About Us
"One test of the education correctness of the educational procedure is the happiness of the child". Maria Montessori
Philosophy
Montessori Happy Minds recognizes children as mighty learners and citizens, as capable, curious, resourceful, and rich in potential, which affirms each child’s right to be listened to, to be treated with respect, and to participate in daily decisions that affect them.
We believe that children are active learners, and that the environment is one of the main educators for children. It should reflect the child’s culture, interests, and belonging.
We believe that emotionally available and responsive caregivers are the ones who are able and willing to build an emotional attachment with children in their care, and who support the children achieving their full emotional, social, and cognitive development.
We believe that all children are unique individuals, everyone is special in the way we learn and the learning process should be based on our different interests and strengths. When we learn new things, memory and recall are strengthened by frequency. The more often we practice something new, the easier it is for our brain to learn the skill. This process is called fluency.
Learning Style
Our program at Happy Minds is inspired by the Reggio Emilia, Montessori and Walldorf approaches.
The Reggio Emilia Approach is an educational philosophy based on the image of a child with strong potentialities for development and a subject with rights. Reggio Emilia’s educational philosophy centers on the idea of family, community, and the environment as a third teacher. It is essential to expose children to a wide variety of educational opportunities that encourage logical thinking, self-expression, communication, and problem-solving. The focus of this approach is on observing and documenting children learning to create the activities that enhance the children’s learning by building a relationship between teacher, children, and environment. It is the concept of the in-depth project. “Long-term, open-ended projects are important vehicles for collaborative work.”
The Maria Montessori approach believes that children and youth are drawn to different skills and activities and can make enormous progress if they are given the opportunity to explore and practice them. According to Montessori theory, the first six years of life are a time of tremendous physical and psychological growth, exploration, and development. She described this period as the time of absorbent mind and believed that we must give the children space to investigate everything around them and encourage them to be creative to gain a better understanding of their surroundings.
The Waldorf philosophy of education is known as a complete way of life that extends into the home and family with a warm, nurturing learning environment. They believe that the process of learning is a journey that starts at the birth of every individual and eventually ends at the time of death. They seek to educate the child’s heart and body with a creative mind and soul. Waldorf education places the focus on a child’s freedom and holistic child development. There is also a role for the teachers as a guide for the child and as an artistic director.
Happy Minds is a Mixed Age Program
Mixed age grouping allows children to spend years with the same teacher and most of their friends, which builds a strong attachment and familiarity with the environment as well as allowing the teacher to develop a deeper understanding of their children’s strengths and needs, which helps them support the child’s learning.
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Young children who have a chance to play with older children develop more complex language and types of play. The older children also have opportunities to practice leadership skills and pro-social behavior such as helping and sharing, repetition of some tasks on the behalf of helping the younger children will help them master the skills they need to learn and gain self-confidence.
It creates a positive comparison and competition between children because children naturally have a wide range of skills and abilities, so it is advisable for special needs children. The children become more open to cooperation rather than competition because their different strengths are being emphasized, further developing their identities as individuals rather than competitors.
Older children gain more skills in problem-solving, and younger children can build cooperation skills by asking for the assistance of older children. This dynamic increases the independence and competence of older children.
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In mixed-age classes, the children develop a sense of self-direction due to their ability to decide the actions they take and what they learn, developing a foundation for learning at later points in their life.