natural curiosity and love for knowledge. Dr. Montessori felt, therefore, that the goal of early childhood education should not be to fill the child with facts from pre-selected courses of studies, but rather to cultivate the child's own natural desire to learn.
In the Montessori classroom, this objective is approached in two ways:
1. By allowing each child to experience the excitement of learning by his or her own choice rather than by being forced; and
2. By helping the child perfect his or her natural tools for learning, so that the child's abilities will be maximized for future learning situations. The Montessori materials have this dual, long-range purpose in addition to their immediate purpose of giving specific information to the child.
