Our School
The Beaver Valley Montessori School is a state licensed, nonprofit Preschool and Kindergarten for children ages 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6 serving Beaver and Allegheny county communities. Our school provides a unique approach to education, embracing the “Entrepreneurial Spirit” that we share with your children every day. The Montessori program offers consciously designed experiences that cultivate the child’s sense of independence, self-respect, love of peace, passion for self-chosen work done well, and the ability to honor and celebrate the individual spirit. Our program seeks to promote a global perspective and a respect and understanding of cultural diversity.
Montessori programs have multi-age classrooms and are three-year programs. Over the three-year cycle, children progress through a carefully sequenced curriculum that allows students to explore and learn through hands-on, self-correcting engagement. The multiage classroom fosters peer learning, leadership and collaboration. Younger children learn by observing older peers, while older children develop confidence and understanding by mentoring others. The three year cycle ensures completion of the work needed to the development of the whole child and allows the child to receive the full benefit of a Montessori education.
In early childhood, Montessori students learn through sensory-motor activities, working with materials that develop their cognitive powers through direct experience: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, and movement. Montessori materials are appealingly designed so that children are drawn to explore them through the senses. Materials contain multiple levels of challenge and can be used repeatedly at different developmental levels.
The teacher, child, and environment create a learning triangle. The classroom is prepared by the teacher to encourage independence, freedom within limits, and a sense of order. The child, through individual choice, makes use of what the environment offers to develop himself, interacting with the teacher when support and/or guidance is needed creating a balance between teacher guidance and independent work.
The extension of nature in the learning environment is important in Montessori education. Our nature-filled location offers our teachers and students access to woods and green spaces. Animal and bird sightings occur often from our classroom windows. Nature is all around us at our location. Students participate in nature walks, planting flower beds, replenishing bird feeders, raking leaves, picking up sticks, identifying plant species, and dissecting flowers and fruits, as well as outdoor play. Children enjoy connection with nature, and the natural wonders around them to encourage curious minds. The appreciation for nature developed during these early years prepares students for more outdoor concepts as they grow.