Nido de Montessori

In the Greater Vancouver area (B.C. Canada), many preschools are very structured, with a set curriculum that does not take into account children’s need for relationships with their caregivers. Nido de Montessori, in Richmond, is different. While Nido is a licensed daycare for children 18 months to six years old, it operates in many ways as a school. Like many schools, it takes an inquiry-based approach to learning—which in this case is grounded in a Montessori approach. Unlike many schools, however, its staff put relationships before learning.

Building Relationships

“Nido” means “nest” in a number of languages, explains school principal Tarah Feldman. Staff work hard to create a space that feels safe to children—a “home away from home.”

“We view everything through a relationship framework lens,” she says in the school’s virtual tour. This of course includes relationships between and among teachers and children, but also those with other people, the community, the land, and the environment. 

Staff teach in small teams so they can support each other and share “the belief that there’s no learning that occurs without relationships and without children feeling safe and connected,” Tarah tells me. “It’s not something that we say, but it’s something that we live and practice every single day.”

It’s all about knowing each child as an individual, she explains. That way, staff can make good guesses as to what each needs in one particular moment. “Our educators are so amazing at holding space” for children’s big feelings, she adds. There is no point in encouraging children to learn or to do something like putting on their shoes while they’re upset. That is the time to focus on the relationship. Later, after a moment of connection, staff nudge children children towards putting on their shoes or considering other children’s feelings.

One way the school takes relationships into consideration is through the gradual entry process that all children go through. Parents expect to stay for an hour on the first day until their child has gotten to know the staff. Then at the end of the day, staff and parents plan together for the next day, depending on how the first day went for the child. For some children, the transition only takes a few days. But for others, it’s longer. In one case it took three months for a toddler to stay for full days without a parent. The process takes each child’s unique needs into consideration, Tarah says, rather than being the same for all.

Even after a child is attending the school full-time, staff make sure to connect with families at pick-up and drop-off time.

A Flowing Schedule

There are no bells or timetables telling Nido students to drop what they are doing and switch activities. Rather than a schedule, Tarah says, “We have a flow of the day.” 

Children need a certain amount of consistency and predictability to feel comfortable and safe. For example, they eat and sleep at set times. But apart from that, there is space for children to follow their own interests.

Learning through exploration

Learning happens when children are feeling safe. “It can be an amazing curriculum, but it’s not going to go anywhere if the child is not receptive to learning,” Tarah says.

She and her team believe that children are naturally curious, and their gentle teaching works with that curiosity. They aim to help children have fun as they learn how to inquire about things that matter to them—how to formulate questions and look for answers.

“We try to sit back and let our children’s interests and curiosity emerge,” Tarah explains. As they look for and encourage each child’s interests, they focus on “really viewing [the children] as capable.”

Learning happens in different ways, whether the children are out exploring the neighbourhood with their teachers or working with art supplies. Experimentation is encouraged, as teachers leave out materials without telling children how they should use them.

After a time in this relaxed environment, Tarah says, even resistant children start to play. One three-year-old boy initially refused to draw because he said he wasn’t good at it, but now he happily creates his own drawings and asks teachers to document his art.

As children follow their interests, they learn a variety of skills without being formally taught. “As much as we view literacy and numeracy as important,” Tarah says, “we are confident that our children are going to do literacy and numeracy.” These important skills are woven into everything the children do, so teachers don’t have to stand in front of the class and teach the alphabet. Instead, children learn through activities like singing and counting rocks in the playground.

Educating Adults

It is sometimes difficult for adults who grew up in a more regimented school system to teach in this more open way, Tarah says. All of the Nido teachers are committed to the philosophy of putting relationships and children’s interests ahead of more conventional teaching, but they face challenges along the way.

And although they work with “amazing families,” sometimes the parents don’t understand all the aspects of this philosophy. Parents often say they have chosen this education for their child because they see its value and wish they’d had it for themselves. But at the same time, they worry because it is so different from the familiar, and from what they think is necessary for their child to be successful. So Nido staff spend a fair bit of time educating them as well.

A Different Education

Some parents of Nido students apply for their three-year-olds to attend junior kindergarten in private schools. They ask Nido for report cards and references, but the school won’t provide those because they don’t believe in them.  

“Our mission is to transform what education looks like,” Tarah says. Nido’s commitment to empowering children “challenge[s] the norms and the structure of education.” She has become increasingly aware that this different way of educating needs to start with preschoolers.

Working with young children also gives teachers a lot of freedom, she explains, because there is no set curriculum so they can design their own.

Tarah sees a lot of wonderful things happening in education, but believes the education system is too structured. “We want to be part of not tearing it all down, but challenging a little bit and pushing it a little bit in respectful ways. Our children are so capable and so amazing and it is such an honour and a privilege to watch them develop what I would call life skills. Slowly, slowly, little by little, maybe we can create a system that’s actually designed for the children.”

A number of parents would seem to agree. Due to demand, Nido is preparing to open two new schools in other parts of the Greater Vancouver area next year.