Büyükyalı Uluslararası Montessori Okulu

Our Basic Principles

Our role as adults is to help children reach their full physical, spiritual, emotional, social and mental potential by:

  • Providing the proper learning environment to meet each child's needs and support their daily life,
  • Ensuring constant observation of the child's growth, as well as areas where they excel and gaps in their development, via trained Montessori educators
  • Adjusting and constantly developing the educational environment according to the results of these observations.
In our 3 – 6 mixed-age classrooms, each child progresses at their own pace according to their own developmental level and interests. In this three-year period between the ages of 3 and 6, children in the third year become role models, helping their younger peers, developing leadership qualities and becoming more compassionate and helpful individuals. Younger children in their first and second years do not feel restricted by their age and are instead empowered to learn, do, and try more by observing the feats of their older peers. Our mixed-age classes are designed according to the developmental levels and interests of children of different ages, stimulating their curiosity and sense of discovery and allowing them to progress at their own pace. In such an environment, children learn that they can succeed in different areas without a crippling sense of failure. Our teachers, who see themselves as guides, observe children very closely. In this process, they understand the different learning styles, interests and sensitivity periods of each child and make individual educational planning accordingly. The child’s work is not defined as right or wrong, pressure on the child is avoided, while self-esteem and self-confidence are protected.


The ethical education and character development of the young child is an important part of our daily life and curriculum at our school. We create positive conditions for the continuous support of the child in their interactions with their environment, friends and adults.

We believe in the uniqueness of cultures and reflect this in our educational program. We place great emphasis on enriching our programs with educators from different cultures and languages and making use of their experience, their backgrounds and talents. In this way, we bring the world into our program and help our children become global citizens.

 

We always keep in mind that the participation of families, who are the first teachers of children, is the cornerstone of our program and cooperation with families is an indispensable part of the continuity of the success of our school and our children. For this reason, at International Montessori School Büyükyalı Kindergarten, we ensure that close relationships based on mutual trust and respect are established between families, the school and our teachers. The doors of our school are always open to our families. We encourage parents and even grandparents of children to become volunteers of our school with our parent education programs such as “Montessori Philosophy,” “Montessori at Home,” “Positive Discipline,” and family events planned during the school year.

In our school, we attach a great importance to the professional development and training of our instructors. We use all the advantages of being a sister institution of Istanbul Montessori Institute (IME), which has international accreditation in Montessori teacher training, and in this context, we offer our teachers the advantages of participating in the training programs and conferences that IME will provide in Turkey and abroad, and we always encourage and support them to continue their lifelong professional development.

As an institution, with the cooperation of our families and educators, we aspire to be a model Montessori education program in our country.

“The first step for the person who decides to become a Montessori teacher is to prepare herself, her soul and her character. In traditional schools, the teacher has to complete the curriculum of a predetermined syllabus, so he or she only witnesses the behavior of the children at that moment, believing that he or she has an obligation to constantly control the children; whereas a Montessori teacher is waiting for the formation of a child who has not yet revealed the hidden power within him or herself. This is the fundamental difference between a traditional teacher and a Montessori teacher. A teacher who begins teaching in our schools must wholeheartedly believe that through his or her work, the child will unleash his or her innate potential and realize himself or herself.”

Maria Montessori – Emici Zihin