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School Programs Pinewoods Montessori, North Carolina
Toddler
18 Months to 3 Years Old
Primary
3-6 Year Olds
Lower Elementary
6 – 9 Years Old
Upper Elementary
9 – 12 Years Old
Pinewoods Montessori School classrooms consist of cross-age, cross-grade groupings in three-year developmental cycles. Our Toddler Program serves children from 18 months to 3 years old. The early childhood program is called the Children’s House and is a group of 3 to 6 year olds that includes the Kindergarten. The Lower Elementary of 6-9 year olds is the mixture of conventional 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades. The Upper Elementary, 9-12 year olds, is the equivalent of 4th, 5th and 6th grades. Our Adolescent Program has 12-15 year olds which mixes the conventional 7th, 8th and 9th grade.
In these groupings children internalize what they have learned by teaching the younger children and by being mentors and role models. The children are encouraged to show mutual respect and empathy for others by working together towards common goals. This is the spirit of the community. The mixed-age community creates conditions that foster individual differences as strengths, and promotes groupings of mixed abilities. The collaborative learning process facilitates the development of social skills as a response to informal group interactions, rather than through direct teaching intervention.
Children in Montessori classrooms have a rich variety of opportunities for learning not afforded them by more conventional schools. In addition to specially designed materials for independent learning and teacher lessons, the educational process in a Montessori classroom is supplemented by role modeling, peer tutoring and an inherent collaborative learning structure that is superior to traditional whole-class teaching in terms of both learning and the social climate that they support. The key component of a Montessori school, learning from peers, achieves academic success through the internalization of behaviors and ideas of collaborators in a motivating social context. The Montessori method of education clearly is a design that suits the nature of the child at this age in how they learn and develop.
