The world of the child, say Montessori educators, is full of sights and sounds which at first appear chaotic. From this chaos children must gradually create order, learn to distinguish among the impressions that assail their senses, and slowly but surely gain mastery of themselves and their environment. Dr. Montessori developed what she called the prepared environment , which already possesses a certain order and allows children to learn at their own speed, according to their own capacities and in a non-competitive atmosphere. Never let the children risk failure until they have had a reasonable chance of success. Dr. Montessori recognized that the only valid impulse to learning is the self-motivation of the child.
Children move themselves toward learning.
This is the core of Dr. Montessori's philosophy. Social adjustment, though a necessary condition for learning in a schoolroom, is not the purpose of education. Patterns of concentration, perseverance, and thoroughness, established in early childhood, produce a confident, competent learner in later years. Montessori teaches children to observe, to think, and to judge. The main objective of the Harborlight Montessori School is to provide a carefully planned, stimulating, environment which will help children develop within themselves the foundation habits, attitudes, skills, and ideas which are essential for a lifetime of creative thinking and learning.