Why choose Montessori primary?
Do you want a curriculum that is tailored to your child, rather than the one-size-fits-all approach of mainstream education?
Do you want your child to be free from the pressure and stress of unnecessary testing?
Do you want your child to have access to a broad and balanced curriculum, covering the arts and humanities as well as maths, science and English?
Do you want your child to learn at their own pace, neither held back nor left behind?
At Bobtails, we offer a flexible, gentle, child-centred alternative primary school experience for children aged 4-11. Alongside the intuitive and tactile Montessori materials for learning key concepts, learning in the Montessori primary classroom is largely project-based. A highly trained and experienced teacher acts as a guide, offering many opportunities for the child’s own journey as they discover and begin to understand the world around them and their place within it. The mixed age environment has many advantages, meaning that the children are naturally discouraged from comparing themselves against each other and can focus on their own achievements without worrying about how they measure up to their peers. It also means that children get the opportunity to learn from and teach each other, building a real community for learning, encouraging cooperation and collaboration as well as positive leadership and compromise.
Flexi-schooling
As well as full-time primary education, we also offer flexi-schooling over 3 or 4 days a week. Montessori integrates particularly well with home education, as the personalised approach means that children won’t miss out on planned lessons during their days at home, as they would if they were flexi-schooled in a mainstream school. The emphasis on individuality and self-expression also fits very well with the ethos of many home-ed families.
The Curriculum
The Montessori curriculum values every aspect of learning equally, meaning that subjects such as art, geography, music, history and dance are valued as highly as science, maths and English. The subjects are not divided up and are as integrated as possible, creating what Dr Montessori called Cosmic Eduction. Aspects of each subject are isolated and learned using the Montessori material, and when the teacher and child feel that the concept has become embedded, the child moves on to the next stage. This way, the child gains a deep understanding of the ideas and concepts, rather than simply having a superficial understanding of facts. This means that there is no need for any kind of testing, as the teacher and child always know where the child is along their personal learning journey.
The Great Lessons
The key concepts are introduced using stories known as the great lessons. The first of these is called The Origin of the Universe and introduces the Big Bang, Earth sciences, and the study of space. The children then pick an element of the story which particularly interests them to learn more about. There are four further lessons introduced throughout the school year, encompassing the origins of life, human evolution, the development of written language and invention of maths and numbers. They are told in a magical and inspiring way, with demonstrations and experiments to really grab the children’s interest.