(406) 240-2523
MONTESSORI PLUS INTERNATIONAL
Preschool · Daycare Center · Missoula, MT
MONTESSORI PLUS INTERNATIONAL
A Top Quality Bilingual Pre-K School & Daycare Center
LEARN ABOUT US
Montessori Plus International is a small scale, top quality preschool founded in 2015. At MPI young children aged 3-6 thrive in a loving, fun, well prepared and bilingual (English & Chinese) Montessori environment, guided by professional Montessori teachers.
We believe that
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Love and security is the foundation of positive childhood development
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Social and emotional development is critical for young children
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Following the lead of the child is the core Montessori philosophy
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An enriched and well-prepared environment is the key for a satisfying experience for children at school
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Bilingual education benefits children cognitively, socially and culturally
Driven by passion, we strive to provide the best possible educational experience to young children, and deeply enjoy being part of their growth at this critical, formative stage of life. Each child in our school is treated and respected as a unique individual whose potentials are sure to blossom in this nurturing environment.
Why Montessori
We embrace the Montessori Method for its proven capacity to help children reach their fullest potential at their own unique pace. The Montessori Method cultivates and protects intrinsic motivation for learning, fosters independence, responsibility and confidence, and promotes creativity and critical thinking.
We love that Montessori classrooms are composed of mixed age groups, where children can interact with peers who are older, younger, or the same age. Children are encouraged to teach, collaborate, and help each other. This is an ideal social setting that encourages natural and effective learning, cooperation, and self-confidence, at the same time discourages unhealthy competition.
In a Montessori classroom, children are active participants in learning. A child follows his/her own interests, works at his/her own pace, guided by well-trained teachers in a prepared environment that supports the child's exploration. Teachers (guides) have an unobtrusive role in the classroom, observing keenly, talking softly, giving individual instructions or small group presentations in a timely manner that meet the child’s needs.
Montessori materials are well designed, hands on, age appropriate teaching tools that facilitate effective and meaningful learning.
SMALL, DIVERSE, ACTIVE
On Nov. 2, 2015, our school had a happy and humble start with only 1 student. In less than a year, by word-of-mouth, MPI grew into a dynamic and diverse school community of 16 great families.
Over the past few years, while cautiously growing to include more diversity, we've built a supportive, positive, and inclusive school community.
Although we have a big space and could admit way more students, we have chosen to have no more than 24 students at any time at school to ensure the best educational experience for children at our s school.
BILINGUAL EDUCATION
How much Chinese we speak at school? It depends on where the child is. We are a bilingual school, and children are provided with and exposed to plenty of language learning opportunities. However, we do not label ourselves as “language immersion.” The reasons are:
1. For new children who are already handling new teachers, new friends, and a totally new environment, it could be too overwhelming if they had to also deal with a totally new language. During the transitional period (the length of which varies depending on each individual child), we believe it is more important for children to feel secure, understood, supported and comfortable in the new environment than to “pick up” a new language.
2. There are many daily occasions and moments when coaching social-emotional skills is more important and appropriate than teaching a second language.
3. We have a diverse, mixed-age group. Some children are bilingual or even trilingual; some children only spoke English when they started with us, while some others did not understand any English at all. We tailor our teaching and interactions with children based on the needs of each individual child. Children also learn from each other.
So, if you walk into our school, you may find us talking with some children mostly in Chinese, with others more in English; you may find that some children may work on advanced reading materials in both languages, while some other children may speak more of one language, but making impressive progress on the second one. It is certainly fascinating to observe how these young children acquire new vocabulary and language skills every day at their own paces!
“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.”
Plato
VISIT US
Visitors are always welcome to our school. If there’s anything you’d like to know about our programs and curriculum, please get in touch.