Coastal Montessori Charter School (CMCS), with grades 1-8, is helping all students develop the world class skills as well as life and career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by providing a safe, nurturing and holistic approach to educating the child following the teachings of Dr. Maria Montessori. The Montessori method at CMCS offers an enriched curriculum, which incorporates and extends district, state, and national standards. Scientific and mathematical aptitudes, appreciation for history and timelines, literacy across disciplines, and research and development of community are priorities at CMCS. Students are actively involved in their education, learning the habits and skills necessary for self-directed, independent, life-long learning.
Listed below are the main tenets of Montessori education, what the work day looks like for a CMCS student, the goals of a Montessori education, how CMCS upholds its mission and vision, and how CMCS cultivates what are known as the seven survival skills. Each of these elements provides the ideal environment for each student in our care to develop the world class skills and life and career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate.
The main tenets of a Montessori education are as follows: freedom with responsibility, structure and order, reality and nature, beauty and atmosphere, the Montessori didactic materials, and the development of community. Dr. Montessori chose to position learning within a free environment, known as the prepared environment. The lead teacher and teaching assistant are responsible for creating and maintaining the prepared environment for each child, including anticipating and then removing obstacles that may impede the student’s curiosity or learning potential. Montessori classrooms are multi-grade classrooms: three grade levels together at the elementary level and two grade levels at the middle school level. Multi-grade classrooms provide wide ranging academic and social growth. Younger students benefit from positive learning and behavior models provided by older students. In addition, the older students develop leadership skills and social responsibility. Staying with the same teacher for two (middle level) to three years (elementary level) also has a positive effect on students’ attitudes and performance. When a teacher has the same student for two to three consecutive years, he or she truly comes to know the student’s strengths, challenges, motivators, and learning style. This allows our teachers to best meet the needs of each student.
Montessori lessons are prepared based on observation of each student's needs. The lessons include student-centered activities, rather than teacher-centered activities. Montessori lessons are hands-on and require active participation from each student, where they discover information for themselves instead of receiving information passively, memorizing the information, and taking tests.
Students in a Montessori classroom experience long uninterrupted work periods. Long uninterrupted work periods enable students to explore a topic or material thoroughly and to carry it through to completion. Whole-class instruction time is minimal; the school day is structured to allow students to spend long blocks of time on work that they choose within the framework of their work plan. During these long uninterrupted work periods, students use the hands-on Montessori didactic materials to experience the objectives of each lesson. Montessori once said, "The hands are the instruments of man's intelligence." The materials are designed to teach, to test understanding, to correct errors, and to lead to the understanding of abstract concepts.
Dr. Montessori considered two things to be necessary for the creation of a peaceful human being: an awareness of interdependence and a sense of gratitude that comes from it. At CMCS, students are taught grace and courtesy as well as practical life skills. We desire for each student to leave CMCS able to navigate the world with confidence and humility. Students practice interdependence through service learning experiences both in and outside of the school. We want each student in our care to understand what it is like to be a productive and helpful member of a community. Students at CMCS also experience “going outs” or learning experiences that take them into the community to learn directly from an expert in a meaningful field of study. Ultimately, Montessori felt it was the role of the school to create opportunities for the child to understand themselves and each other, including a reverence for nature and all living things. When an individual has a sense of importance and purpose they will be better apt to pursue a career or vocation that brings them joy and fulfillment.
As a school community, we provide the ideal Montessori environment for each student by developing meaningful relationships with families and students and also by implementing a Montessori curriculum dedicated to cultivating the whole child, including their social, emotional, and academic intelligences. We demonstrate this vision by employing, training and supporting a high-quality staff able to prepare a Montessori environment and implement a Montessori curriculum aligned with and extending and enriching the South Carolina standards. The teaching staff at Coastal Montessori Charter School are always seeking opportunities to learn new and effective strategies to improve their communication and teaching, including: trainings in peace education, literacy trainings to improve students’ interest and success in reading and writing, the Montessori Model United Nations curriculum, STEM experiences, working alongside of South Carolina professors and college students in the area of environmental studies, math workshops, magazines and articles from the American Montessori Society and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and workshops or conferences in Montessori education.
At Coastal Montessori Charter School, we also provide various opportunities for students to develop what are known as the seven survival skills: critical thinking, problem solving, self-regulation, taking initiative, communication, inquisitiveness, and the ability to work as part of a team. Some ways students practice these skills include group research/science projects and presentations, Upper Elementary students buddy reading with Lower Elementary students, students using individualized work plans to guide their decision making as they self-regulate their learning, opportunities for students to meet with experts and authors in order to further their understanding of the word and the world, making and sharing healthful snacks, and students developing strategic plans for addressing needs and wants they would like to experience as students at our school.
In the middle school (7th and 8th graders) we have an outreach program connecting the students to preschool and elderly citizens in the Pawleys Island community. Outreach allows each student to model and practice the skills of life with one another. The middle school students also get the added benefit of practicing financial independence by running and managing a business. The proceeds from this business directly benefit the middle school field experiences, which are vital to gaining the skills necessary for high school and life.
Coastal Montessori Charter School believes the school, family, and community share the educational responsibility of our young people. Building future South Carolina graduates and world leaders is a team effort and we are committed to upholding our charter goals as a Montessori school and ensuring each student graduating from Coastal Montessori Charter School is prepared for life.
Rosemary Gray, Director
