Save the Date!

The 15^th annual Fall Frolic is coming up just around the corner.  This annual run is to benefit The Montessori Classroom at the South Bend Center for the Homeless.  This classroom was created in partnership with the SBCFH in 1994; it still remains the only Montessori Classroom offered in a homeless setting in the country.   Because of this partnership a unique pre-school program now serves children at the Center by integrating Montessori philosophy, methodology and materials with the special needs and gifts of homeless children, ages three through six. The results have been remarkable!

   “A total of 20 children were transformed by the Montessori Classroom at the South Bend Center for the Homeless during the 2012-2013 school year.  While not all of the 20 children attended at the same time nor did all of them complete the Montessori cycle, they were all loved, honored and cared for within the Montessori community.  Some of the children attended school for a few days, others a few weeks, some a few months and one completed the third year of the Montessori curriculum.  While the classroom at the center does oftentimes seem like a revolving door, we at the Montessori Academy believe that no matter what the length of attendance is, if we can offer a safe and secure environment for these young children and allow them to have a peaceful environment to learn in and to be successful. "

 

   The Early Childhood Program at the South Bend Center for the Homeless is designed to work with the intellectual, emotional, physical and social needs of three through six year olds.  Children who come through the door of this special classroom have experienced the extremes of human existence: hunger, poverty, abuse of all kinds, homelessness, and neglect.  For many, this classroom serves as the backdrop for their first experience with the realization they can work to meet their own needs, with the limits and self-discipline that make society thrive with the respect and value of being a contributing member of our classroom community, with the sense of some small measure of order in their young lives, and with the freedom of choice.

v  The children gain social and communications skills that evolve into cooperative                relationships;

v  they acquire the ability to make decisions through guided choices;

v  they develop skills in respectful problem-solving and conflict-resolution.

v  Through a diversity of activities the children gain confidence, concentration and              independence.

v  The enriched language materials give experience in self-expression, vocabulary development, as well as pre-reading and writing skills.

v  The concrete math work is process-based for an understanding of concepts.

v  Geography and science are integrated for greater cultural awareness of the world and its people.

v  The classroom motivates children from the young three’s through the kindergarten age.