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4 Parenting, Thursday, February 24, 2011 The Village Montessori & Child Care offers affordable options By KIM MCMAHON, RECE The Village Montessori & Child Care The Village Montessori & Child Care, which is owned and operated by longtime Georgetown resident Kim McMahon, meets the needs of the community by making the Montessori school option as affordable as childcare. The school believes that all children should have the benefits of the Montessori philosophy in an environment that is rich in quality and respects the children and families it serves. Programs are offered full-time, part-time and half-days, as well as before and after school. The Village Montessori was the first Montessori program in all of Halton to become a participant in Quality First, which supports its schools by ensuring that they not only meet the Day Nurseries Act, but exceed it in every area. They accomplish this through professional development for staff and third-party observations to measure staff/child interactions, quality of the environment and inclusion of all children. All of The Village Montessori's staff are highly qualified and passionate about the Montessori philosophy and the families they serve. They operate their school with a strong value of respect: respect for oneself, respect for others and respect Christian Mucci, 3, enjoys playing for the envi- with the fruits and vegetables. ronment. A Montessori education is based on a philosophy developed by Maria Montessori in the 1800s. Some key aspects are a deep respect of the child and encouragement of peace and kindness. Children are taught in family age groupings with lots of laughing and chatting among peers. The benefits of a Montessori education are numerous. Psychologists in the United States found that children at Montessori schools outperformed those given a traditional education across a range of abilities. The researchers compared three- to 12-year-olds at a Montessori school in Milwaukee with those at other schools in the same area. Children were tested for mental performance, academic abilities, and social and behavioural skills. "We found significant advantages for the Montessori students in these tests for both age groups," says Angeline Lillard from the University of Virginia, who co-led the study. "Particularly remarkable are the positive social effects of Montessori education." Not only were five-year-old children better prepared for the three R's at primary level, they also had higher scores in tests of executive function, which is the ability to adapt to changing and complex problems and is seen as an indicator of future school and life success. See The MONTESSORI, pg. 6 Jacob DaWicke, 3, learns to identify letter of the alphabet from teacher Sarzanna Mahlik, as Zanaira Mahmood, 5 watches. Photos by Ted Brown