Franciscan Missionaries of Mary considers our mission to propagate Christianity all over the world. Devastated after World War II, Japan needed an education of her children, when we believed those children would become leaders in future Japan.
At 1949, Kobe Kaisei Maria Kindergarten was established at Shukugawa.
At 1970, Montessori Method was introduced.
Children are like germs reaching out toward the sky in the sunshine.
We wish that they will grow up physically and mentally sound, and that each one will grow up to fulfill abundant individuality with his or her potential exerted. Children are raised to be faithful and compassionate as much as anything else.
According to the Montessori Method, surrounded by nature of green trees, our children spend their nursery time in vertically-divided classes, playing with various educational tools or aids. We strongly hope that they will find the joy of giving others something as they realize their talents, improve them and then maximize their own potentialities.
1. All men are created by God as his beloved.
Every child is being dearly beloved.
Through such grace of God, we cultivate a gracious
heart to love each other.
2. We assist the mental and physical development of little
children, as we supply the appropriate circumstances in order for them to be proactive
in acting with their own inbuilt ability.
We have been applying Montessori Method since 1970 to practice these aims.
Dr. Maria Montessori, physician, anthropologist and pedagogue, studied children of all racial, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds for over fifty years. Her intense scientific observation of the human being from birth to maturity allowed her to distill a body of philosophical, psychological and pedagogical principles. These, together with a vast range of auto-didactic materials, came to be known as the Montessori Method of Education.
Montessori pedagogy is a comprehensive and continuous response to the vital exigencies of the total human being, adapted to each stage of development.
Our kindergarten provides prepared environment where children can develop their natural tendency to work.
Caracteristics of the prepared environment include :
*Beauty, order, reality, simplicity and accessibility.
*Children must be given freedom to work and move around within suitable guidelines that enable them to act as part of a social group.
*Children should be provided with specifically designed materials which help them to explore their world and enable them to develop essential cognitive skills.
*Mixed age groups encourage all children to develop their personalities socially and intellectually at their own pace.
The activities include many of the tasks children see as part of the daily life in their home. The children develop muscular coordination, enabling movement and the exploration of their surroundings. They learn to work at task from beginning to end, and develop their will defined by Dr. Montessori.
Sensorial Materials are tools for development. They do this by touching, seeing, smelling, tasting, listening, and exploring the physical properties of their environment.
Language is vital to human existence. The Montessori environment provides rich and precise language. Spoken language, written language and reading.
The mathematics materials help the child learn and understand mathematical concepts by working with concrete materials. It will help for the child to have a structured scope for abstract reasoning.
Religion, Geography, History, Cooking, Ceramics, P.E., Library and Music are presented as extensions of the sensorial and language activities.
Children learn about other cultures past and present.
