Introduction

The Alfred Montessori School seeks to meet the needs of children and parents who live in Alfred and the surrounding areas by providing an excellent pre-school program that can also serve as a day care facility. The Alfred Montessori School is an independently operated non-profit organization that is overseen by the Board of Directors. The Alfred Montessori School has an absolute charter from the NYS Department of Education and is licensed by the NYS Office of Children and Family Services as a day care facility.

Mission

“We will do whatever is within our talents and capacity to protect the right of each child to have the freedom and opportunity to develop his or her potential”

Explore

The mission of the Alfred Montessori School is to provide a living-learning-playing environment in which children between the ages of three and six can develop their individual capabilities in all areas of intellectual growth, and can enjoy, embrace, and have a healthy curiosity about life and the world around them. The goal is to balance the relationship between freedom and structure so that children discover for themselves the concepts inherent in the learning activities and take pride in doing real life work with child-size tools. Through these practices, children become active participants in the life of the school, learning to see themselves as a part of the community.

What is the Montessori Education Method?

The Montessori approach to education takes its name from Dr. Maria Montessori, Italian physician and educator (1870-1952). Dr. Montessori developed her educational philosophy as a result of her observations of the way in which children learn naturally. She described the ages from three to six as a particularly sensitive time during which young children are especially attuned to acquiring knowledge from and about their own environment. To enrich their experience, Dr. Montessori developed a “prepared environment,” of child-sized furniture and material, attracting their attention. The materials are designed to enhance muscular coordination, concentration, and self-help, while refining the five senses. The children learn by doing, with the teacher acting as a guide and stimulus to their endless curiosity.