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Our Montessori Life Together

Abintra Montessori supports child‑directed, purposeful learning to help children and adolescents become confident, self-motivated learners who can creatively meet the challenges of life.

Montessori education at Abintra is a fully articulated developmental pedagogy for children from 2.9 through early adolescence. Our work is grounded in Montessori’s Planes of Development which nurture and guide children in:

  • Primary classrooms (Ages Rising 3 year-olds to 6)

  • Elementary classrooms (Lower Elementary Ages 6 to 9 & Upper Elementary Ages 9 to 12)

  • Early Adolescent Program (Ages 12 to 14).


The Montessori spiral curriculum meets the needs, characteristics, and sensitivities of learners in specifically designed and prepared environments (classrooms) for each age that builds in complexity and depth, always from concrete exploration to abstraction.

The Overview 

The Prepared Environment

Abintra offers a prepared environment coupled with dedicated adult guidance that sparks joy, fosters independence, and engenders a love of learning. 

  • 3-Year Mixed-Age Settings: Classrooms are designed to welcome a three-year, mixed-age grouping of students into one space for a three-year cycle. 

  • Natural & Spacious Settings: The campus is sited on 11 wooded acres, with gardens, woods, a labyrinth, trails, greenhouse, etc. These spaces allow for both individual work and group work in nature. 

  • Uncluttered / Orderly Spaces: Classrooms are beautifully designed and equipped with Montessori materials. They are clearly organized, curated for interest, and arranged at the child’s level, both visually and physically (while scaled for developmental growth). Ensuring children can find and choose work easily and maintain focus without distraction are key elements in the design of our spaces.

The Montessori Curriculum

Abintra embraces the fullness of the Montessori curriculum in all our learning environments. 

  • Self‑correcting, enticing materials: Montessori materials allow children to manipulate, experiment with, and self‑correct. This supports exploration, intrinsic interest, and reinforcement of concepts by experience. 

  • Interconnected curricular expression: Each Plane of Development offers learning and specifically-designed materials and experiences designed to match developmental readiness and interest of the age, characteristics, and sensitivities for the children in the classroom. The curriculum and experiences continue to build (spiral) from one classroom to the next. 

  1. In Primary, the classrooms are divided into five areas, each providing foundational access to reading, numeracy, science, history, and independence.

  2. In Elementary, the “Cosmic Curriculum” introduces the six to twelve-year-old child to the whole of the interconnected universe and offers discrete skill building through interdependent exploration of all subjects.

  3. And in Adolescence, the interdependence of self and community, and the world at large are deeply explored through the lens of social organization. 

The Prepared Adult

Maria Montessori called for educators to become dedicated observers and scientists of the developing humans in their care. 

  • Guides / Mentors: Montessori educators are described as Guides. This Prepared Adult curates environments that help the child/adolescent learn as well as engage their intrinsic desire along their own unique developmental journey. Our Guides are all Montessori credentialed and all hold university degrees. 

  • Positive Discipline: Abintra uses Positive Discipline, which is aligned with Montessori in respecting the child, giving them agency, combining kindness with firmness, recognizing stages of development, and supporting internal motivation rather than external rewards/punishments. This non-punitive approach helps children take ownership of their actions while supporting their growth as both an individual and community member. 

The Work Cycle

Abintra adheres to the Montessori three-hour Work Cycles. Occurring twice daily, works cycles begin at the start of our day and then again in the afternoon. 

  • 3-hour work cycle: This is a structured period where students engage in self‑directed learning. During this time, students choose activities within the framework of the curriculum that align with their interests and developmental needs, fostering independence and responsibility. This uninterrupted work period encourages concentration, critical thinking, and a love of learning.

  • Uninterrupted periods: Allowing students uninterrupted time to focus on self-selected work allows for the possibility of deep concentration, engagement, and the development of critical thinking. These two time-protected periods of the day support following the child’s interests and depth of exploration in a range of subjects. 

Caring for Self & Others

Caring for ourselves, others, and our environments are important components in creating a thriving and interdependent learning community. 

  • At the Primary Level: Even in early years, Practical Life materials and cultural work help children adapt to their environment, care for themselves and others, and participate in routines; all of which build responsibility to self, others, and the environment. 

  • At the Elementary / Adolescent Levels: Older students at Abintra are engaged in more complex community roles: working in gardens, caring for shared spaces, participating in social organization, internships, community trips, contributing to “economy” and cooperation across Campus. 

  • Environment & Nature as Responsibility for us all: Students compost and recycle; in the garden and greenhouse, they engage in projects related to agriculture and sustainability. This connects them to caring for a community (living systems) and reinforcing responsibility to others and the natural world. 

Key Takeaways

The Abintra Montessori community is committed to the growth and development of all children and adolescents and that work is supported by intentional partnership with parents in specially-designed learning environments that ensures: 

  • Children choose work aligned with interests and developmental readiness (supports ownership and internal motivation).

  • Work cycles are uninterrupted and allow for focus, flow, deep concentration.

  • Materials are interesting, tangible, sensorial, self‑correcting — children can experiment, discover, and correct themselves, which encourages persistence and internal satisfaction (not external reward).

  • Guides support rather than direct, allowing the child’s own curiosity and initiative to lead learning.

  • The environment fosters peace and calm and encourages natural interest (gardening, nature walks, birdwatching), which draws children into relationship with nature.

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