Integrated Child Centre
What is an Integrated Child Centre? This is a relatively new term in the Netherlands, which refers to a facility that has smooth coordination between a school and daycare/after school care where the children are taken care of completely.
Is Casa also an Integrated Child Centre? Yes! And it was one of the first in the Netherlands, though we didn’t use the term at the time. Instead, we referred to our Pillar: “All Day, All Year” which explained to all how we combined both care and school under one organisation, allowing us to be open from early in the morning until the evening, for 50 weeks a year. The only times we are closed are for the week between Christmas and New Year, 5 separate study days, and national holidays.
We combine daycare with education, which allows parents (and staff) all the flexibility they need with regards to school days and holidays. That is why you will also see our guides (teachers) working in the classes throughout the school holiday periods, providing lessons and activities for the children.
Opening this year!
We are expecting to move to our new building in October 2024. After this, on the 1st of November 2024, we will be opening a Nido (baby) group that will be for babies from the age of 4 months up to 17 months. A second group will open from the 1st of January 2025.
Each of these groups will have space for a maximum of 9 children per day.
“Others, as a result of careful study, have come to the conclusion that the first two years are the most important in the whole span of human life.”
We are happy to welcome you to our baby group learning environment, where we prioritize creating the perfect space for your little one to thrive and grow. Our approach is centered around key pillars that promote optimal development from infancy.
What are these Pillars?
- Freedom of movement: encouraging exploration and movement is vital for developing motor skills and curiosity. Our safe and stimulating space offers babies the freedom to move and discover the world around them at their own pace.
- Appropriate materials: we provide a variety of safe, attractive, and challenging materials that promote sensory learning and development. Each material is carefully selected to support your baby's growth and exploration.
- Routine: consistency is key in fostering a sense of security and order for babies. Our daily routines create predictable patterns that help babies feel grounded and comfortable in their environment.
- Language development: our bilingual environment offers babies the opportunity to learn and internalize languages from an early age. Through exposure to English and Dutch, we facilitate language acquisition in a natural and immersive way.
- Love and care: beyond meeting their basic needs, our dedicated caregivers are trained to provide attentive and nurturing support to your baby. They understand the importance of their role in your baby's learning journey and are committed to fostering a loving and caring environment.
At our facility, we believe in nurturing every aspect of your baby's development, ensuring they receive the best possible start in life. Join us in creating a nurturing environment where your baby can thrive and reach their full potential.
In August 2018, Casa started a bilingual Montessori toddler group (an environment for children who are one to three years of age). Due to the high demand and our toddler group being almost full, in September 2019, we opened a second toddler environment.
You can think of our classroom as miniature household, where all things have a place and all work has a purpose. The children are cared for in a safe, warm, respectful and loving environment in which their independence, language and motor skills are cultivated. All furniture and materials are realistic, but adapted to the child’s physical size and abilities.
The purpose of the toddler environment is to aid children in their quest towards functional independence. This means at school they will have plenty of opportunities to practice eating by themselves (with all that this implies – preparation of food and setting the table, using cutlery to eat out of porcelain plates, drinking water out of glass glasses and of course, cleaning up), caring for their own person (learning to dress/ undress, washing their hands/ faces, cleaning their noses) and the environment around them (flower arranging, watering the plans, mopping and sweeping etc.), use the toilet independently and be aware of their body scheme and needs (including assessing if they are tired or not and resting if needed, being aware of their emotions, how they feel and actively working on expressing that).
Today we look at the world as a unique, large community because the most important goals of human life are those of every one and the decisions made affect everyone. We are interdependent; no one can fully separate him or herself from the community.
This is of course one of the important things we work toward – interdependence – being mutually reliant on each other this necessity is a fact of life. Human beings, being social animals, need to be together. To do this in the best possible way each person should care for herself and those immediately around her and by doing this, care for the world.
The environment is fully equipped for children who can walk. So it is preferable if children can walk, but children may start at 17 months of age.
If you are expecting or have just given birth, you can also register your child. If you do not yet have any children at Casa, you can register your child via the following link: http://casaschool.flexkids.nl/aanvraag.
If you do have children at Casa, you can enroll your child by logging in to Flexweb and clicking on the button in the upper right corner ‘Register Child’.
If you want more information you can visit one of our information mornings. Please check the agenda for upcoming information mornings.
You can also read our pedagogical policy for the Toddler Group here. At the moment it’s only in Dutch. The English version is coming soon.
For fees and opening hours please check our tariffs.
For online information you can follow the link below:
http://montessoriguide.org/journey-to-independence/
If you have any questions, please email us at toddlers @casaschool.nl (for administrative inquiries). If you wish to talk with one of the class guides, you can email either pluto @casaschool.nl or luna @casaschool.nl.
“...we must create an environment for the child wherein the child can carry out its experiments, an environment in which he finds the possibilities of carrying on his activities without being all the time chased away by adults. A sort of nursery world, a world made for the child. It is this which Montessori Schools aim at. There is a world of difference between the ordinary school where the idea is to teach the child, and ours where there is an environment of life for the child.”
Maybe you have these questions in mind:
"But why should my child come to a Casa Toddler group?"
Because…… In these groups, the children learn how to become independent.
They learn and practice:
- to use the toilet
- to get dressed
- to eat a wide variety of foods
- to set the table and clean up afterwards
- to prepare fruit for snacks or assist with preparing lunches (more information on Food Preparation in these groups),
- to sleep independently
- to socialise
- develop their fine and gross motor skills
- and they also begin already with the two languages at Casa!
These groups also lay the foundation for your child to have a smooth start in our Children’s House.
“But my child is already attending another daycare. Won’t having multiple transitions between groups be detrimental for him/her?”
On the contrary! Coming to the Toddlers helps the children adjust to the routines which they will also find in the Children’s House, thus giving them consistency, familiarity and should make the transition smoother.
Many fresh 3 year olds, who are coming from a normal daycare or home environment, find it very overwhelming when they first start in the Children’s House. As the school groups have mixed ages of 3/4/5 year olds, we have 3 guides for around 35-40 children. These 3 year olds will often take at least one month to acclimatise to the Children’s House environment. Or, if they only attend school for 2-3 days a week, it can take as long as 3 months for them to adjust.
On the other hand, we have 3 guides for a maximum of 16 children in our Toddler groups (ages 1-3). In these small groups they are able to get used to the Montessori manner in a much quieter environment, so the transition to the Children’s House is not as difficult.
Did you know…. some of our Toddlers have already transitioned to the Children’s House?
"What do you, as guides, see when children come from the Toddlers?"
We are thrilled to see…
- curiosity and inquisitveness
- independence
- confidence
- open and accepting attitudes
- understanding English
- free movement and desire to explore
- toileting success
- helpful attitudes - particularly when preparing snacks
"What do you see less of from children who come from the Toddlers?"
We see:
- Fewer tears! Children have an easier transition to the Children's House, as they are more familiar with the Casa routines,
- Less hesitation! An interesting challenge for our guides is that the Toddler children hesitate less. They do not cling to the guides and take a long time to adjust to the new environment. Instead, they are a force to be reckoned with as they plow straight ahead and want to get busy!
- Fewer inhibitions! No challenge is too great for these children. They want to experience it all.
"What else will my child already know or be familiar with when they transition from the Toddlers to the Children's House?"
Your child will….
- be familiar with the uninterrupted work cycle. This means they will already understand, and be able to work in a concentrated manner on their activity of choice.
- be familiar with many of the practical life activities that are offered for them to participate in.
- as their peers from the Toddlers also move up to the Children's House, they will usually have a few familiar faces in their new class. This also makes it easier for them to adjust to the change in environments.
The Children’s House caters to children between 3 and 6 years of age.
Once children reach their third year of age, they are finally able to apply all the physical and mental skills they learned from before. At this point, the child switches from passive to active: “Please help me to do it myself.” At Casa, your children will be offered all the space and opportunity available to explore and discover the world around him or her. Your children’s quest for independence and self-reliance will be fully supported and encouraged, teaching them to take responsibility for their own actions.
Primary activities for children in the Children’s House consist of the following:
Language
Real-world experiences precede true lingual development, so the pre-school and kindergarten students are given as many opportunities as possible to discover the world around them before introducing new words to expand their vocabularies. To facilitate this, much effort is taken to expose the children to the spoken language via different tasks. Children receive guidance in enunciation and pronunciation, which are followed by lessons in symbols and letters. This allows children to write letters and numbers before knowing how to read.
Progress in reading becomes rapid once children reach their fourth year of age, as they quickly learn to link sounds and spoken words to specific letter groupings. To encourage this, they are given more reading materials that also contain introductory knowledge of biology, geography and history. This gives them a head start on the more in-depth lessons they will receive on these subjects in their later elementary and high school classes.
Arithmetics
The way the Montessori curriculum teaches arithmetic is fascinating – it is a specially designed method that allows children to easily come to grips with the concrete fundamentals of arithmetics. The process then leads the child step-by-step from the concrete to the abstract. Even five year olds can accomplish exercises with numbers ranging up to the tens of thousands without a sweat by using the material offered.
During their classes, the children will learn to perform the four basic arithmetic operations (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division) at will, whether on paper or in their head. Thanks to the educational material offered, the students will have an excellent foundation to build upon for their later studies.
Practical skills and exercises
In the Children’s House, children are taught to apply and refine their fine motor skills via practical skills and exercises. Adults are constantly adapting and modifying their surroundings, and children love to copy this behavior. They enjoy clearing tables and windows, sweeping floors, and caring for plants and animals. They also delight in helping in the kitchen, assisting in the preparation of fruit and vegetables, baking bread and serving their fellow classmates and friends. Through these lessons, their fine motor skills are given opportunity to develop, as well as showing them the direct effects of their actions on their environment. This teaches them to concentrate on their work, expand their attention span, and take responsibility for their actions.
Expression
In the Children’s House the children learn to truly come to grips with the world around them. It is also when the children are first able to actually manipulate his environment, allowing them to create their own personal little vision of the world. We offer students a wide array of materials and opportunities for them to express themselves. Children will be taught and encouraged to find their own methods of expression, such arts and crafts, painting, drawing, dancing, singing and so much more.
Intellectual Apprenticeships
Casa also offers children from Primary Education an opportunity to become so-called “Intellectual Apprentices”. Since primary and elementary grade students are housed on the same premises, the older primary education students are encouraged to visit and mingle with elementary students as they go about completing their work. It is not a strange sight to see the students from Elementary classes helping and teaching the younger ones, much like a Master or Journeyman would teach and help their apprentices. This not only gives the “Apprentices” a valuable leg up in their own studies, it also provides the “Masters” and “Journeymen” with important insights regarding their knowledge and social skills.
“Casa is open all day, all year, and there are guides (teachers) in the class all that time as well. When do the children get to do other things like go to activities?”
At Casa, having the classrooms and work periods available all day, means that the children need the opportunities to attend other activities also throughout the day. As such, many of our activities are free for them to choose to go to themselves, while we also have a few others that they will need to sign up for.
In the Children’s House, most of the activities are available for free choice. Our own staff provide these activities for the children to attend during the work periods, and are only unavailable if necessary to cover for illnesses.
These activities include:
- Outside work where they can care for animals, learn techniques for building such as hammering or sawing, and work with natural materials such as sand or wood.
- Gym where under the guidance of an AMI Sports trained guide they will practice their gross motor skills by walking on beams, jumping, and climbing.
- Music with a trained music teacher who introduces them to different instruments.
- Atelier/Handcraft or Construction where the children can practice their finer skills by building with lego bricks, putting together intricate train tracks, as well as creating pom-poms, or painting.
The Lower and Upper Elementary cater to children between respectively 6 and 9 and 9 and 12 years of age.
"Let us give the World to the child, a vision of the whole Universe. Let us sow the seeds of all the sciences."
~ Maria Montessori
A “Cosmic Education.” This is the name of the teaching approach the Montessori method uses to instruct children from ages six to twelve years old. The “Cosmic Education” is focused on teaching students about societies and cultures, as well as their place in the world. It shows the value of cooperation and the important role nature plays in our continued existence and harmony.
Children want to discover and understand the cosmos; the “big picture.” They want to step up and have little big adventures. Their classroom is the world around them. As they learn more and more, they travel in time and space using nothing more than their imagination.
During their classes, they will learn to refine their day-to-day activities, but more importantly they will learn to fine-tune their social skills. Children demand ever more mental and moral independence. This is the step from passive to active: “Help me think for myself.”
One of the traits shown by children in this age group is their moral development; constant questioning what is right or wrong. This is why some call the period the “Why?” period. The seeds for their further growth in the sciences, cultural understanding and knowledge and more are sown during this critical phase.
These children want to understand the people and the world. Their mental capabilities grow immensely during this stage, and they learn to relate to and empathize with others. This allows them to develop their memory and learn to rationalize their actions and thoughts.
This period of intellectual development displays their increasing ability to think on a more abstract level, and it shows in the way they think and act, and in the questions they ask. As children further develop their own individual consciousness, they want to know what is good and bad, and honesty is exceptionally important for their future growth.
Since the children are incredibly interested and invested in their classmates and peers, they create their own little community, which Dr. Montessori called a ‘practice society’.
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