At the core of the Philadelphia Montessori Charter School's educational program is an unwavering commitment to the Montessori method of education. Dr. Montessori, the first female physician in Italy, developed a unique approach to teaching and learning that arose from her observation that children teach themselves.

The structure of Montessori learning involves the use of many materials with which the child may work individually. At every step of his learning, the teaching materials are designed to test his understanding and to correct his errors. Dr. Montessori recognized that the only valid impulse to learning is self-motivation of the child. Children must move themselves toward learning. Montessori education introduces children to the joy of learning at an early age and provides a framework in which the intellectual and social disciplines go hand in hand.

KEY COMPONENTS OF THE PMCS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM:

1. Focus on Education for Life:
   
   The purpose of PMCS goes beyond helping students to acquire basic academic skills. Rather, the focus of the curriculum is on "education for life," on developing character and self-esteem. Montessori schools give children the sense of belonging to a family and help them learn how to live with other human beings. The child should graduate with both academic skills and with a sense of independence, inner peace, and security.
   
   
2. Student-Centered Classrooms:
   
   PMCS will give children, within a controlled environment, the freedom to choose their own activities. This is based on the belief that children learn by doing, which requires movement and spontaneous investigation. Children may select an activity and work with it as long as they wish, so long as they do not disturb anyone or damage anything, and they put it back where it belongs when they are finished. Both the teacher and the Montessori materials (explained below) help to facilitate this child-directed learning. Individualized "lesson plans" are developed for each child based on the child's previous skill attainment. Each child is given lessons at his/her own developmentally appropriate level in all subject areas. Lessons are re-presented until the child attains mastery. Presentations and teacher follow-up establish the foundation for spontaneous choice.
   
   
3. Specially Trained Teachers:
   
   Because of the unique role of the teacher in the Montessori classroom, the Philadelphia Montessori Charter School requires its teachers to have undergone specific Montessori training, which includes rigorous training in child development and psychology, observation and student teaching, use of the Montessori materials, and classroom management. Many classroom teachers are also Pennsylvania state-certified.
   
   
4. Multi-Age Classrooms:
   
   The charter school utilizes multi-age class groupings that correspond with the developmental stages of childhood rather than traditional grade groupings. In other words, rather than organizing students by grade level (kindergarten, first grade, second grade, etc.), the Philadelphia Montessori Charter School groups its students in three groups - Early Childhood (ages 3 to 6), Lower Elementary (ages 6 to 9), and Upper Elementary (ages 9 to 12).
   
   The multi-age class groupings allow younger students to experience the daily stimulation of older role models, who in turn blossom in the responsibilities of leadership. Students not only learn with each other, but also from each other. At each level, children are given three years to mature in all subject areas. Their social skills develop on a continuum, as well, within the three-year time frame.
   
   The teacher knows each child for three years and really understands the learning styles and needs of each child with a great deal more depth and is, therefore, able to respond to individual learning needs more efficiently.
   
   
5. Classroom Environment:
   
   Montessori classrooms tend to fascinate both children and their parents. They are bright, warm, and inviting, filled with plants, animals, art, music, and books. There are interest centers filled with intriguing learning materials, fascinating mathematical models, maps, charts, fossils, historical artifacts, computers, scientific apparatus, perhaps a small natural-science museum, and animals that children are raising.
   
   Rather than rows of desks, the Philadelphia Montessori Charter School's classrooms are set up to facilitate student discussion and stimulate collaborative learning. The environment fosters within children a feeling of comfort and safety. Children can typically be found scattered around the classroom, working individually or with one or two others at tables or on the floor.
   
   
6. Montessori Materials:
   
   In her studies of child development, Dr. Montessori noted that most children do not learn by memorizing what they hear from their teachers or read in a text. Instead, they learn from concrete experience and direct interaction with the environment. Asking a child to sit back and watch us perform a process or experiment is like asking a one-year-old not to put everything in his mouth. Children need to manipulate and explore everything that catches their interest.
   
   Therefore, PMCS uses learning materials (other than textbooks and workbooks) that are designed to stimulate the child into logical thought and discovery. The materials are provocative and simple, each carefully designed to appeal to children at a given level of development. Each material isolates and teaches one thing or is used to present one skill at a time, as the child is ready.
   
   
7. Focus on Peace Education:
   
   peace education is a common theme that runs throughout the general curriculum. The curriculum allows children...Children are taught...The ultimate aim...Charter School is to develop...living together peacefully. The goal is for students to break the cycle of distrust, anger and fear that is so common in our society, and to carry a spirit of peace and cooperation with them into adulthood.
   
   In the Montessori classroom peace education is not taught as a separate curriculum but is the unifying thread throughout the child's academic, social and emotional experience in the classroom. It is "taught" through the interactions between teacher and child, child and child(ren), and children and their use of the materials in the environment.