BELLEAIR - On Tuesday, November 28, 2006 the Belleair Montessori Academy will open its doors to invite parents and grandparents of prospective students to learn more about the academy and obtain applications for the 2007/2008 school year. The Belleair Montessori Academy is the oldest Montessori school on Florida's west coast. The original school, Tiny Tots, was founded by Mrs. Evelyn Eshbaker in 1944. In the 1960s, Eshbaker's daughter, Joan Kirk, the Academy's present directress, added Montessori certification to her elementary education degree, changed the school's name and offered classes in the Montessori Method.
Kirk's daughter Cathie, also an elementary teacher with Montessori certification, joined her 15 years ago and is the third generation member of the family to manage the school.
The Montessori Method was first introduced in America in the early 1900s by Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian educator and physician. Dr. Montessori believed schools needed to teach children by offering lessons that stimulated motor and sensory skills and sparked the child's own natural desire to learn. Utilizing special Montessori teaching equipment, Montessori students experience the excitement of learning by choosing lessons for themselves that are comprised of real objects they can touch, which helps them better understand abstract concepts and the environment. Montessori classrooms are typically small, with some composed of children of similar ages sharing a room but working at their own individual level and pace, which Dr. Montessori asserted would lead them to acquire self reliance, motivation and discipline. Activities that involve the entire class emphasize consideration of others, order and discipline.
Recognizing a need in the Belleair area for care of younger children, Kirk created a program for one, two and three year olds that have proved so popular, infants are put on waiting lists. One year olds in the Garden of Enlightenment program learn hand-eye coordination, fine motor muscle control, verbal expression, following directions, and how to play well with others. In addition to nurturing their intellects, a program for two and three year olds, the Magic-Garten, emphasizes development of the children's physical, emotional, psychological and sensorial faculties. Pre- Kindergarteners aged three and a half to four, share a classroom allowing the younger ones to observe and learn academic and social skills from the older kids, which in turn promotes self confidence in the older kids. The four year olds feel success from being role models and receive a "year of confidence" before entering kindergarten and upper grades.
Kindergarten (age 5) through fifth grade students study: reading; geography; history; language; science; mathematics; computer technology; foreign language; art and music appreciation; drama and physical education. About students in these grade levels, the Academy asserts, "As with any other age, the real progress in the student's education and development comes with self-chosen, individual work, with hand and mind operating together, and with contemplation before, during and after this work."
A visit to the Academy Monday revealed that the students, even the one year olds, were looking forward to Thanksgiving and the feast of turkey subs and trimmings they'd share together on Tuesday. Art work from all ages bedecks the classroom walls with some revealing what the children are most thankful for.
Cailyn
I am thankful for:
my health!
clothes!
water and food!
friends and family who care about me!
living in a house!
not being an only child!
being smart!
Hanna
I am thankful for:
my guinea pig
my food
you!
cookies
terkey
mom, too!
Talia
I am thankful for:
My family
To be in America
Being loved and cared for by my parents
Being in school
Food, water and shelter
God and Jesus
My friends, too!
Alex
I am thankful for:
life
family
pets
shelter
rashins
sleep
Olivia
I am thankful for:
people
food
teachers
homes
trees
books
clothes
doctors
buildings
paper
eye glasses
cars
the oceans
animals (like dogs, birds,frogs,snakes, pandas, monkeys, lemurs, hippos, cats, shell fish, crabs, turtles, sheep, turkey, rabbits, fish, and zebras)
electricity
and of course, my parents
Maya- kindergarten
I am thankful for:
Christmas
Halloween
Easter
Food
My family and my bird
Elizabeth - kindergarten
I am thankful for:
My freedom
My love
My toys
My family and my cats
Carly - kindergarten
I am thankful for:
The food I have to eat
My family
My friends
My clothes
My freedom