What is Montessori education?
The curriculum promotes holistic development through areas such as language, mathematics, practical life, sensory, science, and cultural studies.
Montessori materials are sensorial, concrete, and promote self-correction, allowing children to understand abstract concepts and fostering independence in their learning process.
Strengthens
creativity,
independence and self-esteem.
It adapts to the pace, interests, and individual needs of each student, rather than imposing a uniform curriculum.
The curriculum promotes holistic development through areas such as language, mathematics, practical life, sensory, science, and cultural studies.
What makes us different from other schools
Montessori?
One of our main strengths is our adherence to the Montessori Method. This is evident in the implementation of the curriculum, with guides certified by the American Montessori Society, and in the structure of our prepared environments. A fundamental aspect of the Montessori method is the importance of the physical environment. Here at San Cristóbal, each environment and space has been designed with attention to order, aesthetics, functionality, and accessibility. The environments encourage independent work and personal and collective care, reflecting the Montessori philosophy that the environment is also an educator.
We integrate the Montessori approach with trauma-sensitive strategies for an authentic and transformative educational experience .
Education at San Cristóbal is seen as a transformative act, where each child is supported in their process of inner and outer development, recognizing that they belong to everything around them. One thing that distinguishes the school's work is its sensitive and conscious approach to children who have experienced trauma. The school cultivates emotionally safe, structured, and predictable environments that reduce the anxiety associated with trauma.
A close relationship between home and school is fostered, based on trust, training for families and caregivers, and ongoing communication. The school organizes activities that strengthen the sense of belonging in the community, such as workshops for adult caregivers, family outings, and volunteer families and caregivers during the school year, participation in community organizations, and opportunities for dialogue.
Our
Programs
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Moriviví
We lovingly and attentively support each child's natural impulse to do things for themselves. We create an environment rich in language and movement, where communication, autonomy, and active exploration are encouraged. Children read, observe, move, rest, clean, eat, and discover the world at their own pace, with materials appropriate to their developmental stage.
In this learning environment, children work independently, observe others, explore freely, and express their curiosity and creativity. A self-care area encourages toileting awareness and independence in maintaining personal hygiene (such as learning to wipe their nose and wash their hands independently). A sleeping area with individual mats on the floor allows toddlers to exercise autonomy in preparing for rest and allows them to get up independently once rested. There is also a gross motor activity area to help children coordinate their movements and low tables that allow them to help prepare, serve, eat, and clean up their snacks and meals.
Rud García, Early Childhood Community Assistant & Isabel Torres Rosado, Early Childhood Community Guide.
Passionflower
What distinguishes Montessori at Workshop 1 is the individually paced curriculum that challenges children academically and safeguards their well-being and sense of self. By participating as contributing members of a respectful community, they learn to question, think critically, and take responsibility for their own learning—skills that will support them in their later education and life.
In a prepared Workshop 1 environment, students work individually or in small groups, at tables or on mats on the floor.
Natural lighting, soft colors, and uncluttered spaces set the stage for focused and calm activity. Learning materials are arranged on accessible shelves by curriculum area, encouraging independence as students complete their work. Everything is where it's supposed to be, conveying a sense of harmony and order that comforts and inspires.
Children new to Montessori quickly feel at home with inspired teaching that appeals to their deepest interests and with distinctive, hands-on learning materials that teachers present sequentially according to students' developmental needs. For students who have completed the Children's House Program, the environment offers continuity with familiar routines and learning materials that offer new lessons and opportunities for more complex exploration and discovery.
The classroom is a happy community. Students are focused. They enjoy their work. They invent, explore, experiment, inquire, create, prepare snacks, and curl up with books; sometimes they may even reflect in a peaceful, meditative corner. Meanwhile, guides circulate around the room, observing students and taking notes on their progress, always ready to offer support or introduce new material as appropriate.
The expectations are exquisitely clear and attractively open.
Evelyn Rodríguez, Workshop Guide 1 and Daniela Cruz, Workshop Assistant 1.
Special Programs
Physical education is essential for children's comprehensive development and learning. This is why each group receives weekly physical education lessons that improve motor coordination and socialization skills. Since 2024, we have been working in partnership with Special Olympics PR.
