Montessori Schools

• P L E A S E N O T E •
1. These pages list only those schools that are SAMA Members. 2. For further information on a listed school, please contact them directly via e-mail. 3. Many schools have their own websites which may be found through an Internet search. 4. We are unable to furnish any information on any Montessori educational organisation that is not a member.

Schools by Region

Cape – Eastern & Southern	view list	Limpopo	view list
Cape – Western	view list	Mpumalanga	view list
Gauteng – North (PTA)	view list	Namibia	view list
Gauteng – South (JHB)	view list	North West	view list
KwaZulu Natal	view list	Swaziland	view list

Is a Montessori school the right place for my child? Yes! For your assurance, a successful Montessori school strives to answer each of the following questions positively, and SAMA assists them in this ideal.
Q.	Are the children: ...
•	Respected at all times so that their personal dignity is constantly upheld?
•	Given the responsibility for their actions and choices and so encouraged to develop spontaneous self-discipline?
•	Free to learn at their own pace?
•	Allowed to work undisturbed, either by an adult or another child?
•	Working with real objects?
•	Free to choose activities that interest them, even though the choice may be to avoid the academic area all day?
•	Free to do individual or group work?
•	Free to work at a table or on a mat on the floor?
•	Free to choose any activity from a shelf although it may be too advance for him/her (one can always turn it into a positive activity for the child, e.g. to polish or dust it)?
•	Given access to work that engages the hand and the mind?
•	Given unlimited opportunity to repeat any activity as long as she/he likes?
•	Working for the satisfaction of doing the activity itself, rather than motivated by some external reward, e.g. you can go outside after you have done something indoors?
•	Allowed to sit quietly doing nothing (in solitude)?
•	Given indirect presentations before receiving presentations, e.g. many I spy games before being presented the sand paper letters?
•	Writing before reading?
•	Is your environment very ordered, with a place for everything and everything always in its place?
•	Are the shelves low so the activities are displayed at the child’s height and narrow so the child can successfully lift materials off the shelf and put them back?
•	Does the child’s work cycle include fetching his/her own materials and putting them back ready for the next person to use?
•	Is each activity arranged and set up in a progressive and orderly way?
•	Do the children care for the order in the environment?
From : 'Letter from the Chairman' – Pru Ramsey 'Follow the Child' journal of the Montessori Society of Southern Africa, Spring 1995.