The Prepared Environment
To implement our philosophy and achieve our desired goals for the children and our community, we have developed a programme which incorporates many ideas and principles of Dr. Maria Montessori. At the core of the programme is the concept of a prepared environment. The prepared environment provides for the physical and psychological needs of the child.
The prepared environment consists of three broad concepts:
- Physical environment and resources
- Indoors and the outdoors
- The equipment and materials - Learning opportunities and experiences
- Foundation Learning Areas
- Activities both planned and spontaneous
- Routine tasks or daily living experiences - Human interactions
- Interactions and relationships between children and staff
- Interactions and relationships between children in the group
- Interactions between members of the staffing team
- Collaboration with families and visitors to the centre
The Environment and Resources
The whole IMCH environment provides children with the freedom to follow their natural tendencies towards independence, exploration, co-operation, order, repetition, imagination and communication. It is carefully planned and prepared to take full advantage of the self-motivation and unique learning abilities of all children.
The building design, both indoors and outdoors, all the equipment and materials suit the needs of the children at each stage of their development.
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The methods and materials used (particularly the Montessori equipment) are replicated within each of our rooms to ensure continuity of learning opportunities for the children progressing through the centre.
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