Innovation award for montessori

THE innovative folk at a west Wicklow montessori have earned themselves an award from Early Childhood Ireland.

Manor Kilbride Montessori School was presented with their Innovation in Play award on Saturday, June 18, at the Gibson Hotel in Dublin.

The judges were impressed with the school’s commitment to following the children’s play interests.

‘The children love to play shop and they saw this as a way of increasing their awareness of healthy food,’ said the judges.

‘The team thought about how to involve parents and the wider community in a playful way so they invited people to donate healthy produce to the shop and made invitations and posters for an open shop day. The children made price tags and set up the stall and a table for giving receipts and taking money. Every parent arrived on the day to buy something along with lots of neighbours which thrilled the children making it feel like a real shop.’

Once the profits were calculated, the children voted on what to spend it on, with a construction area winning out.

‘Manor Kilbride Montessori School used the Aistear learning journals to document the experience from the shop and the construction area. They also planted their own vegetables. They took inspiration from the mosaic approach by Alison Clark, using map making and drawings to listen to the child’s voice,’ added the judges.