Winston's Montessori School holds open house
By FELEC1A R McMILLAN
C ommunity Cormpondcnt
? There is no desk for the teacher.
The classroom has no front or
bftck. The structure of the day
varies depending upon the inter
ests and capabilities of the stu
dents. Students are encouraged to
think independently in a multi-age
setting where the teacher serves as
the facilitator of knowledge as kids
explore their world. The
Montessori curriculum is commit
ted to providing a unique child
centered environment employing
the methods of Dr. Maria
Montessori, an Italian educator.
According to Administrator
Barbara Sterchi, "It's fun to be a
child her. 1 would certainly enjoy
coming here to spend my day."
The Montessori School of
Winston-Salem sponsored Open
House on Sunday, February 22 at
its location 3904 Old Vineyard
Road in honor of National
Montessori Education Week Feb.
22 - 28. They joined more than
5,000 Montessori schools across
the United States, including
approximately 200 sponsored by
public school districts. Current,
former, and interested parents were
invited to walk through the halls,
view the commemorative tile dis
play, stand on the engraved brick
patio, tour the classrooms, handle
the materials and "feel ownership"
for Montessori education in the
Winston-Salem community. The
celebration ended with the singing
of songs of love and peace around
the school's "Peace Ptole."
In the classrooms, the children
discussed the life of Maria
Montessori whose philosophy and
method of education is basic to
dny Montessori school. Multi-age
grouping, extensive curriculum
implemented with hands-on devel
opmentally appropriate materials,
cross discipline learning and care
of the global environment serve as
cornerstones of a Montessori
classroom. From their original
early childhood classes for ages 3
6, many Montessori schools have
expanded curriculum to include
infants, toddlers, elementary,
some middle school and high
school programs.
' The Montessori School of
W inston- Salem serves 140 chil
dren who are grouped in the
Toddler/Young Pre-Primary
Program (11/2-3 1/2 years); Pre
Primary Program (3-6 years);
Extended Day/Kindergarten
Program (5-6 years), Lower
Elementary Program (6-9 years);
and the Montessori Summer
Program of 8-9 weeks.
The main area of curriculum in
any Montessori classroom are
Practical Life, which involves
activities relating to the care of
self and the environment;
Sensorial materials that help the
child understand shapes and rela
tionships using all senses; Math
which uses Montessori designed
(Materials that provide hands-on
experience to support math con
cepts; Language Montessori mate
rials such as the movable alphabet
a!nd "sandpaper letters" presented
phonetically for beginning read
ers, and Cultural Subjects such as
geography, history, zoology,
botany and physics which allow
the child to learn about his uni
verse and the interrelatedness of
all life.
; Darryl and Leia Williams have
a son Lance and a daughter Iman
who attend the Montessori
School. Lance, who is five,
enrolled in the program four years
ago, and Iman who is three, is cur
rently in her second year of atten
dance. Although there are few
African American children in the
program, Darryl and Leia com
mend the instructors on their sen
sitivity to varied ethnic groups. "I
lOve the program because it gives a
child an opportunity to explore
different learning environments at
their own pace without a set struc
ture," said Darryl. They are com
fortable with the student/teacher
ration in their children's classes of
lptol.
; Leia appreciates the tact that
tier children love to go to school.
'If you instill in a child at an early
age, a love of learning, they can
carry this for life. They are free to
discover their gifts and to explore
aspects of their environment when
they are developmentally ready,"
Leia said. "It is interesting to
Watch several children in a class
room all doing different things at
the same time But the room is
quiet, and the children respect one
another's spaces," Leia said.
* She and her husband are
pleased to participate with the
school Workshare program which
encourages parent involvement.
Parents are required to serve at
least IS hours per child per acade
mic year. They take students on
field trips, build furniture, assist
with snacks and other contribu
tions One parent who is an engi
neer built the outside fences
around each classroom garden so
their produce will be protected.
Parents who fail to uphold their
obligation to Workshare are billed
at the end of the year at $10 per
hour. "It's unbelievable how much
parent support we have," Darryl
said.
Leia and Darryl are also
pleased that their son is already
studying French in kindergarten.
Darryl is the vice president of sales
at Sara Lee Knit Products, and
many of his colleagues send their
children to the Montessori School.
Leia is the president of Limance
which features the African head
wrap displayed at Pan African
Imagery. They are pleased that the
cost of the Montessori education
is very competitive with traditional
daycare options. Tuition varies
depending on how long the child
attends on a weekly basis. For
example, the toddler program for a
two-day option is $1,160 for the
year; for a three-day program
$1,740, and for a five-day program
$2,900 for the year.
Instructor Susan Gresley-Jones
teaches in the pre-primary class
room where 3, 4, and 5-year-olds
are mixed. She also teaches
French. She holds a B. A. in
Psychology and was also trained at
the Toronto Montessori Institute
in Canada where she was born.
One of the main objectives she
observes in the Montessori educa
tion is to teach children indepen
dence. After she teaches the
children how to use certain manip
ulatives, they are free to choose
which "work" they want to do.
She and her assistant Susan
Williams watch as they work to
ascertain whether they need an
additional lesson.
Some of the tools in the math
area included knob cylinders of
varied sizes to show children geo
metric relationships in math. The
bead bars show students how to
count. They understand that a
bead is a unit. The 100-bead bars
are often put together to illustrate
the bead cube of 1000 beads. They
are able to see what 1.000 beads
look like in a square.
The screw driver work allows
children to unscrew nuts and bolts
with a screw driver and to screw
them back in again, prepared for
the next child who may desire to
do that work. This activity helps
them develop fine motor move
ment that later translates into writ
ing ability. The pink tower is a self
correcting work which uses Mocks
of different sizes that form a tower
that is large at the base and small
at the top. If the child puts the
wrong block in place, the tower
will fall. In this case, the child is
not dependent on the teacher to
show his how to design the tower.
The instructors often use classi
cal music as a backdrop to class
room activity. They also teach the
children songs of peach, friend
ship, and sharing. This helps stu
dents to respect one another. They
also sing traditional songs such as
"Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Old
McDonald Had a Farm" during
which they can determine which
animals the farmer had on his
farm.
The Montessori School is a pri
vately funded non-sectarian school
founded by a group of parents in
1973. It is affiliated with the
American Montessori Society, a
professional organization estab
lished in the United States to mon
itor the character and quality of
Montessori education. The
Winston-Salem Montessori
School just added three office
spaces, two classrooms, a multi
purpose room with a kitchen and
two garden areas. This addition
was celebrated during the Open
House festivities. Montessori
schools are in Canada, New
Zealand, Mexico and other areas
of the world. Peace is a critical
theme of this educational system.
"If we can respect each other, we
can have peace in our families,
peace in the classroom, and peace
in our communities" said
Administrator Barbara Sterchi.
Instructor Susan Orosloy-Jonos assists (loft to right) Jack Knight, fvan Bain and Ban Buss with tha
building of tha pink tawar, a salt correcting work that requires students to arrange blocks at different
sizes into a tower.
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