From Parents and Toddlers through Infants classes, Montessori materials are utilised. Furniture, equipment, games, classroom materials and teaching methods are all designed to familiarise the child with his environment and teach how things work in the child’s life. Children learn to complete actions including putting things away and clearing up. Progress is closely monitored and new tasks introduced as earlier skills are mastered.

A child’s early years – from birth to six – are probably the period when he or she has the greatest capacity to learn and the greatest appetite for knowledge of all kinds. It is what we, as adults, do during these critical years that lays the foundations for all their future learning, for their sense of identity, their confidence, self esteem, respect and interest in the people and world around them – truly education for life.

What is Montessori?

Montessori is an approach to early education that focuses on the immense capacity of children to absorb information when given the freedom and independence to learn at their own pace. It takes its name from Dr. Maria Montessori who developed specialised equipment and ways of presenting data which allow children to increase their sense of self worth, become independent, and which equip them with basic social and educational skills.

What makes the Montessori approach different, and what makes it work so well, is that it is based on a deep understanding of the way children learn – through choosing, trying and doing themselves.

When allied to the availability of specially developed materials in a prepared environment, and the close observation and guidance of a Montessori-trained teacher, this method leads to an enormously powerful, confidence-building approach to learning.

The Montessori approach allows children to learn through understanding, rather than through being told. From understanding comes confidence and a joy of learning.

Parent and Toddlers (up to 3 years)

In this free Greenfields service, with a parent’s assistance, children become aware of their environment, learn to take part in activities and interact with other children. Each skill learned boosts self-confidence, increases respect for self and others and produces a greater understanding of the world around them.

Preschool (3 to 4 years) and Reception Class (4 to 5 years)

Greenfields addresses a range of learning and experience that is far broader than any state-prescribed curriculum. At these ages we focus on core areas of learning ranging from learning how to do up buttons to how to pass scissors or lay the table for a meal, plus covering all kinds of sensorial experience, developing language, mathematical ability and the encouragement of cultural knowledge and creative activities.