Developed more than a century ago, Montessori is an educational philosophy based on the work and observations of Dr. Maria Montessori. It is centered around the principles of independent discovery, hands on learning, and respect for the individual learning pace and interests of each child. The Montessori method serves children birth through adolescense in schools all over the world. The method recognizes that the mind of a child is especially absorbent during the first six years of life. Guided by universal development periods, children acquire spoken and written language, order, a mathematical mind, controlled movement, and refinement of their senses almost effortlesly.

In most schools children are taught educational concepts in a group and expected to all learn at the same pace. In a Montessori school children are given individual lessons and an individual lesson plan is created for them which takes into account their interests and abilities. The special nature of the materials allows the children to work independently until the lesson is mastered. Children can advance very quickly through the different curriulum areas when they are not limited in their learning. A mixed age group ensures that there will be collaboration and the passing on of skills as older children help younger ones spontaneously throughout the day. A three hour period of uninterrupted work allows children to experience long moments of concentration with self chosen work.

Most psychologists and educators today agree that the single most important period in the devlopment of a person's intelligence occurs between birth and age six. A child's mind is extremely abosrbent and his curiosity is at peak during these early years. When properly nourished and stimulated the child's mind forms patterns for learning that will serve him well throughout his life. The Montessori system of education has proven to be one of the most effective and fastest growing methods of guiding a child during these critical years.

Children typically enter our school in August of the year they have turned three years old. Early applications are highly suggested since we have limited openings each year. Occasionally there are openings for four and five year olds.

Our school is attended by children of Aruban, Dutch and international backgrounds. We have a diverse community with often as many as 15 countries represented among the children's families.

The Montessori curriculum s extensiveand well integrated. It includes the subjects of language, mathematics, art, science geography, social studies, music, an area for the senses, food prepration and practical life. Children are presented the lessons individually or in small groups and they advance through the curriculum at their own pace. Because of the benefits of mixed age grouping, they are constantly exposed to more advanced concepts or get to revisit concepts mastered by teaching and helping others.

Children graduating from Montessori programs are often highly independent, motivated, well academically prepared, and socially savvy compared to their peers in mainstream programs. This is due to having had three years in a program that was tailored to foster those skills. Children from our school transition to both Montessori Elementary and mainstream First Grades in both private and public schools.

At Beautiful Sun we offer a bilingual program following the "one face, one languae" approach to learning. That means that one teacher is speaking English exclusively, and the two ther adults are speaking only in Dutch. The classrom is an immersive English experience since that is the language that the marjoirty of the children speak in with to one another. Dutch development is related to the amount of exposure the child has to Dutch language at home.

Children in Montessori are constantly testing their own skills with the self correnting materials. Once a child has mastered a material and skill they are ready to move on to the next lesson. This progression is observd by the teacher as she presents the next lesson to the child. If she observes a child is having difficulty with a particular material, she may re-present it at another moment or in another way.

Our school is completely parent funded, which acts as a quality control for our program. It depends entirely on the tuitons payed for by families enrolled. The school year costs 9750 AWG which includes the program, materials, meals (lunch and snack), and field trips. Discounts are not granted for absences of any duration. We offer several scholarships every year. Feel fre to inquire about them!

Our school is nonsectarian and is not affiliated to any religious organization. The school's mission is to celebrate diversity, this is done by observing various cultural activities, holidays and celebrations.

Parents are responsible for bringing and picking up their children at school each day. However, organized carpools and a parent organized bus service to the Noord area are available.