An alternate education option

Feb. 19—A preschool-age girl perused shelves of books at Children's House Montessori School in Lewiston. In nearby classrooms, students worked on dozens of projects, mostly sitting or lying on carpet mats, not at desks. When they needed help, they walked to their teachers to ask questions, instead of raising their hands.

One boy, who had assembled a puzzle of the world's continents, was following that activity by drawing a picture of the same thing.

Downstairs, two girls huddled while they wrote stories and drew illustrations to go with them. A boy a few carpet mats over assembled strips of wood with pre-cut holes with plastic nuts and bolts.

The vibrant but surprisingly quiet hum of activity as students, some as young as 3 years old, work is typical, said Megan Anderson, the owner and head of the school.

Anderson founded the business in 2011 that is now housed in a former Carnegie library that she leases from the city of Lewiston at Pioneer Park. She teaches its upper elementary students in addition to her other roles.

After starting with a preschool and kindergarten program, the school has expanded to serve about 60 students through fifth grade.

The education Children's House Montessori School provides is intended to complement what other institutions offer in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, Anderson said.

Engaging the senses, fostering independence

The Montessori method was developed more than 100 years ago by Maria Montessori, Italy's first female medical doctor, after she observed and worked with children.

Sandpaper letters, for example, help children learn the shapes of alphabet letters and the sounds they make. Children trace the letters with their fingers while saying the letter sounds. Connecting the senses to the abstract concept helps children remember the letter's function in building words and reading, and the letter's shape for writing words, Anderson said.

All children can benefit from the Montessori method because it's based on scientific evidence of how children learn and develop, she said.

Students pick their activities to help them develop personal independence.

"The youngest children learn independence in putting on their own shoes and taking care of their own needs," Anderson said. "As children grow more capable in their independence they are then able to help others."

Children who achieve learning standards early are given opportunities to explore subjects more deeply, while those who haven't mastered a skill are provided more time to do so, she said.

"It is not based on the factory model of rote memorization or task or product creation," she said. "It is based on curiosity about the world and connecting senses to the environment in order to make sense of what is being experienced."

Their performance is documented in attendance records and progress reports with numbered grades.

The curriculum mirrors what public schools offer so families have freedom to move their children if they choose, Anderson said.

Self-directed learning

An emphasis is placed on natural consequences that help children learn life skills such as empathy and time management.

A child, for example, might devote a lot of time on a writing assignment and then discover they didn't have an opportunity to do an art project, Anderson said.

Discipline typically comes in the form of the withdrawal of freedom. It can be as minor as a teacher suggesting an activity for a child who isn't working on anything. When children are being disruptive, they leave their classroom and discuss their issue with a teacher to find a solution. If something has been broken, for example, they are asked to think of a way to fix it.

Keeping the children integrated with their peers outside the small school is a priority too, Anderson said.

Almost all of the students participate in youth activities outside the school such as sports, theater, dance and church groups, she said.

All of those approaches pave the way for the transition students make when they go to other schools, where they often emerge as school leaders and academic achievers, Anderson said.

The biggest issue is they are used to moving on to a different assignment as soon as they're finished with the one provided, she said.

This issue can be an opportunity, not a frustration, for teachers, Anderson said.

"They will enjoy caring for the classroom or helping other students," she said. "They will be happy to read a book of their choice or move on to the next assignment."

Balancing the books

The education Anderson and her staff provide students comes from their many years of perfecting the curriculum and how they interact with students.

Especially in the initial stages, being a business, instead of a not-for-profit as a number of Montessori schools are, was important, Anderson said. She had the agility to adjust the curriculum or operations without taking her plans to a board.

Even though Children's House Montessori School is in its 12th year, Anderson still frequently faces challenges.

One of the biggest is keeping tuition reasonable while generating enough money to pay employees, cover the lease and purchase materials, she said.

Tuition is $350 to $575 per month depending on the age of children and how long they are at the school each day. Payment plans and discounts are available to make the school an option for as many families as possible, Anderson said.

The school day starts at 8:30 a.m. with 15 minutes of yoga and songs and ends at 3:30 p.m. Students can arrive as early as 7:30 a.m. and leave as late as 4:30 p.m.

"We base our prices on our overhead and our goal is to pay the teachers a salaried, living wage," Anderson said. "This is not easy to do and being a small business is truly a struggle."

In the future, she's considering the possibility of becoming a not-for-profit.

"My dream is to continue to make it more accessible to families and to continue to make it a place where people want to come and build a career," she said. "I want to be able to offer high-quality Montessori education to children of many ages for a long time to come."

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.

Megan Anderson

Job title: Owner and head of Children's House Montessori School and upper elementary teacher.

Age: 43.

Education: Graduate of Lewiston High School in 1997. Attended Southern Oregon University and graduated from the University of Idaho with a bachelor's degree in fine arts in theater with an emphasis in performance. Graduated from Montessori Northwest in Portland, Ore., in 2006 and completed a master's in education from Loyola University in Maryland in 2007.

Career: Worked in public and private schools in Chicago, Portland, Lewiston and Pullman before founding Children's House Montessori School in 2011.

Family: Married to Joseph Anderson. They have two children, Natalie, 24, and Noah, 16.

Hobbies: Traveling, running, gardening, reading and spending time with family.

Civic involvement: Member of the Lewiston School District Cultural Competency Work Group.

"(The Montessori method) is not based on the factory model of rote memorization or task or product creation. It is based on curiosity about the world and connecting senses to the environment in order to make sense of what is being experienced."

Megan Anderson, Children's House Montessori School owner/head/teacher