Website and design by Lukas Andersen
Nature, Montessori, & Christian
Based Small Daycare
Red Deer, Central Alberta
What It's All About
Hi, I am Sabine!
I was an elementary school teacher in Germany and working with children is my passion. Our family lives on a small acreage just outside of Red Deer surrounded by fields and forest in the quiet and safety of a short no-exit road.
Starting a daycare on our acreage has been my dream for over a decade as, in addition to the inside space, it provides a beautiful and real environment for kids to engage with and experience the beauty and benefits of nature early. This also allows for a uniquely rich application of Montessori education, which I am a great admirer of.
Doing activities outdoors, learning to experience the beauty of nature early and with all senses, learning about the environment (about birds, insects, other animals, and plants), doing nature crafts and playing outside; all of this is highly beneficial for children, from improving the immune system to motor skills, social skills and mental health, and builds an early appreciation and concern for the natural environment around us all.
NatureEncouraging children to engage with all senses in every-day environments and within a teacher-created attractive learning environment motivates the children to naturally want to learn with perseverance. Exploring their world in this way makes the learning experience effective, meaningful, and impactful, building a solid foundation for future education and life.
About MontessoriExperiencing Bible stories in different ways and praying for friends and family will give the children Christian values like love, kindness, patience, joy, gentleness, compassion, integrity, and an understanding of being there for each other.
ChristianAnd of course, I want the children to enjoy their time here! The Montessori system is great for teaching children skills early, but as Montessori herself realized, children cannot learn by force or will of the teacher but only by their own natural interest, pace, and ability. There will be lots of time for playing, music, crafts, art, reading, and being outside in nature whenever the weather allows!
Registration for 2024 Closed
There will be a daily routine in which the children find security and get a feeling for time.
Whatever their age in this range (3-5), according to the maximum extent of their abilities and at their own pace, using the Montessori system, the kids will learn basic life skills, like fine and gross motor skills and daily life skills like setting the table and cleaning up their play area, as well as being introduced to shapes, lengths, the alphabet, reading, numbers, and more. In this way, my program introduces kids age 3-5 to things they will encounter in kindergarten.
The program is for a little group of six children at most, which enables more one-on-one care, and the children talk and participate more in smaller groups.
Children of different ages 3 – 5 will learn together and from each other, as Maria Montessori wrote:
“Children of different ages help each other, the small one sees what the elder one does and asks about it, and the older one gives an explanation. This is really teaching, but the explanation and teaching of a child of five years is so near to the understanding of the child of three years that the little one understands easily … there is a sort of harmony and interchange of ideas between them which is not possible between an adult and a child so small.” ~ Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind
