Montessori Program

Montessori Program

Offered at Liberty Elementary 2024-2025 Enrollment Information:

Applications Open: January 8, 2024
Parent Information Night at Liberty Elementary School, 1740 E. Bergeson St., Boise, ID,
**January 25, 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Applications Due: February 9, 2024 by 3 p.m.
Lottery held: February 15, 2024
Applicants Notified: February 16, 2024  
*Only complete applications will be accepted and must include:
Boise School District Enrollment form - completed Student Enrollment Forms Copy of child's birth certificate and current immunizations Open enrollment form, if applicable - Open Enrollment Forms
Montessori Enrollment Form - Must Also Be Completed

Mission Statement

The mission of Boise School District Montessori Project is to foster self-motivated, responsible, life-long learners by providing an opportunity for students to meet high academic standards using the Montessori philosophy and methods of education.

Goals:

  • Implement the Montessori pedagogy by providing a prepared learning environment with materials and classroom organization specific to the Montessori method and a highly qualified, dual certified (Idaho State Certification & Montessori Certification) teacher with classroom aide.

  • Establish and integrate the program, administration, building staff and Montessori project staff.

  • Achieve strong academic performance validated through appropriate assessments using a Montessori curriculum aligned with District and State standards.

  • Provide on-going community education regarding the project.

  • Create and maintain high parental involvement and collaboration in the program and advisory governance.

  • Provide Montessori professional development.

Montessori Philosophy

The Montessori Method of education was developed in 1907 by Dr Maria Montessori, the first woman in Italy to become a physician. She based her educational methods on scientific observation of children's learning processes. Now, a century after Maria Montessori's first casa dei bambini ("children's house") in Rome, Montessori education is universally recognized as a quality educational method for children 2 years to adolescence. Nationally there are over 1000 Montessori schools with approximately 300 operating within a public school system.


"The secret of good teaching is to regard the child’s intelligence as a fertile field in which seeds must be sown, to be grown under the heat of flaming imagination. Our aim therefore is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his innermost core.”

- Maria Montessori


The key concept of the Montessori Method is that students become actively involved in the education process. The philosophy focuses on the development of the total child by fostering independence and the freedom to choose through the use of specifically designed sequential materials in a "prepared environment." The program emphasizes the process involved in learning by hands-on experimentation and discovery rather than just the product. Additionally, the role of the teacher is redefined as a facilitator to provide a prepared environment which provides the student choices about curriculum and time management based on his or her motivation, potential, individual ability, and need. In a Montessori classroom the teacher’s job is also to inspire the children to want to learn, and to instill in them a sense of wonder about the world.


Key Principles of a Montessori Program

  • Multi-age classroom-allows younger children to learn from the older through observation, and for the older child to reinforce knowledge by teaching the younger.

  • Manipulative materials allowing the learning to begin with the concrete and move to the abstract

  • Freedom of Choice

  • Individual and Group work

  • Concentration

  • Independence

  • Problem Solving

  • Exploration

  • Emphasis on the learning process

  • Evaluation through portfolio, journaling, and teacher observations (letter grades are not assigned)

  • No extrinsic reward for learning. Learning is the reward.


Additional Information about Montessori Education


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