Montessori participatory parent school
The children
.
They are the heart of our adventure! Spontaneous, curious, lively, enthusiastic, creative, joyful, playful and intelligent, they are an inexhaustible source of energy!
This year there are 18 between the ages of 3 and 10.
We, the parents
.
Caring, enthusiastic and committed to our children's development!
We are all trained in Montessori pedagogy and have a wealth of resources to offer!
Participatory parent school
The project is that of a real parent school: in parallel with their professional activities, all parents are actively involved in the running and teaching of the school, according to their respective skills and availability.
Each family offers a minimum of one half-day (usually one or two days) per week to accompany our children to school.
Two Montessori moms are on hand every morning for primary and nursery classes, to ensure the children's progress is monitored and the pedagogical approach is consistent.
This teamwork requires the development of consultation, communication, cooperation, tolerance, benevolence and patience between adults... which is already a big part of our school's human adventure!!!! And it's been working pretty well for the past 6 years!
Our children are fulfilled, happy to learn and very creative! The reduced tuition fees are accessible to all, provided they are willing to commit to the participative adventure.
Sobriety
Happy sobriety is a founding value of our school (because we all cultivate it individually): we do as much as we can with what we have, rather than investing in new equipment, we prefer to re-use furniture and various materials to equip the classroom. Much of the Montessori equipment we use was manufactured 20 years ago. We renovate it when necessary. But this year we still need to invest in new equipment and school furniture adapted to our growing children.
Since the beginning of the adventure, all the parent-educators have been volunteers, enabling us to keep operating costs to a minimum.
To date, tuition is €500 per year per child (€50/month).
Montessori pedagogy
Because our children are the men and women of tomorrow, the artisans of a world yet to be invented, we have chosen to offer them an education full of kindness and respect: we have created a school based on the Montessori pedagogy.
- It's an active pedagogy that helps children learn on their own: children are guided towards autonomy, in their ability to make choices, and in their gradual assumption of responsibility.
- Each child's own rhythm is respected, thanks to individualized teaching. Gradually, the child's ability to live in a group increases, and joint work develops.
- The mix of ages in the classes helps to nurture the cooperation that naturally develops between younger and older children.
- One characteristic of this pedagogy is that children learn through movement, which enables them to anchor their acquisitions in their bodies. The various notions are approached and experienced in concrete terms, before abstraction is proposed. The teaching support is designed to isolate difficulties. In this way, children can make progress without becoming discouraged.
- The educator accompanies the child as he learns. They help them to feel capable, in particular by proposing only work for which they are ready, and by recognizing the child's right to make mistakes.
Location
At the foot of the Pyrenees at an altitude of 900 m, in a wild and unspoilt "end of the world", the school is located on the "Chant du pissenlit" farm.
A farm that welcomes :
- several organic farming activities: a farmer-baker, a couple of market gardeners, a couple who make delicious cow's cheese and yoghurt, a woman who makes goat's cheese that's very good too!
- a training center for agroecology and animal traction
- and school!
We often take part in activities on the farm, and Nature offers us infinite possibilities for creativity. In our school we all cultivate joy, enthusiasm and the pleasure of learning and understanding!
