What makes us special
A thoughtful, pedagogical approach.
Our Montessori nursery is a little different! As well as being owned and run by Montessori teachers, we also draw our inspiration from the famous childhood centres of Reggio Emilia in Italy. These centres are strongly influenced by Maria Montessori and the idea that children are innately capable and creative in many ways, and therefore the strongest trust, respect and thoughtfulness must be shown to them. We believe in the philosophy that teachers are co-constructors of learning along with children, and we place an incredible amount of value on children’s ideas, judgements, and interests. Our vision for the children comes from the years of teaching and research of our founder Claire Kenyon, combining Montessori with observation-based practice and ongoing training and development of pedagogy.
We encourage children to develop their own theories, even from the youngest babies, so they can make sense of the world and to explore their theories with their friends. We listen to their ideas and take them seriously and we help facilitate their research. We understand that children have many different ways of expressing themselves, and support them by offering opportunities within the environment which intrigue and astonish! Children’s natural sense of wonder and curiosity is nurtured through interaction with well-trained and professional staff.
Learning is very often collaborative, and sociable. Children together will create stories and scenarios beyond our wildest imaginations, spurred on by each other’s ideas and interests.
NO WAY. THE HUNDRED IS THERE
The child is made of one hundred.
The child has a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking
A hundred, always a hundred
ways of listening
of marvelling, of loving,
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.
The child has
a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and Christmas.
They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.
They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together
And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says: No way. The hundred is there.
Loris Malaguzzi
Reggio Emilia
