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montessori school fosters curiosity by denise mcdonald the atmosphere is so delight ful the children cant help but feel happy such is the feeling expressed by chris sternat founder of the markville montessori schools in markham and stouffville every parent that walks in here says the same thing its such a wonderful environment for a child to experience the first joy of learning according to mrs sternat the first montessori school was estab lished in 1906 by maria montes sori the first woman medical doc tor in italy secret of childhood an excerpt from the book a montessori album reads mon tessori realized learning is a total life experience for all children she appreciated their curiosity and their interest in exploring the unknown she wished to penetrate the secret of childhood knowing full well children of every land and culture develop in fun damentally the same ways after observing a group of handicapped children dr mon tessori studied the works of itard and seguin in paris and later compared the children to a group of normal healthy others said mrs sternat by comparing the two groups she found certain things all young children could do she determined what their needs were while recognizing them as individuals having taught the montessori principles in the markham area since 1976 mrs sternat decided it was time to branch out into her own learning institution in 1984 she opened the first markville montessori on hwy 7 one of only seven ami associa tion montessori international accredited certified schools in canada opened two schools the school later occupied the hagerman mennonite church on 14th avenue the second opened stouffville in 1985 i think the idea was prompted by my desire to offer the best quality program i could im plementing the understanding of montessori one that would con tinue the childs excitement for learning said mrs sternat i wanted to be able to foster in these children the attitude of being an individual that they are who they are when asked what particular theories she employs at her two schools mrs sternat replied thats not easily answered in one sentence or two it involves a special attitude towards the child we respect their natural develop mental stages universally while using interaction to distinguish between a process and a program continually learning with students ranging in age from twoandahalf to seven montessori provides an environ ment and opportunity for children to continually learn and discover with materials carefully matched to suit their particular develop mental needs mrs sternat ex plained the emphasis of this program is on the development of self- esteem and learning she said r margaret arsenault centre an instructor at the stouffville montessori school leads the children in a quick lesson with her are david fairborn 4 and threeyearold gemma cumbers denise mcdonald mrs sternat cited one example to illustrate her schools approach if a child is going to use a pencil he needs to prepare his hand in order to use it approp riately when the child is ready for that activity they are well- prepared and therefore suc cessful overall were allowing and encouraging the child to observe what is in their environment she continued when the child per fects that ability to observe real learning takes place children practice in order to achieve such distinc tions in their environment mrs sternat said the children practice polishing silver leaf washing constructing words from the alphabet matching the pitch of bells and painting and cutting by touching and observing their natural environment the child begins to make its own dis tinctions she said a child may one day walk up to a plant feel its leaves and do the same to another while all the time dis covering the differences in the two in order to help the children feel more comfortable in their en vironment mrs sternat along with markham teacher vicky attwell and stouffville teacher margaret arsenault have trans formed their classrooms into livingrooms it gives them the opportunity to look upon it as their own place and if they spill the paint or some thing they know what to do to clean it up without having to be afraid to make a mistake she said or if it needs to be cleaned theyll automatically get the dus ters out open house in comparing her format with nursery schools mrs sternat said montessoris attitude leans more towards teaching the child who he is and what he is and the role he plays in the community in honor of its fourth year in op eration the montessori school of stouffville 254 sunset blvd will hold an open house march 10 i really like working with the children commented mrs ster nat theyve been a personal evolution for me karen attweli 4 works on her own at the stouffville motor development and social skills montessori school the children learn about how denise mcdonald they fit into their community as well as practising heather dickie 4 works with blocks at one of the work stations in the montessori classroom children are encouraged to develop their self- esteem at school denise mcdonald