Why Montessori?

Oak Farm Montessori School is a warm and welcoming community that inspires infants through high school students to reach their potential in a developmentally appropriate environment with caring, child centered Montessori educators.

Oak Farm Montessori School promotes self-paced, collaborative learning to ignite the passion and curiosity of our students. Montessori nurtures the child’s innate desire to learn, allowing them to develop strong academics, leadership, self-discipline, independence, and responsibility – traits they will carry with them from infant through high school and beyond.

For over 20 years, OFMS has built a tradition of serving children and young adults; implementing the educational philosophy of Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and pioneer in child development, who observed that children have an innate aptitude and desire for acquiring knowledge about their world. Montessori’s approach of “following the child” is at the root of our philosophy at Oak Farm Montessori School. The Montessori Method is an active process of discovery and learning through collaboration, independence and repetition that instills a love of learning in a well rounded human being. Montessori is building a community to foster meaningful work through trust and respect to inspire lifelong learners.

An authentic Montessori environment encompasses the following principles:

Mixed age groups

A fundamental component of the Montessori philosophy is the multi-age classroom. In a mixed group, children of various ages and backgrounds share their talents and interests. Older children serve as role models and solidify their understanding of their work by giving lessons to younger classmates. Children are exposed to a greater variety of content and are inspired by the work of others. Younger children are embraced by an established classroom community.

Freedom for children to choose their work and work at their own pace
The Montessori curriculum is deep and broad. Rather than the child conforming to a set program, in which the entire class must complete the same work simultaneously, each child in the Montessori classroom receives the lessons for which he is ready and pursues his own interests. This flexibility allows children the time they need to fully absorb concepts and the ability to pursue work that is both exciting and challenging.

Freedom to explore, make mistakes, and correct them independently
Montessori materials feature hands-on materials that introduce concepts on a concrete level. These early hands-on experiences allow the child to make the leap to a deep and abstract understanding. Most materials include a control of error, allowing the child to check her own work without relying upon an adult.

Prepared environments for the needs of each age group
Montessori guides design classrooms to meet children’s physical, cognitive and social needs. Child-sized furniture and hands-on materials engage children in independent work. A beautiful ordered work environment allows them to develop internal order and discipline. Open areas and group tables encourage collaboration and teamwork. In the prepared environment, children not only learn but thrive.

Stewardship of others, the community, and the environment

Peace education and lessons in Grace and Courtesy are two major components of your child’s Montessori experience. Starting in our youngest programs, children learn to respect the work of their peers, speak calmly without interrupting, and care for the other children, animals and plants in their classrooms. At the older levels, children learn to resolve arguments with one another using conflict resolution skills and begin to extend their service and stewardship outwards to the greater Northeast Indiana community and the world.

Guiding your Child and Young Adults: Montessori teachers go through a rigorous two to three year certification program, on top of their Bachelor’s degree. This training gives them a deep understanding of child development and the specific needs of each child. A Montessori teacher must intimately understand each child’s interests, motivations, abilities, and insecurities. It is through observation of the child that a guide ensures that they meet the classroom community as a whole, as well as the individual needs of each child.

Accreditation Matters

Oak Farm Montessori School is the only Montessori school in the area that is fully accredited by two external organizations – the American Montessori Society and Independent Schools Association of the Central States.

These agencies establish and oversee standards of excellence for Montessori and independent schools. Accreditation is a voluntary and rigorous process that demonstrates an unparalleled level of excellence in the implementation of Montessori education and continuous improvement. Fully accredited schools are held to the highest standards of the authentic educational philosophy and scientifically-based practices of Maria Montessori.

See the Difference for Yourself

We invite you to schedule a visit to see if Montessori is a good fit for your child or young adult.

Additional Research:

Dohrmann, K., “Outcomes for Students in a Montessori Program: A Longitudinal Study of the Experience in the Milwaukee Public Schools” (AMI/USA May, 2003).

This longitudinal study of Milwaukee high school graduates showed that students who had attended Montessori preschool and elementary programs significantly outperformed a peer control group on math/science scores. “In essence,” the study found, “attending a Montessori program from the approximate ages of three to 11 predicts significantly higher mathematics and science standardized test scores in high school.

Donabella, M.A. & Rule, A.C., “Four Seventh Grade Students who Qualify for Academic Intervention Services in Mathematics Learning Multi-Digit Multiplication with the Montessori Checkerboard,” TEACHING Exceptional Children Plus, 4(3) Article 2 (January 2008). Retrieved October 4, 2012 from http://journals.cec.sped.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1450&context=tecplus

This article describes the positive impact of Montessori manipulative materials on four seventh grade students who qualified for academic intervention services because of previous low state test scores in mathematics. The article presents a brief introduction to the Montessori approach to learning, an overview of Montessori mathematics, and an explanation of the Checkerboard for Multiplication with related multiplication manipulatives. Pretest/posttest results of the four students indicated that all increased their understanding of multiplication. The results of an attitude survey showed students improved in enjoyment, perceived knowledge, and confidence in solving multiplication problems.

East Dallas Community Schools: Montessori Outcomes

East Dallas Community Schools operates two inner-city Montessori schools that serve an ethnically and culturally diverse group of primarily low-income families. In over 30 years of using the Montessori approach to education, EDCS has proved that all children, regardless of race or income, can succeed in school when you start young and involve parents. In a neighborhood in which the high school dropout rate is over 50%, children who attend EDCS have graduated from high school at a rate of 94%, with 88% of those graduates attending college. A ten-year study of standardized test scores found that third grade students’ average scores were in the top 36% nationwide in reading and math. Even though many of these children start school without speaking any English, 100% of the children test as fluent in English by the end of the third grade.

Lillard, A.S.,“Preschool Children’s Development in Classic Montessori, Supplemented Montessori, and Conventional Programs,” Journal of School Psychology 50:379-401 (June 2012)

Angeline Lillard examines the impact of Montessori implementation fidelity. Her study found that children in classroom with high fidelity implementation showed significantly greater school- year gains on outcome measures of executive function, reading, math, vocabulary, and social problem-solving, than children in low fidelity or conventional classrooms.

Lillard, A.S. & Else-Quest, N., “Evaluating Montessori Education,” Science 131: 1893-94 (Sept. 29, 2006).

Researchers compared Montessori students with students in other school programs, and found that 5-year-old children who completed the three-year cycle in the Montessori preschool program scored higher on both academic and behavioral tests than the control group. The study also found that 12-year-old Montessori students wrote more sophisticated and creative stories and showed a more highly developed sense of community and social skills than students in other programs.

Lillard, A.S., Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, New York: Oxford UP, 2005.

A comprehensive review of the scientific literature that demonstrates how current research validates Dr. Montessori’s observations about how children learn, particularly with regard to movement and cognition, the detrimental effect on motivation of extrinsic rewards, the beneficial effect of order in the environment, and the academic and emotional benefits of freedom of choice.

Rathunde, K., “A Comparison of Montessori and Traditional Middle Schools: Motivation, Quality of Experience, and Social Context,” The NAMTA Journal 28.3 (Summer 2003): pp. 12-52.

This study compared middle school students in Montessori programs with students in traditional middle schools, and found significantly higher student motivation and socialization among the Montessori students. “There were strong differences suggesting that Montessori students were feeling more active, strong, excited, happy, relaxed, sociable, and proud while engaged in academic work. They were also enjoying themselves more, they were more interested in what they were doing, and they wanted to be doing academic work more than the traditional students.”