About the ELM Group
We are a group of educators with the goal of creating a better learning environment in the classroom. We specialize in materials for Bilingual and Early Childhood education. All of our materials are available in English and Spanish. We work with public and private schools to facilitate the process of setting up attractive and functional environments. We also offer personalized training for your school.
 Montessori Schools are so named for Maria Montessori (1870-1952) who was the first woman in Italy to become a medical doctor at the turn of the 20th century. She developed a method of education based on her work with children and observations of their physical, mental, emotional, and social needs. She found children to have heightened sensitivities, interests, and abilities at various stages of development. Dr. Montessori’s method addresses and serves the individual qualities and needs in children.
The First Montessori Schools
Dr. Montessori opened her first school in a poor neighborhood of Rome in 1906. Her original work has continued to expand, and the method has been refined to meet the needs of children across the globe. Montessori now enjoys worldwide recognition as an exceptional approach to education.
In the United States, Montessori schools have been primarily accessible to the families able to afford the tuition charged by the private schools. The method is becoming available to more children as public schools begin to adopt Montessori into their own programs. The Montessori method had been proven successful internationally, cutting across racial, economic, and cultural boundaries. Because children of all backgrounds benefit greatly from the Montessori experience, it is fitting that it is now available in our public schools, allowing access to children from all economic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds.
CREATING COMMUNITY
A Montessori class is usually a community of children of mixed ages, working side by side. Learning takes place in a cooperative, non-competitive, peaceful atmosphere where children work at their own pace. Mixed ages allow for younger children to learn from older children. The older children reinforce their knowledge and develop a positive sense of self by helping younger children.
The Montessori Environment
 Montessori teachers guide the children in their learning. Montessori guides are trained to observe children individually and to give lessons as each child is ready. Children choose their own work and repeat that work as often as they need to, thus becoming self-directed learners. Allowing children to depend on themselves fosters independence. A child’s own natural curiosity is supported, and learning becomes fulfilling and interesting. With exploration comes experience and experiences lead to true understanding and knowledge. This cycle of learning produces children who are motivated from within and who possess creative and critical thinking skills.
Montessori classrooms are carefully prepared environments, housing an array of carefully designed materials suited to the child. The materials are beautiful, attractive to the children, and provide a hands-on learning experience. Children directly experience each concept. With this experience they develop a deep, lasting understanding of the concept. The materials are designed in such a way that children can see their own success, as well as their errors, and can correct themselves.
Classrooms are designed with different areas of learning, each with its own focus: practical life, sensorial, language, mathematics, geography, art, music, science, history and nature study.
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