Vannes: a nursery and a Montessori school for a different education

In Vannes (Morbihan), in the south of the city, is the nursery and the elementary school La Passerelle. This structure, out of contractinstructs and educates students through Montessori pedagogy.

Montessori pedagogy, obvious to its two founders

Maëla Visset and Youna Visset mother and daughter, have created a crèche then one Montessori school in order to offer children structures that adapt to their pace.

It all begins, when Youna is teacher in major section class. It provides the Montessori material to the children in his class and notices that the children develop differently, more naturally and that learning occurs more fluidly. Convinced by the method, she decided to take part-time to be able to set up her project.
In the meantime, Maëla who had followed the Montessori education training from birth to three years old, joins his mother in her project.

A nursery in March 2016

In mars 2016the La Passerelle nursery opens its doors.

I followed Montessori, early childhood training, because I needed to start from the basis of the human being. And then, at that time, there was not much on offer in terms of structure dedicated to early childhood, there was a need in Vannes.

The structure opens with approval to receive 12 children divided into two spaces age: I nest them from 2 and a half months to 18 months and the children’s community from 18 months to 3 years.

Here, the structures adapt to the needs and rhythms of the child. As Maëla explains, particular and detailed attention will be paid to the child’s development, gestures and intentions in order to accommodate his or her child as much as possible. environment.

“In the children’s community, we define spaces. In the Montessori approach, this is important. Each space has a function. We have the space food, arts, language space with books, singing, etc. », explains Maëla.

Two classes in September 2016

In September 2016the two women decide to continue the adventure, this time opening, two classes : a class for 3 to 6 years old then a class for 6 to 12 years old. “We had the premises to launch this project and families were asking to enroll their children in Montessori classes” explains Maëla.

The project starts with the objective independence and autonomy of the child. One of the bases of the Montessori pedagogy which can be destabilizing for certain children who have not received this education.

The typical day

Here, the typical day starts at 8:30 a.m., each child joins their class independently. Once in class, the educator, presents the new activities of the day as well as the material that will be made available to the child. The age and development levels are not the same, each child will have a activity who is he clean and suitable to his personal development. They will also have access to all the activities already presented during the year and self-service in the class.

As Maëla explains, “there is no recess in the morning, because the garden is accessible at any time, it is part of the work”.

The particularity of La Passerelle is also its bilingualism. In each section, from nursery to elementary school, two representatives are present, one speaks French, the other English.

Section for ages 6 to 12

For the 6 to 12 year old section, the activities are different, because as Maëla reminds us, “a child of that age is not sure why, he wants to understand how his world works. For example, at school, we have labs to encourage children to make discoveries, to put them into practice and to live before implementing the theory. We carry out an experiment from which we then draw conclusions.”

For Maëla, the choice to instruct and educate via Montessori pedagogy was a natural evidence. This largely answers his questions about the development of the human being.

This pedagogy, in my opinion, is an aid to life. The child no longer has any limits, he can go as far as he wants and let himself be carried by his abilities, at his own pace. I like the way it looks at the child.

As in the vast majority of Montessori schools, this type of structure has a cost. Here, the tuitionamount to 5,000 or 6,000 euros per year. Everything is the responsibility of the parents, the rent, salaries or even payroll costs, the structure does not receive no external aid.

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