Montessori is a progressive and individualized approach to educating the whole child.

A Montessori education at the Montessori Academy of North Hoffman provides your child the opportunity to be a member of a motivated community of students, families, teachers, and staff who care about a well-rounded education. We provide the individualized attention and experiences that a more traditional program may not be able to offer.

Here, your children are taught in a nurturing environment where they become autonomous and take responsibility for their own learning, identifying their own strengths and working through their challenges. Your children will care about their own personal growth and become world citizens who actively work to make the world a better place.

Because of Montessori Academy of North Hoffman’s individualized approach to education, the teacher-student ratios are met and they are often smaller than what is required. The ratios for accreditation standards:

• Infants 1:4
• Toddler 1:5
• Primary 1:15
• Elementary 1:20
• Erdkinder 1:15

Montessori Education vs. Traditional Education

The goals of both Montessori education and traditional schooling are one and the same: they both seek to educate children. At the Montessori Academy of North Hoffman, we offer a child-centered education that provides invaluable learning experiences. While there is a tuition fee, the value our students gain from our Montessori methods and learning cycles is truly immeasurable. Montessori education fundamentally believes that the education of the whole child is crucial in the development of citizens of our future world. The education models are very different between both school systems.

Authentic Montessori Education and the Accreditation Process

The Montessori Academy of North Hoffman stands out through its commitment to Authentic Montessori Education. As an accredited school with the American Montessori Society (AMS), we adhere to their rigorous standards. Our approach emphasizes independent learning, mixed-age classrooms, and child-centered education. While any school can open its doors and call itself Montessori, we take our authentic Montessori practice very seriously. In 1999, our school became the 42nd Montessori school in the nation to be accredited. We have proudly maintained that status ever since.

Accreditation involves a self-study with metrics to support that the self-study is an accurate representation of the school. Consequently, a team from the American Montessori Society visits the school for a multiple-day observation to validate the self-study and metrics. The self-study includes:

• Montessori Learning Environment

  • The Montessori Academy of North Hoffman considers a beautiful, nurturing environment to be of supreme importance in the education of children. In our day school, we create environments that foster a child’s natural tendencies and encourage their development. The classroom design is for ease of function and purposeful activity. In an effort to inspire each child’s intrinsic motivation and encourage independence, we prepare materials so that they are inviting, challenging, and accessible.

• Montessori Learning Activity

  • The array of materials available in the classroom aims to spark a child’s interest and supplement their knowledge. An enticing environment gives the child the opportunity to actively learn. The school strongly believes in an uninterrupted work period that allows for immersion in concentrated activity and self-discovery. The child enjoys individual liberty based on ground rules. Clear guidelines with consistent reinforcement, along with freedom within the boundaries of safety and respect, allow the child to attain a degree of responsibility.

• Montessori Learning Relationships

  • The School helps our children recognize that they are part of a larger community and that their contribution is invaluable. Our classrooms thrive in a multicultural environment to ensure the mix of genders, ages, personalities, abilities, and ethnic backgrounds helps them learn how to appreciate and respect one another’s similarities and differences. In our educational approach, we do not encourage competition. Each student’s work is a reflection of their unique commitment and deserves recognition. In addition, the multi-age classroom promotes interdependence among students. Older children have the opportunity to serve as role models and develop leadership skills while inspiring younger students to explore broader interests by observing their older peers. This creates a supportive learning environment for all students. Additionally, the multi-age classroom fosters interdependence among students. Older children have the chance to act as role models and develop leadership skills while inspiring younger students to explore broader interests by observing their older peers. This creates a supportive learning environment for all students.

• Montessori Spirituality

  • Children are innately spiritual. We believe our task is to nurture, protect, and nourish this by providing a peaceful, safe, and loving environment. Teachers encourage students to express their inner joy and wonder at the marvels of nature. They strive to spark each child’s imagination by the presentation of the world as a harmonious whole. Instilling virtues in children requires role modeling, discussions, and cooperative work periods. Love, generosity, responsibility, forgiveness, and tolerance are taught through education, experience, and leading by example. We strive to guide our children to distinguish right from wrong and to develop a conscience with a moral foundation.

• What the Montessori Teacher Is

  • Our teachers are sensitive and understanding individuals who consistently enforce boundaries in the classroom, exhibit warmth in their relationships with their students, and speak to students in a calm, gentle tone of voice combined with genuine love, empathy, and enthusiasm. Our teachers maintain an active learning environment through keen observation. They time their lessons appropriately, intervening only when a child needs guidance or help. Our teachers’ primary task is to meet the natural tendencies of the children while stimulating their interest.

• What the Montessori Teacher Does

  • Teachers are instrumental in creating a community of learners where each individual student works for the betterment of themselves and the community. Children learn that all members of the community are important and learn to weigh individual wants against community needs. In this way, they learn to prioritize collaboration and compassion. Our teachers present lessons to focus the child’s attention to the activity at hand. Our teachers strive to facilitate each individual’s cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and moral development. They act as exemplary models within the classroom, actively involving themselves in learning with the students and instilling moral values. By empowering the child and respecting individual differences, our teachers impart tolerance, patience, and acceptance of others in their students.