At Summersun Montessori, children are allowed to experience the excitement of learning by his or her own choice. Dr. Maria Montessori believed that no human being is educated by another person. Rather, he or she must educate himself or herself or it will never be done.

A truly educated individual continues learning long after the hours and years he or she spends in the classroom because he or she is motivated from within by a natural curiosity and love of knowledge. Dr. Montessori felt, therefore, that the goal of early childhood education should not be to fill a child with facts from a preschool course of studies, but rather to cultivate his or her own natural desire to learn.

In a Montessori classroom, this objective is approached in two ways:

1. By allowing each child to experience the excitement of learning by his or her own choice rather than by being forced.

2. By helping each child perfect all his or her natural tools for learning so that his or her ability will be at a maximum in future learning situations.

The Montessori materials we use at Summersun are designed with this dual, long-range purpose in mind in addition to their immediate purpose of giving specific information to the child.

Montessori child care is designed to maximize the development of young children through scientifically prepared environments which build sensory/motor skills, social skills, high self-esteem, abiding habits of concentration, and inner security through carefully planned activities.

Montessori theory is over 100 years old and is practiced in almost four thousand public and private schools in the United States and throughout the world.