Our Program
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Our Family Day Carers provide education and care in a nurturing, natural and flexible home learning environment.
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Children are able to work either individually or in small groups. They gain confidence and a love for learning that stems from the freedom to choose. Children become self-motivated lifelong learners.
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Children are offered the opportunity to form genuine, long lasting bonds with their qualified and passionate Family Day Care Educator.
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In addition, the Family Day Care Educators evaluate each child and offer individualised learning programs for the children they care for. Each child is seen as a singular entity. They have the ability to work on activities at their own pace. Children are presented with a broad range of knowledge about the world around them. They are able to explore topics in geography, history, science, language and math holistically.
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We offer care during standard hours, evenings, before/after school and during school holidays.
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We can provide education and care for babies and children up to 12 years of age; offering the possibility for siblings to be cared for together, all in one location
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Montessori Kids Family Day Care provides experiences which reflect the diversity of our communities, enabling children to participate in community service projects and going-out opportunities. These opportunities allow them to understand their larger community.
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Montessori environments frequently contain children of several different ages - this allows children to cooperate and interact with those who are younger on a daily basis. This helps to empower children to become effective leaders. It also prepares them to converse with people of various ages when they will meet throughout their life. The multi-age learning environment is unique and a key aspect to both Family Day Care and Montessori. Both older and younger children have opportunities to develop social, emotional, communication and leadership skills by working with each other.
Who is Maria Montessori?
Dr Maria Montessori was a physician, anthropologist and teacher. She developed her unique method of educating children over a professional career that spanned over fifty years. The Montessori philosophy was developed through passionate scientific observation of children from many ethnic, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds from birth to maturity. It is based upon a deep understanding of child development.
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The idea behind the Montessori philosophy is to provide an environment in which children are self-motivated, eager to learn, try new things and above all be respected. Children learn early on to respect others and their environment. We show each child respect by speaking to them as human beings rather than babies and letting them be active participants in all aspects of their life, starting at birth.
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We aim to create beautiful, inviting and safe spaces for our children to play and grow in, making children feel like important and contributing members of our families and communities. Children experience the joy of learning by aiding their need for independence, order, movement, language and understanding of the world. It is during this period that a child’s brain absorbs more information from the environment than at any other part of their lifetime.
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“All that we ourselves are has been made by the child,
by the child we were in the first two years of our lives.”
(MARIA MONTESSORI ~ THE ABSORBENT MIND)
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0-6 Aged Children
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From birth to three years of age (first plane of development) the physical development of infants is remarkable, inspiring the attention and care of both family and community. In tandem with their physical development, infants are developing psychologically, socially, intellectually and spiritually.
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During this time, they acquire the culture and language of the community into which they are born. This multi-faceted development is accommodated in the Montessori environments prepared for children of this age. Specifically, Montessori learning environments for this age group are designed to foster independence, psycho-sensory-motor development and language development.
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Between the ages of three to six years, children continue the process of self-construction, consolidating, refining and adding to the skills and knowledge they accumulated before the age of three. From the age of three children become conscious of what they are learning through their own freely chosen activity, especially activity with their hands.
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Montessori environments prepared for this age group provide children with motives for activity through which they refine their perception, movement and language, and become independent in everyday life.
6-12 Aged Children
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The second six years of life (second plane of development) build on the foundation of the first six years, all the developments and acquisitions as children continue the process of self-construction. The nature of this process, however, changes because the characteristics of children beyond the age of six are very different.
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While the first plane of development is one of rapid physical growth and transformation, the second plane of development is characterised by physical stability and steady growth. Less energy is being used for physical growth and the children have increased stamina. These stronger, healthier children are more adventurous and daring, often willing to try physically challenging things. This increase in physical stamina can also manifest itself as a capacity for sustained intellectual work. Children in this plane of development are more receptive to intellectual learning than at any other time in their lives.
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Children begin to use reason and logic to learn about their world consciously. Typical questions asked by children of this age include why, how and when. This is a time when children are developing great intellectual power, children broaden their horizons beyond the confines of the family and into the wider society, most specifically into a new level of social life with their peers.
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Working with another child, or a small group of children, cooperatively on the same task to achieve shared goals. Activities in the environment prepared for these children are generally for small groups, enabling them to work together.
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