Classroom Environment
“In our schools we give the children small chairs and tables, so that they may move as masters in their own world instead of wrestling continually with awkward objects in a world specially created for grown-ups. ”
Maria Montessori's first school was called Casa dei Bambini in her native Italian - the Children's House.
Using that as inspiration, we looked to the Montessori curriculum for names for all of our classrooms. The result is a set of classroom names that work together beautifully and contribute to the sense of home for all of the children.
The Toddler House is made up of two classrooms, Casa Pace to the left as you enter the Toddler House, and Casa Fiore to the right.
The Children’s House contains four classrooms, mirrored between the two buildings. Casa Luce is downstairs in the Antique Building, and Casa Mare is upstairs. In the Millennium Building, Casa Terra is downstairs, with Casa Aria upstairs.
Our art studio, Casa Colore, is on the lower level of the Millennium Building. The outdoor classroom, Casa Natura, surrounds it all and provides separate but connected spaces for the Toddler and Children’s Houses.
Regardless of the classroom, Winfield offers a child-centered and multi-sensory environment. The curriculum, classroom, and teacher roles are all carefully designed to honor individual growth while encouraging social awareness and cooperation.
In the classroom, each curriculum area has its own set of materials placed on child-sized shelves to allow for free choice. The curriculum is presented in an ordered fashion through lessons and is also sequenced on the shelves from simple to complex, concrete to abstract. From the Toddler program through the Kindergarten program, the curriculum is designed to provide integrated age-appropriate experiences in Practical Life, Sensorial, Science, Art, Cultural Studies, Geography, Math, Language, and Peace. The emphasis of the curriculum is to empower children of all learning styles and develop their independence.
All of the classroom materials isolate a specific skill or concept. Children choose materials and work at their own pace, uninterrupted, often repeating a process many times. This practice allows for the inner mastery of the isolated skill that the material offers.
The teacher acts as a designer of the environment, resource person and guide, role model, demonstrator of materials, record-keeper, and meticulous observer of each child’s behavior and growth. The teacher is a person who interprets instead of judges, and who is a vital link between the child and the environment. The teacher introduces materials to the children, gradually helping them to use the materials independently.