What is the Montessori children's house? If you're new to this educational philosophy, take a look at the top questions preschool parents have answered.

Is the Children's House a House or a Classroom?

The term children's house comes from the Italian Casa dei Bambini. Dr. Maria Montessori, the founder of the Montessori method, lived, trained, and opened her first school in Italy. This means you'll see Italian vocabulary sprinkled throughout Montessori terminology — along with the English translations.

Even though the term children's house has the word house in it, in Montessori schools, it refers to a classroom. More specifically, the Casa dei Bambini (children's house) is a common name that refers to pre-k classes for three- to six-year-olds.

Do All Montessori Schools Have a Children's House?

While all Montessori pre-k programs have classrooms for children in the three- to six-year age range, they don't all always use the term children's house. Some schools choose to use the classic Italian term Casa dei Bambini or a shortened version — casa (house). It's also common for Montessori schools to use popular English terms for this age group. These often include preschool, pre-k, pre-primary, or early childhood.

Why Are There Multiple Ages in the Children's House?

Traditional schools, daycares, and other early education programs typically use a year-by-year approach to room divisions or classifications. This means your three-year-old would go to school with other three-year-olds. The Montessori philosophy doesn't divide children by each year of age. Instead, Montessori includes multi-age groupings.

A multi-age classroom gives children the chance to explore leadership roles early on, learn from more experienced peers, and develop critical social and emotional skills. It also minimizes the number of transitions the young child experiences in the first educational years. In the Montessori children's house, your child won't need to transition through several different classrooms in the pre-k/early childhood years.

How Is the Children's House Different from Other Classrooms?

The multi-age approach isn't the only difference between a Montessori pre-k and what you might find in other schools. This type of classroom is a prepared environment that is set-up for the young child's success.

Instead of the toys, playthings, and other items you'll find in traditional pre-k settings, the Montessori casa features specially designed materials. These are made for manipulation, invite exploration, and encourage discovery through the senses. The educational materials are within the child's reach, giving the students the opportunity to direct their own learning experiences.  

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