At Rainbow Montessori Learning Center, our academic focus is aligned with the traditional Montessori belief in the essential value of engaging students in thoughtful pursuits and encouraging a lifelong love of learning. Each classroom is a well-structured environment in which our teachers (or “guides”) provide assistance and a consistent approach designed to support the development of orderly thoughts and the exploration of multi-disciplinary academic fields that develops when a child is given the opportunity to explore their natural interests. Our goal is to help every child develop their innate, ultimate potential through high self-expectations in an environment that fosters self-motivated and intrinsic learning, and in doing so, help your child reach their optimal level of development.

At Rainbow Montessori Learning Center, we carry on the tradition of helping to foster the innate characteristics of the human psychology that served as the foundation of the Montessori method, including the following; Abstraction, Orientation, Exploration, Repetition, Activity, Exactness, Communication, Manipulation of the Environment, Order, Self-Perfection, and Work/Purpose.

Offering Unique Opportunities Through Montessori Education

We are proud to provide children with unique opportunities to develop their potential and develop into responsible, competent engaged citizens with a lifelong love of learning. There are several unique qualities to the Montessori method of learning, including but not limited to the following:

  • Each child is unique. At Rainbow Montessori Learning Center, we recognize that every child learns differently. We provide an environment that allows for students to learn at their own pace and advance through curriculum as they are ready, being guided along the way by our staff who have an individualized plan for your child.
  • Emphasis on self-regulation. Beginning as toddlers all the way through adolescence, our classrooms are designed to help students learn to teach themselves, and in so doing, develop improved independence, concentration, coordination, and sense of order.
  • Multi-age classroom. One of the most distinct aspects of Montessori education is that classrooms typically have an age range span of three years and is modeled after a family structure. Within this multi-age environment, older students are able to act as mentors, which helps improve younger students feeling supported, which in turn improves their confidence and competency in dealing with challenges.
  • Emphasis on self-assessment and self-correction. As students at Rainbow Montessori Learning Center mature, they will be encouraged and given consistent opportunities to reflect critically on their own work and develop self-correction techniques such as identifying, addressing, and learning from mistakes or errors.

Four Planes Of Development

Montessori’s approach to education was grounded in what she observed to be the four planes of human development. The first plane takes place between birth and 6 years of age, the second from the ages of 6 to 12, the third from 12 to 18, and the final plane from the ages of 18 to 24. Within each of these planes, Montessori saw distinct modes of learning, unique characteristics, and developmental imperatives that required specialized education approaches.

  1. The first plane occurs between birth and six years, and is characterized by dramatic physical and psychological development in the child. This plane is sensory, concrete, and grounded in the development of self and personal independence through learner engagement. Montessori referred to the child’s ability to assimilate sensory and stimulus information from things such as language, sense, and cultural practices as being tied to the child as having an absorbent mind. Montessori believed this absorbent mind was unique to this plane and an attribute that began fading around the age of six years old.
  2. The second plane, which occurs approximately from 6 to 12 years of age is characterized by physical and psychological changes. Physical changes include things such as losing baby teeth or growing taller, whereas psychological changes include things like the tendency to socialize and work in groups, along with heightened abilities to engage with imagination and reason. Montessori believed this plane to be the period when a child’s moral sense, intellectual independence, and understanding of social organization were formed.
  3. The third plane, which occurs between the ages of 12-18 is characterized by the physical changes associated with puberty, along with a psychological shift, characterized by a wide range of markers, including instability, creativity, a heightened need for personal validation, and a sense of justice or fairness. Montessori believed this plane marked the critical development of constructing an adult self that can engage in society.
  4. The fourth plane occurs between the ages of 18-24 and is marked by a general ability to develop economic independence and having the requisite skills to fully embrace a lifetime of study and engagement to positively impact the world.