Academics  |
Our Mission
Our goal is to provide outstanding Montessori education for preschool and elementary children, and an exemplary model of Montessori education for the communities of Missoula and western Montana.
At Garden City Montessori we offer an optimum learning environment, rich in language, mathematics, science, cultural studies, and fine arts, which enables each child to realize their greatest potential and to become confident and contributing members of their own community. Our approach to education begins with a deep respect for each child as an individual, and the understanding that each child’s individual growth is interwoven with responsibility toward others. In our classrooms children feel respected for their interests, vision, and needs. In this setting each child’s deep love of learning flows naturally.
All Garden City curricula is developed from a foundation of best practices for Montessori education as set forth by the American Montessori Society and the Montessori Foundation. Our instruction is highly individualized, based on an understanding of each child's interests, aptitude, and learning style. It is an environment where learning and work are seen as the means to happiness, self construction, and a deep love for others and the world. |
About Montessori |
The Montessori Philosophy is a way of observing a child, each child individually, to discover his or her unique personality, needs, tendencies and talents. Inherent in this philosophy is respect for each child's choices, interests, ways of processing information and learning. It is a profound respect for and protection of the crucial periods of concentration and contemplation that guide the child and reveal the peaceful, happy human -- kind, generous, focused, hard working, healthy and creative.
The Montessori prepared environment supports free movement in a beautiful and inspiring place. In it the world is introduced with joy, beauty and precise work with the hands and the mind; it is an environment where learning and work are seen as the means to happiness, self construction and a deep love for others and the world.
"The high academic achievement that usually accompanies Montessori education is merely a by-product of learning with joy."
--www.michaelolaf.com | |
We Please follow any of the links below for more information about Maria Montessori and the educational methods she inspired.
Maria Montessori
Michael Lolaf
The Montessori Foundation
Working to inspire and support the development of strong, successful Montessori schools around the world, and to provide clear answers to the questions that parents and educators ask about the Montessori approach.
Association Montessori International
Founded in 1929 by Dr. Maria Montessori to maintain the integrity of her life's work, and to ensure that it would be perpetuated after her death. AMI's activities include: providing guidance for AMI training courses, guiding the manufacturers recognized by AMI in the production of Montessori materials, overseeing the publication of Dr. Montessori's books, organizing congresses and study conferences, and publishing the magazine “Communications”, and the “AMI Bulletin”.
North American Montessori Teachers Association
NAMTA was founded in 1970 as an affiliate organization of the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). It is a membership organization open to parents, teachers, and anyone interested in Montessori education. NAMTA provides a medium of study, interpretation, and improvement of Montessori education through its publications, audio-visual collection, electronic communications, conferences, and research and service projects throughout North America and the world.
The International Montessori Index
There is no legal protection for the name Montessori. Thus it is important that anyone searching for a good Montessori school or training center be aware of this and know what to look for.The International Montessori Index was created to provide detailed information for those in search of high quality Montessori resources.
American Montessori Society
The AMS mission is to provide the leadership and inspiration to make Montessori a significant voice in education. The society advocates quality Montessori education, strengthens members through its services, and champions Montessori principles to the greater community.
Recommended Reading
Click here for the North American Teachers Association’s Recommended Reading list on Montessori Education
 |
“Montessori education is based on the study of life, it is pure creativity, as all life is creation. Children are given the opportunity for intellectual exploration with the freedom to grow in social grace, inner discipline and joy.” Maria Montessori |
The Montessori Classroom
|
 
 |
Montessori created a true masterpiece in her classroom setting, designed to meet the developmental needs of children on many levels. On a broad level, the entire classroom is a response to her understanding that children learn with a mind different than that of adults, what she called an Absorbent Mind. On a more detailed level, the specific areas of the Montessori curriculum are beautifully interwoven and designed to meet developmental needs of children in a sequential manner.
| "We adults acquire knowledge with our intelligence, whilst the child absorbs with his whole psychic life... The impressions not only penetrate into his mind, they form it; they become incarnate." |
One of the core observations that Montessori made regarding the developing child is that from age zero to six years all children have what she described as an Absorbent Mind. This is a quality of mind that allows children to absorb knowledge from their environment simply by living in it. With the development of the child in mind, Montessori designed an educational environment which would allow a child to take in information without the need of direct instruction from an adult.
This fundamental change in the classroom offers immense possibilities for the child. In the “prepared environment” the relationship between the classroom teacher, the child, and the classroom itself are changed. In the traditional classroom the primary relationship is between the teacher and the child, the child being dependent upon the instructor for access to knowledge. In the Montessori model the child has a direct relationship to the materials, giving them access to instruction independent of the teacher. In addition, the instructor has a new relationship to the classroom environment. Through thoughtful preparation of the classroom environment they are able to offer specific materials attuned to the development of each child.
"What Montessori has done is this: realizing the peculiarly absorbent nature of the child's mind, she has prepared for him a special environment; and then placing the child within it, has given him freedom to live in it, absorbing what he finds there."
--E.M. Standing |
Freedom for the child is one of the core elements in a Montessori classroom, offering students the opportunity to find their own interests, experience deep concentration, and develop self discipline. |
Upon entering a Montessori school, a child discovers five distinct areas of the prepared environment:
- Practical Life - with a focus on the development of order, coordination, concentration, and independence through the practice of tasks in care of the environment, care of the self, grace and courtesy, and physical movement.
- Sensorial - with a focus on the education of the senses, developing the child’s ability to order, classify, and perceive and describe length, width, weight, temperature, color, pitch, etc.
- Mathematics - beginning instruction with beautifully designed manipulative materials that allow the child to easily grasp and internalize concepts such as single digit numerals, the decimal system, squared and cubed numerals, and so on.
- Language Arts - including written and oral expression, reading, grammar, and creative drama. Instruction begins with prewriting and prereading activities which are woven into all areas of the classroom. Direct sound and letter formation work begin with the sandpaper letters and continue through a scafolded set of self-correcting materials. These materials allow children to link sounds and their corresponding letter symbols with little effort. Thus the child’s expression comes with ease and a natural joy.
- Cultural Activities - introduce the child to the natural sciences, history, geography, music, and a comprehensive curriculum in the visual arts.
Preschool
Our Montessori Preschool classroom serves children ages 3 through 5 years of age. In these rooms, children are exposed to and absorb tremendous academic content with ease. They learn via one on one and small group presentations from their teachers, independent lessons in a prepared environment, and through observation and interaction with their classmates. They typically progress in math, reading, and language beyond what is expected of children at this age.
Character Education topics comprise a core component of the Montessori classroom. Children learn to care for themselves, their classroom, and their classmates. Activities such as cleaning, helping others, showing courtesy, and moving with grace occur daily, developing positive habits in children.
Kindergarten
Garden City Kindergarten children are those who turn age 5 within the first two weeks of the school year. In this program they are exposed to all the benefits of the 3-6 classroom, with additional focus on language, reading, and mathematics development. As the children progress, they are able to observe and work directly with early Elementary children, further sparking their love of learning.
Elementary
“It is their ‘years of plenty;’ and, if given the right opportunity and the right means, they will lay up a great store of cultural information.” —E.M. Standing
Garden City Elementary currently serves children in grades 1 - 4 and is growing. These children work closely with their teacher to create contracts for their chosen and required work, helping them to develop strong time management and independent learning skills. Each child is able to work at their own pace and is given time for deep concentrated study, without interruptions from bells or arbitrary subject changes. Once again, curriculum requirements at this level meet or exceed state educational standards.
The integrated curriculum of the Montessori elementary class encourages children to see the critical relationship among all subjects and, indeed, among all aspects of life. The elementary teachers follow Dr. Montessori’s plan for Cosmic Education— presenting the universe first and then relating subsequent learning to its place in the cosmos. For example, the history of the earth beginning billions of years ago, is made vivid to the student when they work with a magnificent Time Line on which the era of human beings is only a tiny segment at the end.
The elementary curriculum more than covers the mathematics, language, science, history and geography taught in traditional schools. [Competency] in these basic subjects is accomplished in a variety of creative activities, thus avoiding the boredom that often leads to withdrawal of interest or rebellion.
In all these classrooms you will find children working comfortably at tables or on the floor in a relaxed but mature manner. At any one time, you will see a variety of educational activities in process because each child will be working at his or her own level of interest and ability.
In their individualized work, the children learn to set goals, to manage time, to organize projects, and to use a variety of resources. In addition to using advanced Montessori materials for math, grammar and science, they also read and discuss children’s classics, and express themselves in art, music, drama, and poetry. Creative writing is a daily activity. A foreign language, physical education, and field trips are also included.
Montessori elementary programs give youngsters basic learning skills, confidence, self-esteem, an appreciation of other cultures, and peaceful techniques for conflict resolution—qualities that will serve them well in any future learning situations.
—excerpt from A Parents’ Guide to the Montessori Classroom by Aline D. Wolf
Faculty & Staff
 |
Our care of the child should be governed, not by the desire to make him learn things, but by the endeavor always to keep burning within him that light which is called intelligence."
--Maria Montessori |
Bev Morse - Lead Teacher, Primary Classroom & School Director
Bev has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education from the University of Southern Maine. She has fourteen years of experience teaching in the classroom and nine years experience as a trainer and consultant establishing conflict resolution and peer mediation programs in schools across Montana.
For seven seasons Bev designed, and was Lead Instructor, for the Summer Arts/Leadership Program serving at-risk-youth in Missoula. She has extensive experience teaching in preschool, elementary, and high school classrooms, in both core curriculum areas and in the visual arts.
In June of 2006 Bev attended the Montana Montessori Teacher Education Institute for her AMS 3-6 Primary Certification and pursued her long held dream to open Garden City Montessori School. Through her own efforts and the labors of many wonderful people, Garden City has grown into a mature and thriving school, now serving children from age 3 through 4th grade.
Bev loves hiking, camping, gardening, and spending time with family and friends. She is a painter and ceramic artist as well, and is very happy sharing art with children and friends. Her most recent accomplishments in art are clay murals created with her students at Two Eagle River School in Pablo, Montana.
Bev’s greatest joy is her son, Julian, whose intelligence, creativity, and fantastic spirit are always her delight.
.JPG) |
"This then is the first duty of the educator: to stir up life but leave it free to develop."
--Maria Montessori |
Megan Mahoney - Lead Teacher, Elementary Classroom
After graduating from the University of Montana with a BA in Sociology, Megan took the opportunity to travel and to complete a work study position in organic farming. It was during these adventures that she first encountered Montessori education and was inspired. In 2004 she moved to Arizona to begin her Elementary 1 Montessori training at Villa Montessori School, then continued on to earn a Masters of Education in Montessori through Ottawa University.
After completing her degree Megan returned to Montana to begin working as a Senior Field Instructor for a Wilderness Therapy program, spending her days with teens in the mountains. She is now thrilled to be back in the Montessori classroom as the Elementary Teacher at Garden City Montessori.
Megan knew of her passion for education early on, but observing a Montessori classroom is what guided her path. The philosophy of Montessori parallels her own belief that all children are unique beings, deserving a comprehensive education which incorporates the classroom, the community, and the environment as a whole.
Megan loves to travel and explore the vast open areas of Montana as well as spend time with the people that are close to her heart. Whether hiking, camping, climbing, snowboarding, or just playing with her dogs, she prefers outside to inside most anytime.
Parent Library
At Garden City we understand that informed families help both our children and our school grow in strength and effectiveness.
Gift Subscription for Garden City Families
Each year we build our parents' personal library of Montessori information by giving them a subscription to Tommorrow’s Child Magazine. Over the course of the school year they receive four issues of this publication, designed for Montessori parents, offering a tremendous overview of Montessori education.
In addition the following resources are available in our Parent Library:
The Absorbent Mind by Maria Montessori
Basic Montessori by David Gettman
The Discovery of the Child by Maria Montessori
To Educate the Human Potential by Maria Montessori
The Essential Montessori by Elizabeth G. Hainstock
Learning to Read is Child’s Play by Maunz, Mathews and Klein
Maria Montessori, Her Life and Work by E.M. Standing
Montessori – A Modern Approach by Paula Polk Lillard
The Montessori Controversy by John Chattin-McNichols
Montessori in the Classroom by Paula Polk Lillard
The Montessori Method by Maria Montessori
Montessori Read and Write by Lynne Lawrence
Montessori Today by Paula Polk Lillard
Nurturing the Spirit by Aline D. Wolf
The Science Behind the Genius by Angeline Stoll Lillard
The Tao of Montessori by Catherine McTamaney