Private Montessori Preschool in Portland, Maine

Maplewood Montessori School, Portland area:
Conveniently situated at the corner of Woodford and Nevens Street in Portland, Maine, Maplewood Montessori School is a small, authentic Montessori school serving children 3 to 6 years old. Our mission is to provide a peaceful, safe, and welcoming environment where children can begin the process of becoming life-long learners, responsible citizens and respectful, active members of a community.

Montessori Education for Children Ages 3-6:
In the Montessori tradition, we provide our students with a rich environment reflecting interest in all areas of life. The classroom is a child-sized world equipped with materials suited specifically to foster the development of three to six year olds.

We seek to offer them a joyful, non-competitive and healthy learning atmosphere, which is well ordered and sequentially structured according to skill level, and where human relations and social skills are exemplified in such a way that they can be imitated. The teachers at Maplewood work to strike a balance between the freedom of the children to make their own work choices and the direction of the teacher to introduce lessons and materials at appropriate times. 

The mixed age setting allows children to work at their own pace without feeling pressure to perform and affords children the opportunity to learn family and real world skills, by working with children both older and younger than themselves.

Our curriculum covers the following areas:

- Language Curriculum
Language lessons provide for vocabulary development, pre-reading and reading skills, and writing skills.

- Sensorial Curriculum
Sensorial materials enable the children to refine their perceptions and develop their senses.

- Practical Life Curriculum
Here, exercises are real life tasks such as food preparation, sweeping, dusting, measuring, pouring, zipping, buttoning, and stringing that foster the development of independence, coordination, concentration, and order.

- Math Curriculum
Math Materials allow the child to explore mathematical concepts in a concrete manner, appropriate to his/her own development and interest.

- Cultural Studies
Geography, history, science, social studies, art and music are presented in short concrete lessons that allow the children to explore and connect with the world around them.

In addition to these traditional areas of the Primary Montessori classroom, we also provide the children with opportunities for outdoor activities and creative play.