Montessori Schooling Offers An Individualized Approach To Learning

By Susan Coney

The Fraser-Woods School, located in what was previously the Gordon Fraser Gift Shop building and warehouse on South Main Street, was founded in 1968 as Newtown Montessori School. Originally the school was located in Dodgingtown but moved to a larger, renovated facility five years ago to accommodate for continued growth.

The school’s dramatic interior architecture includes an inner garden enclosed by 20-foot-high glass walls that shed natural light into classrooms and hallways. The school’s unique configuration supports the needs of the curriculum with science labs, art and music studios, hallways similar to that of a modern museum that are conducive to displaying student artwork, a gymnasium, and playing field.

The school began when a small group of parents came together to create a learning environment for their children that would be globally minded and still attentive to the individual needs of the child. Today, the state accredited private school, which was renamed the Fraser-Woods School after relocating to its current site, with an enrollment of approximately 205 students, offers programs geared to children toddler through middle school age and is based on the beliefs of Maria Montessori.

Born in Italy in 1870, she was the first Italian woman to qualify as a physician. She became interested in diseases of children and later developed teaching programs for mentally challenged children. Dr Montessori saw remarkable advancements in the learning development of those students and wondered what results she might achieve when applying similar strategies to regular students in traditional classroom settings.

Dr Montessori believed in a nontraditional format of allowing students to study and develop in their own style rather than being seated in rows of desks in a classroom following the lead of the teacher; a radical concept for the early 20th Century.

Today the Montessori curriculum is structured and integrated to demonstrate connections among different subject areas such as history, the arts, science, and technology. Students are encouraged to learn through hands-on experience, investigation, and research according to their own style and pace of learning. Montessori challenges and sets high expectations for all students.

Students are grouped in multiage classes, normally spanning three age levels; and remain with the same teacher for three years, allowing teachers to develop a close relationship with their students. This also provides a strong bond among the class as a small community within itself.

School Head Myriam Woods, who has been affiliated with Montessori schools for more than 25 years, stated that the founding members of the Newtown school had a strong vision of excellence in mind when planning the school. Ms Woods will be celebrating her 16th year at the Newtown school in June.

Small School Environment

She said, “The beauty of a small school environment is it develops into a community, a family, a home away from home and the children really take ownership of the school. The older students do community service within the school. Everyone gets a chance to do what they want to do.” However, Ms Woods was quick to explain that the children really are not totally free to do as they please at the Fraser-Woods School. “They do take tests and quizzes and receive regular report cards. They begin taking standardized tests in the third grade; test taking is part of practical life experience and they need to know they have to take tests. And yes, we have computers and we do research on the Internet. Education should be a preparation for life,” she said.

The school offers enrichment classes in art, computer, French, music, health and physical education. There are before- and after-school programs available. A special education teacher is available at the school. “We are very pro-active in early intervention. We already individualize with each child. The special education teacher may do remedial work with the student. We use an Orton Gillingham phonics-based program when needed,” she said.

Because the students are grouped together in multiage groups, rather than classes of just one grade level, children develop a family-type structure within the classroom environment. The older students assist the younger ones, the younger ones model and strive to be like the older students.

“The beauty of Montessori is it allows for all students to succeed. It is wonderful for the gifted child and also for the one who needs a little more time. Our goal is the process rather than grading the finished product itself. The children are urged to do their best work. The teacher puts the responsibility back on to the child. We don’t foster competition, but children are naturally competitive and they want to be strong and excel in life,” Ms Woods said.

Beginning in kindergarten, the children have a work plan of what they need to do on a daily basis. The students have a structured set of required work that must be done; after that is completed they are free to pursue interests of their own choosing. The children work in an environment that is most conducive to their individual learning style. Some may opt for the traditional desk and chair, while others prefer working sprawled out on the floor using a work mat or snuggled up on a pile of pillows.

Learning Time Management

“The students learn time management from a very young age. There is a lot of structure and the teacher plans so thoroughly, so that the ultimate goal is for the teacher to be so prepared that they may actually sit back and watch the students learn and do,” she shared. Ms Woods continued by saying that each age level has a set curriculum with benchmarks that must be achieved.

“We strive for 100 percent mastery of skills but if they get 80 percent accuracy they do not have to retake the test or quiz,” she said. The students receive three chances to fix mistakes on their own and if they are unable to do so after a genuine effort they receive another lesson from the teacher. Once the child has achieved the required mastery requirements for the core curriculum he/she is free to research and explore areas of personal interest. “The child gets the opportunity to blossom in their own interest or passion and go beyond the core curriculum,” Ms Woods said.

After three years of attending Fraser-Woods School, 7-year-old Kelsey Nicholson clearly loves the school she attends. Kelsey shared her work plan, proudly showing all of the things she had accomplished so far for the week. “I like lots of things about the school. I like reading, computers, art, and multiplication. I think it’s a wonderful school,” she said.

Rebecca Wood teaches science to sixth, seventh, and eight grade students. Previously, Ms Wood worked in the marketing field and found that she wanted to go back to school to become a teacher. She taught in a traditional public school setting for four years in Bridgeport before moving to the Montessori school almost five years ago.

Ms Wood’s science classroom is a bright, expansive work area boasting a wealth of supplies. “It is very hands-on with lots of activities that integrate across the curriculum with other subjects. We use several beautiful textbooks, do online work, and supplement with high school texts to fill in,” Ms Wood said.

“This is a dynamic, ever-changing environment in which to work. One of the things I like best is I started with fourth and fifth graders and now I moved to sixth, seventh, and eighth and I know these kids, their families and there is a level of trust that has been constantly building. You have continuity here,” she emphasized.