The Guba Farm Playschool is a child-centered, play-based & inclusive community for 2½ – 6 year olds in Malkerns, Swaziland.

Nestled in our beautiful permaculture training centre, the Guba Farm Playschool is a playful & ernest investment in our future. Guba is a registered charity working to improve quality of life with the people of Swaziland by finding solutions to life’s challenges using permaculture; a thinking tool for designing low carbon, highly productive human & environmental systems. It is our responsibility to take a more sustainable approach to the management of the Earth & ourselves – education is a key part of this process & the reason why the Guba Farm Playschool seed was planted.

seedhand “To nurture truly sustainable communities we must grow our children in a healthy environment where they can connect with it, learn from it, & grow their own seeds in it.” Emma Granville, Strategic Director & Co-founder, Guba

Play is a child’s most important work

The vision of the Playschool is of a holistic, playful learning environment that inspires our children to be the creative, innovative individuals they are. We are committed to guiding & nurturing love for learning through play & a highly stimulating learning ecosystem.

Our influences include a range of educational philosophies & other movements, such as: Reggio Emilia; Steiner; forest schools; & permaculture design. Central to our approach is the Montessori curriculum, which advocates a self-directed approach to learning.kayacelebrating

Our values

  • Play is the highest form of human expression
  • Community is central to wellbeing
  • Autonomy is key to fulfillment
  • Connection to nature is essential
kayaobservingnature
“Look deep into nature, and you will understand everything better.”Albert Einstein
Tuition fees are set on a sliding scale to ensure the Playschool is accessible & equitable. We want to shake up conventional thinking & become a beacon of sustainability & equity education in Swaziland.

We would be delighted to set up a time to meet & learn about your child while you learn about us. To understand more about how we operate please have a look at the tabs below. Contact us for more information.

Our preschool has been in operation since October 2014 when we opened with 8 children. Today, we offer 25 children a small, personal school in a beautiful, natural environment surrounded by a huge outdoor ‘classroom’ with endless opportunities to learn from Nature. Our preschool guiding principles are as follows:

playschoolethicsprincipleswheel

Playschool Operating Principles

Understanding our operating principles

Through simple observation, we have learnt that Nature always self-assembles its own structure one step at a time using very simple, non-linear, fractal patterns (a fractal pattern is a pattern that repeats itself over & over again & is the same at every scale). All natural systems from single plants to animal populations to weather systems & even galaxies self-assemble from the bottom up following simple, repeated, non-linear patterns. Nature never focuses on an end result but embraces change, allowing diverse systems to emerge as a consequence of following these simple patterns.

All of the biodiversity we see on our planet today has stemmed from single-celled organisms catching & storing energy, making self-generated small, slow steps of variation, adaptation & mutation over 2-3 billion years. Over these hundreds of millions of years we find that Nature has evolved to be as efficient as possible, & yet, we curiously find that there are no straight lines in Nature’s designs, but a variety of patterns which we see repeated throughout.

We can learn from how nature creates structure in order to create an education system that is more aligned to human children’s nature as organisms. So, if children are organisms too, then logic would suggest that all they need is a simple, non-linear learning pattern to follow in order for highly structured, unchaotic, organic learning outcomes to emerge.

We offer a spiral curriculum: an approach to learning that introduces key concepts to students at a young age & covers these concepts repeatedly, with increasing degrees of complexity. It contrasts with ‘blocked’ curricula, which do not introduce difficult concepts until the child has reached a higher level of education. Following Nature’s efficacy, a spiral approach to learning enables children to internalise solutions before fully understanding overarching concepts. Each material teaches a single skill or concept at a time—for example, the Pink Tower helps children understand cubes by first grasping the physical solution by learning to stack from largest to smallest. Eventually, their inquiry leads them to understand that the second cube in the tower represents 2², etc. – something they have been internalising since they first started stacking.

And, built into many of the materials is a ‘control of error’ mechanism for providing the children with some way of assessing their progress & correcting their mistakes, independent of the teacher. The concrete materials provide passages to abstraction, & introduce concepts that become increasingly complex. As children progress, the teacher replaces some materials with others, ensuring that the level of challenge continues to meets their needs.

Children self-assemble their own learning in ways that make most sense to themselves. This process of a child repeatedly following an organic learning pattern over & over again in ways that make sense to them is what will contribute to the emergence of a diverse range of highly capable, resourceful, thriving, fulfilled, balanced & happy adults aligned with their true nature as organisms.

Such a learning pattern for children does not look like a hierarchy with the child at the bottom at all, rather it looks like a web with the child always in the centre constructing their own learning linkages which form patterns in ways that make sense to them. In this way, we are working with a childs’ nature, not against it.

Whether children thrive to their full potential as organic life learners depends on the quality of their learning environment. Children need a supportive & enabling learning environment for their learning to truly thrive. Humans are social animals & thrive from an interconnection with others. More connections are generally better than fewer because we learn & grow from our inter-relationships with each other. We have more feedback loops (others with different perspectives & ideas to complement & improve our own) when we learn with others & this improves the quality of our learning.

playschoolcircle1An anthropologist proposed a game to some Xhosa children. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree & told them that whoever got there first won the sweet fruits. When he told them to run they all took each others hands & ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats. When he asked them why they had run like that, as one could have had all the fruits for himself, they said:

Ubuntu. How can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?” Ubuntu in the Xhosa culture means, “I am because we are.

So, our school has been intentionally designed to offer children a high quality enabling learning ecosystem to optimise their organic growth both collectively & individually.
If we change our fundamental metaphor for the education of children from a mechanical one to an organic one – in other words, from the manufacture of a product to the flowering & fruiting of a plant – then we begin to see that our role is not to rigidly control each step in the process, but to create the conditions – the soil, the water, the light – under which human brilliance may unfold & flourish.Carol Black, Schooling the World

This Playschool – the soil, water & sunlight – is committed to nurturing a playful environment in which your child’s brilliance may unfold & flourish.

Our Montessori curriculum is infused with a number of compatible educational methods promoting learning through play in nature, from Waldorf Steiner to Forest Schools & the Green School (Bali). It is underpinned by the permaculture ethics: care of people, care of the Earth & fair share. We have translated these into Play Fair, Tread Lightly, & Sharing is Caring as ethics children can relate to.
Our care for the children should not be governed by the desire to ‘make them learn things’, but by the endeavour always to keep burning within them the light which is called intelligence.Maria Montessori
Through sharing, exploring, conversations & laughter we engage with each other & determine ourselves; guiding the children to follow their true potential as they learn & develop. We know that ample time for play in early childhood sets a foundation for lifelong health & happiness, as well as later school success. Play is a child’s most important work.
Education is a natural process carried out by the child & is not acquired by listening to worlds but by experiences in the environment.Maria Montessori
Benefits of naturePlaying in nature has a huge positive impact on the learning process. It affects children’s conduct & encourages sensitive behaviour towards one another. It also helps those children who are easily distracted in conventional classrooms to focus much more easily on their tasks. By participating in engaging, motivating, & achievable tasks & activities in a beautiful environment, each child has an opportunity to develop intrinsic motivation, & sound emotional & social skills.

Children graduating from the Playschool will be prepared to invest heart & soul in their schoolwork, better positioned to cooperate with peers, eager to listen & learn.

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time & space. He experiences himself, his thoughts & feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires & to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures & the whole of nature in its beauty.Albert Einstein
We offer a spiral curriculum: an approach to learning that introduces key concepts to students at a young age & covers these concepts repeatedly, with increasing degrees of complexity. It contrasts with ‘blocked’ curricula, which do not introduce difficult concepts until the child has reached a higher level of education.

Echoing Nature’s efficacy, a spiral approach to learning enables children to internalise solutions before fully understanding overarching concepts. Each material teaches a single skill or concept at a time—for example, the Pink Tower helps children understand cubes by first grasping the physical solution by learning to stack from largest to smallest. Eventually, their inquiry leads them to understand that the second cube in the tower represents 2², etc. – something they have been internalising since they first started stacking.

And, built into many of the materials is a ‘control of error’ mechanism for providing the child with some way of assessing their progress & correcting their mistakes, independent of the teacher. The concrete materials provide passages to abstraction, & introduce concepts that become increasingly complex. As children progress, the teacher replaces some materials with others, ensuring that the level of challenge continues to meets their needs.

Children self-assemble their own learning in ways that make most sense to themselves. This process of a child repeatedly following an organic learning pattern over & over again in ways that make sense to them is what will contribute to the emergence of a diverse range of highly capable, resourceful, thriving, fulfilled, balanced & happy adults aligned with their true nature as organisms.

Such a learning pattern for children does not look like a hierarchy with the child at the bottom at all, rather it looks like a web with the child always in the centre constructing their own learning linkages which form patterns in ways that make sense to them. In this way, we are working with a childs’ nature, not against it.

  • Bunmi Abiodun | Playschool Principal | Montessori Directress

    Bunmi Abiodun | Playschool Principal | Montessori Directress

  • guba-playschool112

    Hannah Johnson | Montessori Directress

  • Butimba Velabo | Montessori Assistant

  • Mlamuli Zwane | Montessori Assistant

    Mlamuli Zwane | Montessori Assistant

  • Khanysile Mkhatjwa | Housekeeping

    Khanysile Mkhatjwa | Chef

  • Emma Granville | Strategic Co-Director | Playschool Manager

    Emma Granville | Strategic Co-Director | Playschool Manager

  • Sam Hodgson | Finance & Production Co-Director

    Sam Hodgson | Finance & Production Co-Director

Our school team welcomes the children every morning between 0730 – 0800, Monday to Friday. Following this meet & greet ritual, a teacher will invite each child to get involved in some informal play while they wait for everyone to arrive.

At 0800, music signals to the children that it’s circle time, inviting them to sit cross-legged in a clear circle where they will find their teachers waiting to start morning circle with them. Here the tone, rhythm, themes & alphabet sounds for the day are set & woven into song, dance, & discussions.

Following this affirmation of community, each child is invited to choose something they’d like to ‘work’ with from around our carefully prepared indoor & outdoor classroom. During this 3-hour work cycle, the children are self-directed & invited to work with specific material. The teachers work with the children individually (to support their deeper exploration of materials or to introduce them to under-explored material) & in small groups, depending on the material being used.

The children work with specially designed materials, manipulating & investigating until they master the lesson inside. Beautifully crafted & begging to be touched, Montessori’s distinctive learning materials are displayed on open, easily accessible shelves. They are arranged (left to right, as when reading in the English language) in order of their sequence in the curriculum, from the simplest to the most complex.

Each material teaches a single skill or concept at a time—for example, the Pink Tower helps children understand cubes by first grasping the physical solution, learning to stack from largest to smallest. Eventually, their inquiry leads them to understand that the second cube in the tower represents 2², etc. – something they have been internalising since they first started stacking. And, built into many of the materials is a ‘control of error’ mechanism for providing the child with some way of assessing their progress & correcting their mistakes, independent of the teacher. The concrete materials provide passages to abstraction, & introduce concepts that become increasingly complex. As children progress, the teacher replaces some materials with others, ensuring that the level of challenge continues to meets their needs. Notes are taken by the teachers on each childs’ interests & ability with learning material from each learning area. Text After the work cycle, the children are invited to refuel with some healthy snacks some of them may have made for their classmates. They are then invited to free play in our beautiful playscape which has been thoughtfully designed to encourage imaginative play, improve gross motor skills, & build community in meeting spaces.

After free play, the children are invited back to circle time to discuss what they learnt, deepen exploration, & share how they are feeling. Lessons shared during morning circle time are reinforced here. Music & singing are a much utilised means of learning anything from days of the week & the months, to letters, numbers & colours.

From here, each child is invited to wash their hands & collect their lunch, which they then wash up & clean away before they head home. Healthy nutritious food is prepared by the children with one of the teaching team every day.

As a permaculture preschool, we encourage supervised learning to take place throughout the farm – from propagating plants & harvesting food for lunch, to feeding the animals leftovers & composting. The children are also engaged in meaningful tasks like preparing food, making smoothies, & cleaning up.

Parents are invited to collect their children at 1230.

This preschool is a true labour of love; we have collectively put many hours of work into it over years to get to this point. We’ve been lucky to have the support & inspiration from a few experienced educators & a number of loyal Guba funders.

If you share our values & would like to support the Guba Farm Playschool, then there are many ways you can get involved:

  • The most obvious way is to apply to the school for a place for your child!
  • If you have any of the following materials in good condition that you & your children would be willing to donate, we will gratefully nurture & care for them! We are currently needing outdoor wear (rainproof jackets, wellies, sunhats, etc.), books & educational materials in good condition, sports items, musical instruments, & sandpit equipment. Do get in touch if you’d like to know more about what the school needs at the moment.
  • If you feel you have some relevant skills & wisdom to share please get in touch.
  • At the moment, our Playschool is subsidised by funding Guba raises from donors. If you can spare any money to help cover the costs involved, we will honour your generosity by reaching more children & by nurturing a beautiful, quality learning ecosystem, promoting each child’s potential through community & individual care, including through the supply of healthy, nutritious food. Please contact us for our bank details or find them here under the ‘donate in kind or cash’ heading. Sadly, Swaziland is not eligible for Paypal or other online payment services, so a bank transfer is the only payment method available to us at the moment. 

+ Kaya & Kaya’s Playbook

kayacover Guba is delighted to offer you Kaya, a storybook for 3 to 10 year olds about a girl called Kaya, whose adventures guide us through what permaculture is all about: caring for the Earth, caring for people, & creating a fair share. Beautifully illustrated by our very own preschool teacher, Hannah Johnson, this book promises to take you & your child on an adventure to remember!
With grass on your elbows & mud on your knees, join Kaya as she steps into the trees, crossing the divide, into the other side…
For every book you buy at E150.00, another copy of Kaya can be printed & given to a local school for more children to access. Contact us to buy yourself a copy…or two!

Kaya has been designed alongside Kaya’s Playbook, an interactive, hands on, shoes off manual packed full of fun activities & games for all ages & styles of learning. This Playbook was intentionally created as a tool for teachers, parents, storytellers & permaculture facilitators everywhere to playfully engage children more deeply in Kaya’s world as she learns from nature, growing more & more resilient in herself & her community. If you are interested in buying either books, please contact us.

Please contact us to let us know how you could support the Guba Farm Playschool.

Our high quality, enabling learning ecosystem has been intentionally designed to be accessible to children from a representative variety of economic, cultural, & social backgrounds. Tuition fees are set on a sliding scale to ensure the Playschool is accessible to people from different economic resources. We want to shake up conventional thinking & become a beacon of sustainability & equity education in Swaziland.

Potential parents or guardians are asked to submit a letter from both their employers confirming thier gross monthly pay of both parents/guardian(s). If applicants are involved in seasonal or casual work, a letter outlining gross income from the previous years work, & an idea of projected work for the coming year is required. This will enable the school to determine the appropriate Fee Tier. We will then inform you of the monthly & yearly amount you are required to contribute. If parental gross monthly income is E15,000.00 (fifteen thousand) or more, you are not required to provide proof of income as you will automatically qualify for Fee Tier 5, which is in-line with private preschools in Swaziland. Fee Tiers 1 & 2 are similar to those charged by local community preschools. Half of our school community are from Tiers 1, 2 & 3, & half are from Tiers 4 & 5. Funds raised by Guba subsidize the fees shortfall for Tiers 1-4. If you are in a position to support our school further, check out the above tab & Get Involved!

We trust that applicants will honestly determine the appropriate amount to contribute in light of the personal financial situation of both parents.


 
Final decisions for each application will be made on a case-by-case basis by the Guba team. If your application is successful, you will receive an sms confirming your placement & school fee.

We request that school fees are paid in full (for the term or year) on your child’s first day of school. If you prefer to stagger payments, please note that 50% of the total fees is required on your child’s first day, while the remaining 50% must be paid by midway through the term once a date of payment has been agreed with the Guba Finance & Admin team. If you need to make an alternative payment plan, this must be agreed & a contract signed with the Guba Finance & Admin team before the start of term. Failure to comply with these terms of payment will result in your child being withdrawn from school.

Come & see us!

If you’re interested in joining our Playschool community then please do make an appointment so we can meet & learn about your child while you learn about us. In the meantime, please complete this application form & bring it with you or email it to us as soon as possible so that we can place your child on our Waiting List.
About the  Waiting List

We look forward to welcoming you between 0730 – 0800 every school day!

Starting school is a time of excitement but change can also be an anxious time. We are committed to ensuring that each child will feel safe, loved & nurtured from the moment they arrive, & we will be especially attentive at the start of term. Each new child is paired with another child so that they are cared for by someone her own size & their classmates can share their school.

It is important to keep communication flowing between the school & parents. We give every child a Message Book for you & them to communicate any concerns, what you would like the school to support your child with, what they are enjoying or struggling with, & anything you think will help us deliver the best service we can. On arrival, the children bring their Message Books to the teacher greeting them to check if you have any messages for us. Please do the same as this is where we place all of our school-related messages. We encourage you & your child to cover the Message Book so that they know which one belongs to them when it’s home time.

Come & learn more about the magic of Montessori learning, how to use our beautiful materials, or just ask some questions with our teaching team at our Open School hours every Wednesday from 1300 – 1400. If you are interested in attending, please just let the team know on the Monday or Tuesday beforehand so that we can prepare to greet you.

We have also opened the school day up for you by offering Observation Sessions from 8.30am – 9.30am Tuesday to Thursday. These Sessions will need to be booked at least a week in advance with the teaching team & will involve one adult per session so as not to overwhelm the classroom with adults. The aim is to give you a chance to observe our approach, the use of materials & the general atmosphere. Download our Observation Guidelines & Form & get booking!

Please make sure your child has a bag to carry their Message Book & store extra clothing in. A change of clothes is advisable as accidents do happen. A raincoat, sunhat & rain boots can be kept at school or carried in their bag every day.

You don’t need to pack any food or beverages as we provide breakfast at 0830 after morning circle time & a snack during work time & lunch after play time at 1200. As much as possible is sourced from our organic kitchen garden (often by the children themselves) & lovingly cooked by Khanyie (& the children help too) who keeps records of how much they eat. You’re welcome to ask her if your child is eating well & which foods ’hey are enjoying. Please don’t feed your child anything sugary before school as it affects each childs’ ability to focus & participate. A healthy breakfast will help them start the day well. Please see our Food Policy for more information.

We try to keep on top of illness as best we can by asking parents to be vigilant in keeping their child out of school if they are showing any signs of having contagious germs. We exercise the right to request that a child is taken home should a member of the Playschool team believe they are sick & need to be cared for at home. Please see our Wellness Policy for you to understand what that means in more detail! Do notify the school team if your child is off sick & let us know what you suspect they have. This helps us keep on top of any potential outbreaks. If a child has an accident while at school, we place a sticker on their back to make you aware of where bumps & scrapes have come from.

Please also read & sign our Media Consent Form & return it to the school via your childs’ Message Book in their first week of school.

 

Frequently asked questions

Proper nutrition is a powerful good: well nourished children are more likely to be healthy, productive & able to learn. Good nutrition helps give every child the best start in life & benefits families, their communities, & the world as a whole.

Our children learn how to grow, harvest, & cook the food they eat. This not only helps them in terms of gross & fine motor skills, & deepen their maths, language, & sensory skills, but it also supports them in becoming more self-reliant & resilient in a changing world.

For these reasons, a healthy snack will be provided during the morning & a hearty lunch will be provided for all children at 1200.

The argument for diversity in early education is more than an academic or policy debate; it invokes a moral commitment to young children. Research on classroom composition & peer effects in early childhood education suggests that segregating children by income or race/ethnicity limits their learning. Diversity has been shown to support the development of important cognitive skills in young children; in the long run, it can foster far greater social understanding & social equity.

Greater equity in preschool is important because, as it turns out, quality & equity are inextricably linked. This fact is a key finding of to A Better Start: Why Classroom Diversity Matters in Early Education, a report released by Halley Potter & researchers Jeanne L. Reid & Sharon Lynn Kagan of Teachers College, Columbia University, & Michael Hilton at the Poverty & Race Research Action Council.

Basically, just putting children from different economic backgrounds in the same classroom can help even the playing field, without compromising the quality of education for any student. Potter, Kagan, Reid, & Hilton hypothesise that this is due to the fact that children who start with disparate skills learn from each other through daily interactions, & that teacher expectations of the entire classroom are raised.

To reduce inequality in our children’s lives & provide them with a better start, we must ensure that their first steps aren’t through separate & unequal school doors. This Playschool, & its commitment to equity education is part of Guba’s mission to realise the three guiding ethics of permaculture: care for people, care for the Earth, & reinvesting a fair share into both.

1observe&interactOne of the key principles of permaculture is OBSERVE & INTERACT. In a world of instant makeovers, of ‘fast’ every-thing, having the capacity to observe people, politics, the seasons, watch the changing microclimates on a patch of land, understand how patterns of culture affect our communities, is an opportunity to begin to learn the deeper aspects of effective care for both people & the Earth. It makes us more capable of making wise decisions about how we design or renovate our houses, plan our homesteads & rework our approaches to sustainable human development.

Our approach to development is to first observe & interact with our communities so that we are better placed to deliver services & solutions in response to the challenges they raise in consultation with Guba. We use the 12 permaculture principles to guide this process so that the end result is always faithful to the three permaculture ethics: caring for people, caring for the Earth, & reinvesting back into both.

David Holmgren’s 12 Principles of Permaculture

Once we’ve used the 12 permaculture principles to identify appropriate solutions, we trial them at our purpose-built training centre & roll-out the successes by offering community members training so that they can take away the skills necessary to initiate their own solutions & improve quality of life for themselves. We learn from any failures which are also shared during training opportunities to strengthen learning & increase our positive impact. Any solutions that cannot be delivered through training or through partners in Lobamba Lomdzala, are delivered by Guba (like the Guba Farm Playschool) where appropriate, or we support local community members to deliver the service themselves.

A document well worth reading is Bob Forrester & Vito Laterza’s Development in Swaziland: Myths & Realities, which contains gems of advice following their observations & interaction with the development sector in Swaziland. Much of this document reflects our own learning since we started Guba in 2009. If you run a business, social enterprise or charitable organisation, this is a must read!

Visit our approach & influences for more information regarding the issues & thinking that guides Guba’s strategic decisions as a charity responding to needs within our communities.

The Philosophy

There were certain things that Montessori saw were very important for a child’s natural development.

Natural Spirituality

Montessori saw that children held within them something wonderful, something so special that it could be the key to changing the world. She saw that they were inherently good & that, if allowed to develop freely, they felt connected to everything & were naturally caring to each other & the world around them. The more that she worked with the children, the more convinced she was that they had precise inner guides & that the work of adults was to help them to be all that they could be. She felt that it was the spiritual nature of children that had been forgotten & denied, & that children could therefore show adults the way to return to a more meaningful, holistic way of living. 

Children thrive on order & structure

Order plays a very important part in the lives of young children. Order consists in recognising the place for each object in relation to its environment & in remembering where each thing should be. Such an awareness is essential for a child to feel secure within its environment & to build on existing experiences. Order in the environment makes children feel safe & that they know how things should be. Great emphasis is therefore put on order within the Montessori classroom. By ensuring that everything has its place, & that the environment is designed to be as accessible as possible for children to work in, they can then be given the maximum freedom to move & develop. 

Children move through sensitive periods

Montessori noticed that there were certain periods of particular sensitivity that kept occurring in the children. During these periods the child could learn the activity that she was focused on at a particularly intense rate & that such learning appeared to come very easily. They included a sensitive period for order, refinement of the senses, language acquisition, walking & movement, small objects & involvement in social life. What became clear is that at such times it was as though there was a light shining on that particular activity that completely held the childs’ attention. If left to follow this natural interest the child could achieve much more than would normally be expected. Montessori teachers therefore watch out for these very creative periods & make sure that the children have the freedom to follow their interests. 

Children learn through their senses

Montessori saw that children built on their physical experiences of the world through their senses & that by carefully designing interesting materials which the children were drawn to experiment with, she could help them extend this understanding. She did so by taking each of the senses in turn & developing materials that isolated certain aspects that could then be increasingly explored by the children. She believed that children loved working with beautiful objects so all the materials were prepared with the greatest care. Rather than proving to be outdated in the modern world, these beautifully designed items have gone on to show how accurate Montessoris initial observations were. Many are now reproduced in schools of all types throughout the world. 

Children need freedom

Montessori saw freedom as the single most important factor in allowing children to develop as spontaneous, creative individuals. She saw the role of education as providing environments in which the children could be set free to follow their natural impulses to become the wonderfully dynamic, natural learners they were designed to be. 

Children absorb their culture

Montessori’s emphasis on children being allowed the freedom to work alone & to develop concentration, did not mean that she underestimated the importance of social development. Instead what she saw was that it was precisely because the children were allowed to work in such freedom that they could display such love & care towards others. She saw that children literally absorbed the world around them & that true discipline & harmony was something that came from within & was not something that could be enforced. 

Big Teachers

Montessori called her teachers Directresses because she felt that they sensitively guided, rather than controlled, the childrens’ activities. She asked that they be more psychologists than teachers & considered that success lay in the ongoing nature of the teachers own personal development as well as on the sensitivity of the observations of individual children. Ultimately she saw their role as not so much to teach the children as to direct the natural energies that they saw emerging. 

Little Teachers

As she watched the children busily going about their work Montessori realised that it was natural & very easy for the younger children to learn by watching & listening to the older children. In fact she saw that children learn best this way & that something wonderful happened when a community of children could actively support & help each other. Montessori schools therefore encourage children of all ages to work together as a social group & do not normally split children by sex or age. 

Children are natural learners

Montessori saw that children underwent extraordinary transformations in overall happiness, self-confidence & self-discipline when they were allowed to follow their innate needs. She saw that the work of a child, therefore, was fundamentally different to that of the adult: that the child worked for the joy of the process rather than for the end result, that the child had a need to repeat activities over & over until an inner need was fulfilled, & that the child was excited & energised through work, rather than burdened & fatigued by it. She felt that children only stopped loving learning when they were forced to go against their natural impulses. 

Processes not Results

Montessori schools believe that children are at their happiest when they are busily involved in processes. Children are natural learners who, if left to follow their instincts, will want to constantly explore the world. All too often what stops children enjoying this natural curiosity are external demands that don’t fit with their needs. The only results young children are interested in are the ones that end up making them feel good about themselves & their abilities. When they learn, instead, that there are unacceptable results that make them feel bad about themselves they start to fear the processes. And that fear can cut them off from the joy of learning forever.

Montessori schools therefore believe that each child is an individual & should be encouraged to work at the pace that is right for him or her. There are no grades or tests. Children are never in competition with each other.

And Montessorians continue to fight to preserve the rights of each child to be protected from undue pressure.

Learn more about the life of Maria Montessori & watch this documentary. Watch more about the Montessori method from teachers here & here & check out a detailed account of the Montessori approach here.

Learning should be FUN!

Extract from Montessori UK.

Respect & independence

Children who spend their time in Montessori schools learn to think of the world as an exciting place full of possibilities. They begin to know themselves as powerful people who can do all sorts of things for themselves. They think of adults as helpful friends who are always there if needed, but who try not to overly interfere or control their activities. This is because Montessori teachers really respect young children as individuals & treat them as dynamic natural learners. 

Nurturing creative curiosity

Your Montessori child will come home buzzing with ideas about what has gone on in the day or what is likely to go on tomorrow! From cookery projects, to learning about the life-cycle of butterflies, to the joy of discovering the skills of counting & writing.

It is really helpful if parents can provide home environments that support this growing confidence & creative curiosity. Your child needs you to slow down to his or her timetable, to spend time sharing the things that s/he is excited about or interested in. Depending on the projects they are studying many Montessori children become incredibly knowledgeable about such things as the different types of beetle, the shapes of leaves or the names of geometric shapes! It can be crushing if parents or family members are too busy or tired to share in their childs’ new knowledge or excitement. 

Providing the tools

At school Montessori children can access all the things they need without the help of adults. They may want to draw, cut, stick, count, write, make books, build towers or read. At school they learn that everything can be found in its own place & that it helps others if things get put back again in the same place. So Montessori children tend to be pretty thoughtful about others & tidy.

If you can provide the same thing at home it will help your child to maintain the same level of consideration & independence. Special cupboards & shelves, all easily accessible, & beautiful materials & activities, all carefully laid out in boxes & trays, help the child feel that his or her work really matters. Trays & boxes can be made out of recycled cardboard boxes & labelled so that you can support your child to carefully replace material & games.

Many of the activities that are provided at school can easily be duplicated in the home. And if you ask your childs’ teachers they will let you know what things your child is particularly interested in at the time. One of the most important things we can do for children is to follow their interests – to really know what they are excited about & to provide as much support & further activities as possible for them to explore & understand. 

Holding your ground

We live in a world that is full of pressures & external expectations. The early years of life are recognised as the very foundation upon which everything else follows. Each child is full of natural curiosity & the desire to learn & needs only to be set free within the right environment. This way of learning is characterised by a concentration & passion that is rarely ever exhibited in adult life. Montessorians think that this is the most important quality that we can preserve in our children.

But all too often this precious natural resource is threatened by pressures from outside: pressures to learn all your numbers faster than anyone else, pressures to be able to write your name, to colour shapes in accurately, to draw things that look acceptable, to count to ten, to sit still & wait to be told what to do. And pressure on girls & boys to do all the same things, or pressure that girls “should like this” & boys “should like that”.

Whereas pressure from the inside is a good thing & makes us want to explore the world & learn more, pressure from the outside can be counterproductive. It can interfere with all our natural processes & make us fearful rather than the wonderful risk-takers that we naturally are. It can tell us that we are only valued by our results & can make us see work as something that you only do if you have to, rather than something that excites us & makes us feel good. It can programme us to seek perfection, rather than be brave & make mistakes. So we ask parents to really trust their children, to try to ignore such outside pressures, & to celebrate the very individual talents & abilities that their children possess & enjoy. 

Love

The love of a child is like no other. At no other time in their lives will our children be so dependent on us getting it right. By choosing a school environment that is full of happy, sensitive, loving teachers & by providing a home environment that re-affirms to the child that he or she is an important person in the world, we allow each child to grow in trust & confidence & to become someone who cares about self, others & the larger world in which we live.

Extract from Montessori UK.

The Montessori classroom is a home away from home a happy place full of friends where you can be yourself. It is a place full of interesting things to do, but also a place where you can take time out & just be quiet if you want to. It is somewhere where you can grow up knowing that you belong & that you are special. 

Careful preparation

The layout of the classroom encourages exploration, communication & the development of relationships on all levels. Everything reflects a dedication to quality, beauty & to the children’s abilities to do things for themselves. Montessori saw that careful preparation of the environment is an essential ingredient for the successful development of children. She realised that the child relies completely on the environment for the sensorial impressions through which they gain a sense of the world in which they live.

She therefore paid a great deal of attention to the way in which Montessori schoolrooms were laid out. She wanted the classroom to be a happy, friendly place where children felt at home, where they knew where everything was & where they didn’t always have to rely on adults to help them. 

Think child-sized

Everything in a Montessori classroom is made to be easily accessible to the children. Montessori was the first educator to produce child-sized tables & chairs and to think about the fact that children need to have cupboards & shelves at their own height. She wanted the children to feel that the schoolroom belonged to them rather than the teachers. She knew that order is very important to children & she therefore ensured that everything had its place & that all materials were kept as neatly as possible. She created materials that she saw the children were drawn to & she removed those items in which they showed no interest. She tried to ensure that the materials provided met the interests of the children. It was the children who led her development of the materials & the children who showed her how the environment should be prepared. 

Life skills

Montessori saw that very young children are frequently frustrated in their attempts to do things for themselves & that what they need is to have specific exercises, as closely linked to real life as possible, that allow them to master the tasks that they see going on around them in everyday life. She also saw that, unlike the adults in their lives, the children are not interested in achieving end results as quickly as possible, but are far more interested in the learning processes. As a result they will happily repeat exercises again & again until they feel satisfied.

Practical life activities are therefore an important part of the Montessori environment. The young child is attracted to activities that he sees going on around them & that give them independence & control of their own life. She therefore introduced into her classrooms materials & exercises that allow children the maximum possible opportunity to learn how to both look after themselves & their environment.

In the practical life area you will see things such as special frames to help children learn to do up & undo clothes, lots of spooning & pouring exercises, stirring, whisking & grating trays, cutting & threading activities & many other activities that children see going on around them at home.

Practical life also includes helping children do other important tasks such as opening & closing doors, carrying trays & chairs, washing & drying hands, caring for books & blowing noses! 

The sensorial materials

The need for order, exactness, self-correction & quiet reflection all are qualities that Montessori saw are needed in order for children to develop as they should. When she saw that children are particularly drawn to certain activities she then concentrated on developing materials that would extend that interest. She carefully took each of the senses & thought how best she could help the children to clarify & expand their existing experiences. By isolating specific qualities in the materials & by grading each set in ever-refined series, she was able to give the children the ability to increasingly refine each of their senses.

Many of the exercises in this area are also indirect preparations for later mathematics & language work as they enable the child to order, classify, seriate & describe sensory impressions in relation to length, width, temperature, mass, & colour. 

Mathematics

Montessori believed that children have mathematical minds & she revolutionised the way in which mathematics is taught. She developed a wonderful set of materials, many of which have now been copied by educators throughout the world. The mathematical concept is presented firstly in a very concrete form followed by the abstract written version. The materials for mathematics introduce the concept of quantity & the symbols 1 through to 10.

Then, using a variety of beads & symbol cards, the child becomes familiar with the numbers as a decimal system by means including concrete experiences with the operation of addition, subtraction, multiplication & division. These operations not only teach the child to calculate, but they provide a deep understanding of how numbers function. 

Language

Montessori was a great believer in indirect preparation. By this we mean that she found clever ways in which children can learn how to do things without even realising that that is what they are doing. For example, she created sets of metal insets that children use for drawing but that actually help form the fine motor skills for subsequent writing. Many of the practical life & sensorial exercises were designed with this in mind.

When the child is ready, we begin to teach the phonetic sounds of the letters; then we move on to word building & recognition, & then book reading. She found that writing comes as part of the childs’ natural desire to express his or her new knowledge & nearly always precedes reading. One of the most wonderful times for children & teachers is when the children share the excitement of finding that they can put their thoughts down on paper & there is a subsequent explosion into emergent writing. 

Cultural studies

Montessori saw that young children were full of curiosity & loved exploring new things for themselves. She also saw that they wanted to explore things in increasingly complex ways. When she experimented with what they might be interested in she was astonished just how much they wanted to know & how much they were able to remember. She therefore tried to find ways to help them understand the world beyond their own environments. She developed a wide range of beautiful materials that allowed the children to gain an appreciation of biology, geography, simple science & history.

Each of these areas then allowed the children to explore & experiment with concepts such as metamorphosis, life cycles, land formations, the planets & time lines. As in all other areas of her work she was careful to let the children lead her in their interests & she was surprised to find that they very easily learnt not only the simple, but also the technical names of the new things that they were introduced to. In fact, Montessori children frequently astonish adults with their in-depth knowledge of the subjects they are studying. 

Art & creativity

Montessori felt that it is very important for children to be allowed to express themselves freely. She was aware, however, that they are very often frustrated by the fine motor skills they need for such things as cutting & gluing. She therefore developed many indirect activities that help children develop the necessary abilities.

The Montessori environment is full of opportunities to experiment with different & exciting materials. Whether involved in painting, singing, playing instruments or dancing, children are allowed to be individuals, free to express their feelings & emotions & free to enjoy the rich worlds of movement, sound, colour & sensation. 

Imagination

Montessori schools tend to offer the children activities that are based upon real activities in the real world. Montessori felt that very young children need experiences rooted in the real world. However, in our Playschool, although you are much more likely to see children doing real washing, cleaning & cooking than pretend play, we encourage children to explore the world & themselves imaginatively & will give them the freedom to do so. 

Outdoors

Being outdoors is very important. Children develop gross motor skills as they climb, jump & swing & also social skills as they take turns on equipment & play hide & seek.

Montessori believed strongly that children should be in touch with the substance of their world, encouraging work with clay, gardening & growing activities & even building little houses. 

Social skills

Children aren’t born with an innate knowledge of why we shake hands, or kiss, or rub noses depending on our culture & in the Montessori classroom they learn appropriate greetings. As they become aware of other cultures they are encouraged to celebrate differences & value them equally.

During circle time children are shown how to move quietly & carefully around the classroom, push in chairs, wait patiently before politely gaining someones attention & are reminded how important it is to allow others to work undisturbed. These ground rules in the classroom give every child total security. Children also learn to notice if somebody needs help & that nobody is too small to be useful. 

A loving community

Above all, a Montessori environment is one where adults & children care for each other & aren’t afraid to show it. It is somewhere where you can learn as much as possible about all the things that interest you without being scared about the things that don’t. It is where you can be yourself & can learn to really love learning. 

Teachers

Montessori teachers are frequently referred to as Directresses/Directors because it is a better summing up of what they do. They direct the child towards learning opportunities rather than teach.

The teachers are calm & unhurried, &  move around the room discreetly & quietly. They are responsive to the needs of individual children who do not have to wait until they become bored or upset before they get attention but vigilance is maintained in a low-key way so the children do not feel as if they are being policed.

The teachers never shout, never lose their tempers, never smack, shake or push a child or even speak crossly. They are pleasant & polite, firm without anger, & able to deal with a misdemeanour with sympathy & assistance rather than with punishment. All children are shown respect, never humiliated or laughed at, & their remarks are listened to seriously & answered thoughtfully & courteously.

Extract from Montessori Media Centre

In Montessori schools the child is seen as a dynamic learner, full of creative potential & in need of the maximum possible freedom to be allowed to develop as a happy, confident individual. Montessori schools therefore place emphasis on the importance of process.

In more traditional schools children are seen to be in need of more active instruction & control from adults – there is less trust in the child’s own inner abilities & more emphasis on ensuring very defined results.

So Montessori schools are learner-centred, whereas traditional schools tend to be more teacher-centred.

Extract from Montessori UK.

Montessori, when delivered well, is a beautiful blend & perfect balance of freedom & structure. The best Montessori teachers or facilitators understand that maintaining this delicate balance is one of the most challenging & rewarding aspects of their job. It is on that foundation of freedom & structure that the child builds discipline.

Montessori herself held that discipline is “not …a fact but a way.” True discipline comes more from within than without & is the result of steadily developing inner growth. Just as the very young child must first learn to stand before she can walk, they must develop an inward order through work before they are able to choose & carry out their own acts. Surprisingly enough, Montessori found that it was through the very liberty inherent in her classrooms that the children were given the means to reveal their inner or self-discipline. Independence did not diminish respect for authority but rather deepened it. One of the things that aroused her greatest interest was that order & discipline seemed to be so closely united that they resulted in freedom.

For these reasons, discipline in the Montessori environment is not something that is done to the child; nor is it a technique for controlling behavior. Focus is instead with the development of the internal locus of control, which enables an individual to choose the right behaviour because it is right for them & right for the community.

Montessori schools do not rely on rewards & punishments. Inner discipline is something, which evolves. It is not something that is automatically present within the child. Teachers work hard on their own behaviour so that they can be mindful & intentional role models. The role of the teacher, then, is to be a model & a guide while supporting the child as they develop to the point where they are able to choose to accept & to follow the ‘rules’ of the classroom community.  This level of obedience is the point where true inner discipline has been reached. One knows this level of discipline has been reached when children are able to make appropriate behavioral choices even when we are not present. By being allowed to be free in the environment, & learning to love & care for other people, the child develops confidence & control over their own behaviour.

So Montessori teachers only step in when a child’s behaviour is upsetting or disruptive to others. And then the child will be handled with deep respect & sensitivity. The teachers will invite them to acknowledge & articulate why their behaviour is upsetting or disruptive, & further deepen understanding where necessary.

Following repeated upsetting or disruptive behaviour, the child may be invited to take a seat on the Growing Good Chair or to take some deep breaths in a quiet spot until they wish to mindfully re-enter the environment by acknowledging the consequences of their behaviour.

The belief is that the children are by nature loving & caring, & the emphasis is on helping them develop the vital social & emotional skills needed for participating in true community.

Montessori children tend to be very socially comfortable. Because they have been encouraged to problem-solve & think independently they are also happy, confident & resourceful. So they normally settle very quickly & easily into new schools. In fact primary school teachers are often delighted to hear that your child has been in a Montessori school!
Montessori, Reggio, Steiner, & Forest Schools are all approaches to natural learning. To make it a bit easier on parents, or perhaps to spark some interest, we’d like to give a brief overview of these compatible methods of child education. Be aware that there is so very much more to each of these. This is merely a bit of information to give you some background knowledge or perhaps to be a starting point for your own research.

Their origins & how they work today

Montessori is the philosophy & practice developed by Dr. Maria Montessori of Italy. Dr. Montessori attended medical school at a time when women doing so was virtually unheard of. Upon graduation, she began work with institutionalised & children with learning difficulties. She developed a range of materials & methods to aid them in their development, cognitive & otherwise. When her students, who had significant challenges to learning, performed just as well as did the mainstream children in the education system of her time, Montessori began to question that system & set out to try her methods with all children. She established the first Casa Dei Bambini (“Children’s House”) for young children living in tenement housing in the San Lorenzo district of Rome, Italy in 1906.

Montessori schools today serve children from birth all the way through high school. The age group most commonly served is the same one with which Dr. Montessori began her work in the first Children’s House: ages 2 to 6. The Montessori name is not protected, so there is nothing to prevent any individual, with or without training and an understanding of the philosophy, from opening a school and calling it a Montessori school. Because there is no single, central, organizing body with which schools must be registered, it is difficult to say exactly how many true schools there are, but montessori.edu estimates that there are approximately 7,000 certified Montessori schools worldwide. There are some 168 Montessori schools listed by the South African Montessori Association (SAMA) in southern Africa today. SAMA is the most widely recognized organisation certifying teachers & accrediting schools that follow Dr. Montessori’s philosophy & employ the materials she developed. Lists of affiliated schools can be found on their website.

Reggio Emilia also has its origins in Italy, in the province of Reggio Emilia. Its beginnings came in the wake of Italy’s post WWII freedom from fascist rule. The father of the approach was a middle school teacher by the name of Loris Malaguzzi, who collaborated with families to create a new system of education for young children – one that was child-centered, recognising & honoring the individuality of each child. The first Reggio Emilia schools were truly a community effort, being built literally from the ground up by the families who would be part of their communities. Thanks to Malaguzzi’s work, by 1963, the city government had begun to assume responsibility for the management of the people’s schools and the first municipal preschool was opened.

Reggio schools originally served children from infancy through age six, but in more recent years educators inspired by the model have sought to apply practices similar to those used in the schools of Reggio Emilia to the elementary, & even the middle school classroom as well. There is no prescribed Reggio Emilia method, no certifying organisation, & no set of requirements, so it’s difficult to say how many Reggio inspired schools exist today. Municipal Reggio Emilia infant-toddler centers & preschools continue to thrive in Reggio Emilia & serve as a point of reference for inspired educators around the world. A traveling exhibit called The Hundred Languages of Children was created by the teachers of Reggio Emilia in 1981 & showcases their work with the children.

Waldorf Steiner schools, also called Steiner Schools, are based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher whose feelings on education were intimately connected to his spiritual philosophy. The first Waldorf school was started in Germany in 1919 following the publishing of Steiner’s first book on education in 1907, The Education of the Child. Interestingly, this first school was opened to serve the employees of the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette company on a request from its owner. That first school quickly grew to include a large number of students with no connection to the factory, however, & before long the model had inspired the opening of similar schools around Europe. By 1938 the movement had made its way to the United States as well.

Waldorf schools today are found in more than sixty countries, with some 2000 or more early childhood programs alone. South Africa has 17 registered Waldorf schools & a number of training programmes through which teachers can learn how to implement Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy with children. Waldorf programs serve children from birth through early childhood, & even through the high school years in some locations. Organizations such as the International Association for Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education (IASWECE) help to preserve the ideals of Waldorf Education, support teachers, & keep the methods relevant to today’s children.

Forest Schools are based on a rich heritage of outdoor learning going back at least to the 19th century.  Philosophers, naturalists & educators in Europe & the UK such as Wordsworth, Ruskin, Baden Powell, Leslie Paul (who founded the Woodcraft Folk in 1925), Kurt Hahn (who founded Gordonstone & was the inspiration for the first outdoor education centres in the UK), Susan Isaacs & the Macmillan sisters all laid the foundations for what is known as Forest School today. During the 1970s & 80s the UK education system moved toward a more teacher/outcome-centred approach in an attempt to improve numeracy & literacy, in particular, & a national curriculum was introduced.  Somewhat in response to this, there was a growth of ‘alternative’ educational models in the 1990s & it is in this context that Forest School emerged.

Approaches

Montessori teachers believe that the young child is guided by their curiosity for learning, & that this naturally draws them to activities & experiences that will help them to complete each stage of their development in an organic spiral learning cycle. The role of the teacher is to prepare & maintain a “prepared environment” that is carefully ordered & rich with materials & opportunities that allow each individual child to follow their inner drive for experience & learning. With the children, the teacher’s role is first & foremost to observe, using what they learn to determine how they can change the environment to best serve the children. He or she is also there to be a help to the children, offering individual lessons on new materials & guiding the children in their work when needed. The environment is furnished with materials unique to the Montessori method, many of which were designed by Dr. Montessori herself. The materials are arranged from simple to complex, offering the child different depths of understanding. The materials are appealing to the child, both sensorally & in that they are enjoyable to work with. One essential characteristic of the materials is that they contain a built in control of error, or some characteristic that allows the child to clearly tell when they make a mistake, allowing for self-correction.

Montessori focuses on nurturing the child’s in-built desire to learn & therefore does not involve any punishments or rewards, trusting instead in the child’s ability to learn from the natural consequences of their actions. Montessori classrooms are multi-age. Birth to 18 months are often seen together, then 18 months to two and a half years. 2 1/2-6 year olds work together, then there’s 6-9, 9-12, & so on. This allows younger children to learn from their older peers & offers older children the opportunity to act as mentors, role models, & teachers themselves. See this link for an insightful look at a typical day in a Montessori Children’s House.

Reggio Emilia inspired schools take a collaborative approach to learning, viewing the child as a social being. Teachers are concerned with children as part of the entire group & seek to foster meaningful relationships between children & their peers, the entire community, & the environment. An important principle of Reggio education is the hundred languages of children. Malaguzzi described children as having one hundred ways of thinking & learning, through work as well as play, through creativity, through science as well as imagination, fantasy as well as reality, & so on.

Teachers in Reggio-inspired schools do not follow a predetermined curriculum, instead supporting the exploration & learning of the children in their care through any of these “hundred languages”. The multi-age classrooms of Reggio-inspired schools generally have two teachers, with no hierarchy between them, who act as a collaborators in the children’s learning: researching, observing, & documenting in different stages of the work going on. The environment is considered to be the third teacher, & is designed for learning & exploration that fosters the development of the child’s one hundred languages. The classroom is meant to be an extension of the rest of the child’s world, & is therefore designed with a beauty & complexity that reflects the culture in which the children are growing up. The environment also reflects the project-based approach to learning in Reggio schools by adorning the walls with “documentation panels,” chronicling the work of the children on previous projects as well as current ones. This school’s website offers a description of their Reggio-inspired classrooms and a description of their daily schedule. This school’s blogs also provide an insightful look into the life of the school.

Waldorf Steiner education sees the child as a whole being, made up of body, soul, & spirit; & attempts to nurture the whole child, helping him or her to rise to their fullest potential. Waldorf schools provide a beautiful, simple learning environment that feels much like a home. In early childhood, it is furnished with open-ended toys & activities that allow children to use their own creativity & imagination. The curriculum in a Waldorf school is not purely academic in nature, but includes art, practical activities, & physical education as well. Seasonal celebrations have an important role in the rhythm of life in a Waldorf school. The development of the academic curriculum is referred to as “spiraling up” & “out” as it appeals to the natural interests of the child based on developmental stages as they grow, & later goes ‘out,’ taking a more in-depth look at things that have been studied in the past.

The role of the Waldorf teacher, too, changes to meet the developmental needs of the child. In the early years, he or she nurtures the children as they adjust for the first time to school life. In early childhood, when children learn a great deal by imitation, the teacher acts as a role model in the classroom. Soon, as children grow older & seek an authority to learn from, the teacher’s role shifts slightly. In the ideal situation, the same teacher will stay with a group of students throughout the eight years of elementary & middle school. This gives the teacher a unique ability to get to know the individual children & how best to teach them, & allows for a deep level of collaboration with parents, as the teacher becomes almost like another member of the child’s family. This site offers a look into a typical day in a Waldorf Kindergarten.

The Forest Schools approach can be described as a classroom “without ceilings or walls”, as they are completely outdoors. Every activity is a lesson, from walking through nature (observation) to taking snack breaks (discussions & reviewing). The philosophy of Forest Schools is to encourage & inspire individuals of any age through positive outdoor experiences.

By participating in engaging, motivating and achievable tasks and activities in a woodland environment each participant has an opportunity to develop intrinsic motivation, sound emotional and social skills. These, through self awareness can be developed to reach personal potential.

Forest Schools has demonstrated success with children of all ages who visit the same local woodlands on a regular basis & through play, who have the opportunity to learn about the natural environment, how to handle risks & most importantly to use their own initiative to solve problems & co-operate with others. Children use full sized tools, play, learn boundaries of behaviour; both physical & social, establish & grow in confidence, self-esteem & become self motivated.

Further Reading

See: Three Approaches from Europe: Waldorf, Montessori, and Reggio Emilia for a more in-depth look and a comparison of these three methods.

For an interesting look at the connection between Montessori & Waldorf education, see: Montessori and Steiner: A Pattern of Reverse Symmetries.

See American Montessori Society, Association Montessori Internationale, and Montessori School of Oakton for more info on Montessori, or visit: Wikisori Parent Resources for a great list of articles and blogs with Montessori info.

For more on Reggio Emilia, see Understanding the Reggio Approach, North American Reggio Emilia Alliance, Mustard Seed School, and The Municipal Infant-Toddler Centres and Preschools of Reggio Emilia.

For more on Waldorf, visit: Waldorf Education Musings: Lori Ann Kraun’s Kranium BlogWaldorf Answers, Waldorf Education.

For more information about Forest Schools, visit the Forest School Association & Forest School Education & check out this research.

This document was built on extracts from the Natural Parents Network, a community of natural-minded parents & parents-to-be where you will be informed, empowered, & inspired.

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Gubaguba farm playschool