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517-519 Moe Road
Clifton Park, NY 12065
(518) 371-1535
www.rootsandwingsmontessori.com
Email: rwm2008@yahoo.com
Open since 2008!
About Us
Our Owner & Founder: Cheryl Laux
Cheryl, the owner & founder of Roots and Wings Montessori, discovered the Montessori method when looking for child care for her son. After moving to the Capital Region, she joined a private Montessori school. Cheryl started out as an Assistant in the primary classroom and the following year became the Administrator. Since then she has opened Roots and Wings Montessori. All of her three children have graduated from Montessori preschools and now the eldest has graduated from college and one of them currently attends college and the youngest is in high school. She earned her Master's Degree in School Counseling from Niagara University and earned her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Potsdam College.
The Differences Between Traditional & Montessori Preschools is....
Traditional Preschools
Emphasis on: social development
Teacher is center of classroom
Teacher acts as primary enforcer of discipline
Group and individual instruction
Same age grouping
Most teaching done by teacher
Curriculum structured for child
Child guided to concepts by teacher
Child generally allotted specific time for work
Instruction pace usually set by group norm
If work is corrected, errors usually pointed out by teacher
Learning is reinforced externally by repetition and rewards
Fewer materials for sensory development
Less emphasis on self-care instruction
Child usually assigned own chair; encouraged to participate, sit still and listen during group sessions
Voluntary parent involvement
(American Montessori Society K.211)
Montessori Schools
Emphasis on: cognitive and social development
Teacher has unobtrusive role in classroom
Environment and method encourage self-discipline
Mainly individual instruction
Mixed age grouping
Grouping encourages children to teach and help each other
Child chooses work
Child discovers own concepts from self-teaching tasks
Child works as long as they wish on chosen project
Child sets own learning pace
Child spots own errors from feed back material
Child reinforces own learning by repetition of work and internal feelings of success
Multi-sensory materials for physical exploration
Organized program for learning care of self and environment (serving self food, wiping a table. etc.)
Child can work where they chose, move around and talk at will (yet not disturb work of others); group work is voluntary
Organized programs for parents to understand the Montessori philosophy and participate in the learning process.
The Montessori Philosophy
Maria Montessori was the first woman in Italy to graduate from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Rome in 1896. Her work with young children led Dr. Montessori to develop an approach to education strongly influenced by her scientific training. This approach is used by thousands of Montessori programs all around the world.
The Montessori Method is an educational approach with a strong philosophical foundation. Our Montessori trained teachers place materials on the shelves with the educational needs and ability levels of each individual child in mind. The children are not put on time constraints. Thus giving them a chance to delve into the materials and really solidifying what they are learining. The community of teachers and children learn from one another for three full years.