Call Us Now! (512) 960-1514
Schedule Your Tour Today
The start of a child’s educational career begins long before their first steps inside a classroom. Any parent can attest to their child’s ability to explore the world just to satisfy their curiosities about their surroundings. Children are born with an inherent and strong desire to learn about everything around them. At Austin Children’s Academy, we work with a child’s natural interest in learning to create a world where their curiosities and desires to discover can guide them forward toward academic achievement and greater understanding. For those interested in a Northwest Montessori in Austin, we look forward to being a partner with you and your children in their academic success.
When your child is welcomed into Austin Children’s Academy, there’s not a standard set of learning materials they must conform to. Instead, learning amends itself to the interests of the child and beyond, leading children to continue onward and make their own discoveries. Rather than forcing children to learn things that don’t inspire their attention, learning is situated around what intrigues children to pursue deeper discoveries. These discoveries are made on the pace and progress of the child, not under the regimented demands of a set time limit, so a child is never made to feel like they’re falling behind in any aspect of their academic progress.
Assisting children along their path to learning and self-discovery are teachers who are truly devoted to students and to the tenets of the Montessori teaching methods. After our teachers have been instructed through a high level of schooling, they are also educated in the art of how to be an encouraging and empowering guide in a student’s journey of learning. At Austin Children’s Academy teachers are not simply purveyors of facts, but an advocate towards keeping a child keenly interested in learning. It is through these teachers and the atmosphere of encouragement they create, that children really begin to pursue their interests and make real breakthroughs in academic and personal development.
These qualities of encouraging curiosity, self-reliance, and a thirst for learning are hallmarks of the Montessori educational method, a philosophy developed a century ago in Italy. Dr. Maria Montessori based her then-revolutionary methods on years and years of scientific inquiry and observation in the classroom, which turned her into a fierce proponent of child-centered early education. Teachers trained in this method focus on guiding and encouraging each individual child at his own pace, using his own interests, toward the benchmarks that will prepare him for further learning. There are no rows of desks in our classrooms, no endless worksheets, no rote memorization and incessant testing. Our classrooms are open spaces that promote exploration and the finely-crafted, specially-designed educational toys spark joyful self-learning.
Here at Austin’s Children Academy, we understand that overseeing the social and personal emotional development of each child is as vital as the academics to his or her future success. In an ever-more collaborative world, every child needs to learn how to work well in groups, behave respectfully, accept disappointment with grace and easy resolve, and handle inevitable interpersonal conflict. Our teachers are alert to opportunities to instill these values. Our three-year-range, multi-age classrooms provide plenty of opportunities for younger children to observe the behavior of their more mature classmates and then, as they eventually become the big brothers or sisters of the group, age into confident mentorship of their own.
As your child began to learn outside of school, we continue that journey by taking trips outside the classroom to locations that are linked with our topics of study. On these trips beyond the walls of the classroom, the child’s awareness is heightened to the world around them, and as a result, their ability to learn is increased. Children are introduced to different aspects of their community that allows them to see in-person the things that they have been discussing in the classroom. This continues to heighten their interest in their community and the world while deepening their knowledge of it.
Whether exploring the open classroom or the open air, the children at Austin’s Children Academy succeed without being forced to bear high-stakes testing, piles of homework, and stressful drill-and-kill methods of learning. Over a century old, the Montessori method we embrace has spread across the world because it works. Just ask some of its more famous graduates, like the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin; the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos; Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Julia Child, the Nobel Prize-winning writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and the ex-owner of the Washington Post, Katherine Graham.
If you’re still looking for a Northwest Montessori in Austin, we encourage you to consider the teachers, classes, and curriculum of Austin Children’s Academy. As with our students, your curiosity is also appreciated in all aspects of our school. Have a personal look at our faculty and facilities, learn more about our educational philosophy, and most importantly see how we can work together in starting your child on a path to academic and personal success.
