At Troutbeck we use the Montessori learning process pioneered by Dr Maria Montessori.
There are over 22,000 Montessori schools world wide.
It is common in the UK, Europe, America, Asia, India, and Australia. There are Montessori primary and secondary schools in South Africa, but in general Montessori is not yet commonly known in the african continent.
The are a number of global governing bodies and coming recently from the USA we follow the North American Montessori Centre (NAMC) curriculum.
We as parents have found Montessori to be an enjoyable and stimulating learning environment for our children. It allows learning to be developed by the child rather than forced fact memorizing as we underwent in our own schooldays.
A member of the Hesperidium class of segmented fruit with bitter skin – a lemon
Using a couple of examples to show the power of the Montessori process:
- At aged 8 our own child, in her own time, read all of Shakespeare’s plays using simplified storytelling books. So of her own free will she learnt all the characters and plots of these plays and was able to enjoy them as story books in their own right. (The contrasts with us parents who were ‘obliged’ to read a shakespeare plays for ‘O’ level literature and promptly forgot all about it as soon as possible!)
More Shakespeare is available in the library
- Our 6 year old was enjoying division the day the Ministry of Education came to visit. There was some surprise that she was not a 9 year old once it was realised she was 3 years too early in her learning!
The Montessori division board
We have seen the Montessori process achieve great things in our own children whilst in America and felt we had to continue both the style and standard of learning for both our girls while in Zimbabwe.
Learning 7 squared in Montessori
And, while decisions about your own child’s education are more important than celebrity, here are links showing some discussions relating to the high profile figures in the world who have been Montessori educated.
The Christian Science Monitor 2012 (Maria Montessori and 10 famous graduates from her schools)
The New York Times April 2020 (What to Know About Montessori Preschools)
Here are a couple of web pages with lists:
History of the world
The Troutbeck School 