At the easel, two youngsters work on a drawing together.

Friday, April 05, 2002

At the easel, two youngsters work on a drawing together. In the middle of the room, a group plays a game. On one side of the room, a girl stack blocks taller than she is. And over in the kitchen area, a girl washes some dishes in the small sink.

The Children’s House Montessori Preschool in Albert Lea isn’t a traditional preschool, because younger children mix with the older children.

&uot;My favorite thing about it is the social community,&uot; said Director Sophie Ehrhardt. &uot;The younger kids get a lot of help from the older kids.&uot;

It’s an optimal situation because after a couple of years, the older children come back as leaders. &uot;The younger ones are a gift to the older ones,&uot; she said. &uot;It’s a huge thing to enter kindergarten and to have already been a leader.&uot;

Ehrhardt had worked as an assistant in a Montessori preschool in California, and had taken training as a first- through third-grade instructor before she and her husband, Mac, moved to Albert Lea.

&uot;I didn’t have any kids yet, but I knew I wanted them to be able to go to a Montessori school,&uot; Ehrhardt recalled. &uot;So I had selfish reasons.&uot;

She also had spoken with both United Preschool and the Albert Lea Community Child Care Center in Albert Lea and found they both had waiting lists. &uot;So I knew there was a need,&uot; Ehrhardt added. &uot;Now we have a waiting list also.&uot;

She took the Montessori preschool training in the Twin Cities, and opened The Children’s House in the fall of 1993.

The Montessori method was designed by Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and educator. She believed teaching methods used in Europe at that time, the early 1900s, were too rigid. Feeling that the young child had more potential than educators realized, she began to develop this potential by teaching the young child by encouraging their natural interest in exploring the world through the senses.

The goal of Montessori education is to help children develop to their fullest potential in all areas: physical, emotional, social and cognitive. Each child’s unique spirit is nurtured in an environment that encourages the growth of self-esteem, respect for others, initiative, self-expression, concentration, cooperation and a love of learning.

Ehrhardt said the children do a lot of &uot;practical life&uot; exercises, in which they learn to care for themselves and their environment. &uot;They start by practicing simple things, and move to more complicated things,&uot; she said. They also learn sensorial awareness, mathematics, language, geography, culture, science, music and art.

These exercises use not only conventional tools like blocks, letters and books, but toys that are scaled-down models of items adults use, like brooms, dishes, washtubs and tools.

&uot;Montessori was the first to scale everything down, so it really was a children’s house,&uot; Ehrhardt explained.

And everything is hands-on. In the classroom, the teacher considered more of a helper to a child’s developmental path. A teacher may do a presentation to introduce something new to the classroom. Then the children are free to come up with their own ideas.

&uot;Then the teachers can observe,&uot; she said. &uot;It’s very dynamic. There are all sorts of things going on at once.

&uot;Part of being a Montessori teacher is knowing how to get out of the way,&uot; Ehrhardt added.

There are also grace and courtesy skits, where particular social skills are introduced. &uot;Children play roles in the skit,&uot; she said. &uot;It’s a wonderful tool. It’s hard to tell someone that the way they’re doing things is not the way to do something.&uot;

Children are exposed to learning and get to explore a lot of things. &uot;But to me, that’s not the emphasis as much as how a child feels,&uot; Ehrhardt said.

The preschool is designed for ages 2-1/2 through 6 years. Younger children attend three afternoons a week, and the older children five mornings per week. Child care is available for an hour before and after the Montessori program to provide parents with some flexibility in arrival times.

The Children’s House is run by a board of directors. In addition to Ehrhardt, staff members include: Jan Nawrocki, administrator; Ruth Berg, head teacher, trained in the Montessori method; and Lori Larsen, teacher.

Ehrhardt said the preschool is committed to keeping its costs comparable to local child care rates. &uot;In California and the Twin Cities, Montessori costs three times what it costs here,&uot; she said. &uot;Parents are the one thing that keeps our school alive.&uot;

The preschool has a contract with the Department of Human Services, so working parents who meet income guidelines can send their children there. In addition, there are scholarships which have been made available through donations. Other parents who can’t afford the tuition have done a work exchange.

&uot;Anyone who wants to be here, can,&uot; Ehrhardt said.

The Children’s House will hold its annual open house from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, April 7. Anyone with an interest in early childhood education, as well as parents of young children, is welcome. The Children’s House is located at 1424 W. Main St., behind the Skyline Veterinary Clinic.