National Montessori Education Week
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- This week marks National Montessori Education Week. It spotlights Montessori programs available to students across the country.
Montessori education is a teaching methodology that aims to promote a unique and dynamic learning environment for students.
EPISD currently has Montessori programs available at Green Elementary and Moreno Elementary.
Cecilia Perez, the principal of EPISD’s Moreno Montessori, told ABC-7 that Montessori education allows students to choose what they want to learn--each selecting activities and lessons they want to participate in.
“It's about developing self-confidence in children so that they are able to advocate for themselves and also guide their own learning and giving them those opportunities for critical, problem-solving skills that, as, future members of society, is what we're looking for,” she said.
Rocio Silvestre has been teaching Montessori education for 10 years. This is her first year with EPISD. She explained how students approach the learning system.
”They work on what they are interested in. So let's say if one day they come in and they want to do math, we're not really, forcing them to learn that, you know, area, that skill. It's more of what they want to do, what they want to learn,” Silvestre said.
She explained that Montessori helps students cultivate curiosity and gain lifelong skills.
“They are really a part of this world. They're, they're not just here in the classroom, but they contribute to the community outside of the classroom. So that is something that big social, emotional piece that we develop in children in Montessori,” Perez added.
She said one main difference between Montessori and traditional learning is the classroom makeup. Everything in Montessori classrooms is natural, wood-based. Another contrast is the students that comprise the classroom.
“We do have the multi-age classrooms where we have three, fours and fives together traditionally, and that's just where that collaborative nature comes in. And they, the older children, become guides, as we call them, to the younger children,” Perez said.
Silvestre said students become more independent, and she hears first-hand, positive accounts from parents.
“So they go home, and they want to start doing things on their own. When before they were very dependent on their parents. So that's one of the main things that the parents come back and tell us, that they just go back home and they're independent.”
If you want to learn more information about EPISD’s Montessori programs, click here.
