Our 7 Pillars

Casa is unique in the Netherlands, and is built upon 6 Pillars.

Casa aims to be a place where your children are encouraged to explore the world around them, broaden their horizons and knowledge, and develop their talents. A place where they are cherished, where they are can be free to work at their own pace – in essence a place of learning your children would enjoy being in.

Child-centred Approach

The key to a peaceful future lies with children. The nature of childhood experiences determines an adult’s character and personality.

The approach to education is child-centred and is based on mutual respect and cooperation. Children are provided with an ordered and secure environment where they are free to explore and discover. An environment constructed specifically to meet the child’s needs at different stages of development recognises children’s natural love of learning and the importance of learning at their own pace.

Education must not be seen merely as teaching (the passing on of facts) or transferring of a culture. Rather it aids the development of the whole personality and involves parents as well as educators. Montessori education fosters the development of people who value themselves and who feel in control of their lives. Only then can they direct their energies to a wider community and work to build a better world for themselves and others.

This approach is based on following the child – recognising the needs and characteristics of children of each age group and constructing the corresponding environment that best meets these needs.

The role of the guide

Recognize the child’s innate capacity for and desire to learn
Love and understand the child, and respect his or her dignity and worth as a person
Develop the total child and integrate the intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual, and social aspects of life
Develop the child’s independence and adaptability, linking experience in the school to the outside world
Adapt the learning approach to suit the child’s individual needs
Active and Experimental
Individually paced
Self-correcting
Independent
Unlimited in scope
Create a learning environment that allows the child to learn how to learn, and to think critically and logically
Assist the development of the child’s respect for himself, for others and the environment
Serve as a facilitator, guide, and mentor

What we see at Casa

Individual-oriented education

Children should choose their own work; children should work at their own pace and at their own level. The motivation to learn will come from within the child.

A well-prepared environment

Inviting, warm, and orderly. In a well-prepared environment, children feel safe to go to work. Specially designed Montessori educational materials guide children through their lessons. The environment is prepared according to the developmental needs of the children.

Group guides are facilitators

Montessori guides do not act as formal instructors but act as facilitators in the learning process. Each child is given the freedom to discover the learning materials on their own and after careful observation are shown specific lessons while adapting the environment and learning materials to suit their needs. Group guides are the mentor of a set group of children.

A group of children of different ages (3 consecutive age groups) works in one large group space with set guides

Children learn effectively from each other by being both instructor to younger children and by being instructed by older children. To facilitate this process, each educational group must be large enough to provide the age variety needed to create this dynamic social network – this is also reflective of society as a whole. Children quickly discover their place within progressive, productive, dynamic, and ever changing social hierarchies. Each educational group is divided into three main groups, reflecting the differing physical, mental, and emotional capacities between younger and older children.

Positive Discipline

For concrete support in guiding children in their social and emotional development, Casa uses the Positive Discipline approach. It is designed to help children learn to become responsible, respectful and resourceful members of their communities. This requires children to learn necessary social and life skills.

The guide supports the children in their contact and interaction with each other. Because the guides listen to children, give children confidence and give them responsibility to develop in their own way, you can see that children dare to be themselves. Through our individually focused approach, we give all children room to have successful experiences on a daily basis. As a result, they gain self-confidence. A strong individual is essential for the formation of a strong group.

The positive power of the group is used to solve problems in challenging situations. In doing so, the children learn to solve problems themselves as much as possible.

Positive Discipline is characteristic of the whole Casa community. It is important to Casa that parents also embrace the principles of Positive Discipline and apply them at home. Casa provides training for guides and parents.

Five criteria for Positive Discipline

Guides are kind and firm: respectful and encouraging.
Children thus develop a sense of belonging and significance: connection.
The approach is effective in the long term. Punishment only works in the short term.
Children learn valuable social and life skills: respect, caring for others, problem solving, accountability, contribution, cooperation.
Children are invited to discover how capable they are and to use their personal strengths in a constructive way.

Casa begins with its Toddlers group which provides a nurturing Montessori environment for children ages 17 – 36 months. Providing a “home away from home,” our youngest children can learn and grow individually, while also participating in cooperative group play and lessons with other children.

Each day presents an opportunity for strengthening language skills, refining gross motor skills, developing fine motor skills and encouraging independence.

The environment is beautifully prepared specifically for the very young child. Under the warm guidance of our Montessori-trained guides, our children engage in practical life pursuits, such as cooking, dressing, gardening, reading puzzles, art, music and lots of conversation. Independence is fostered by allowing the child to choose from a variety of activities that he or she can accomplish with success.

When children are three years old, they start to focus intensely on their environment – discovering the world and people around them.

Children go through an immense change when they approach their third year of age. Before then, they have been learning and honing the skills they need to be able to move around on their own. When children are three years old, they start to focus intensely on their environment – discovering the world and people around them.

The most important thing for the children at this stage is to provide an orderly, safe and stimulating environment where they are free to explore and develop. It is also important to ensure that children of different ages are grouped together, as the younger children are then triggered by their intrinsic drive to observe and copy the actions of the older children. This helps them develop their skills much faster.

The Montessori method of education has many teaching materials and techniques specially developed for children three years old and up. Another important shift in the child’s view of the world is their growing understanding of and participation in social interactions with the people around them. Key to this is the child’s conscious separation of himself and the “other”: different people with different desires and motivations.

Learning to communicate with them through language becomes increasingly more vital, and as such receives extra attention. Children at this stage and age are very sensitive to changes in their cognitive flexibility, creativity, placement and self-control.

Between the ages of 0 to 4,5 years, their senses and perceptions are honed, coarse and fine motor skills are developed and expanded, and it is much easier to learn multiple languages. This offers a wonderful opportunity for their education. The primary goal at this point is not to overload the children with more and more knowledge, but to offer them a stimulating and structured environment, where they are able to develop in a way that suits them best.

Casa is one of the pioneering schools in the Netherlands that offer these educational opportunities to three year old children. This is due to Tessa Wessel’s (one of Casa’s founders) extensive educational and work experience in teaching children of three years and up in the United States. Thankfully, the value of proper pre-school learning has been officially accepted in the broader context of education.

The Dutch Education Council has been advocating and proposing a first-rate pedagogic option for children and parents who wish to take advantage of this stage of the child’s learning process. Their publication: “Naar een Nieuwe Kleuterperiode (pdf)” was presented to the Ministry of Education on the 26th of May 2010. This publication is unfortunately not available in English.

Learning at Casa until high school

Our children are able to continue attending Casa until they are 12 years old and move on to high school. In this way, they follow a ‘continuous learning path’ from the age of 1 through to age 12 all within one organisation.

Casa has an extensive nature curriculum: children work in and with nature as much as possible.

Dr. Maria Montessori believed that nature was the most important place of learning for children. It gives children the opportunity to experience the natural world, find their place in it, and teaches them to respect nature. Casa ensures that children are constantly in touch with the natural environment. There are a lot of activities that take place in nature, such as gardening, visits to farms, walks in the forest and on the beach. Casa also offers outdoor activties, such as gardening, carpentry, biking and caring for the animals and pets at the Casa facilities. All these activities are under the direct supervision of the Casa school staff. Studies show that children offered such environments have:

It is our desire that children become “global” citizens. The English language therefore plays an important role in our curriculum.

Dutch and English

All lesson material is available in Dutch and English. Every group has an English speaking teacher and a Dutch speaking teacher. The English speaking teacher only uses English, and the Dutch speaking teacher will only use Dutch when talking to students. This approach allows children to be constantly working with and learning multiple languages on a daily basis. Due to this, the children have no problems picking up a second language in a Montessori environment.

Children are easily capable of quickly learning a new language, and expanding their vocabulary within a span of four months. When they reach their sixth year of age, their language skills are developed and they become fully bilingual in both oral and written form.

The children are given tools to practice their language skills such as grammar and vocabulary exercises as well as lessons in parsing sentences.

By being a multilingual individual, the child will have a richer cultural experience and he or she will become more open to different cultures and customs.

Also see the articles and links about bilingual education.

Your child is welcome at Casa “All day, all year.”

Casa’s doors are open 50 weeks of the year. We combine daycare with education, which allows parents all the flexibility they need with regards to school days and holidays.

This is a typical day at Casa:

From 08.30 – 11.00 (08.30 – 11.30 for the older children), students will be busy with their 2.5- or 3-hour work cycle; no interruptions are allowed during this time.

The lunch break is an important part of the day at Casa. More information regarding this can be found at Food and Drinks.

After lunch, many activities are available to the students, from standard educational options to judo and other sports, fine arts, gardening, cooking and much more. Specialists are brought in to present and teach these subjects whenever necessary. These classes are available throughout the day, as some students are present past 14.00.

Students are also free to work with or observe other groups. Elementary students plan their work and excursions after the lunch break, and there is always time for the younger children to have a nice break or some general leisure time.

Look at the bottom of this page for an up-to-date list of our midday activities.

Casa is fully compliant with all relevant Dutch educational laws that apply, such as the “Wet Primair Onderwijs” and “Wet Kinderopvang”.

Eating and drinking are a part of the educational process at Casa.

Children need never bring their own food and drink to school.

At Casa, healthy, vegetarian and predominantly organic food and drinks are prepared and eaten daily with the children. In the morning, the children in the class prepare a healthy snack together. We have a special snack table where children can snack together or alone. Every afternoon the children eat a freshly prepared healthy lunch. For the younger children cooking is done for them and in the Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary the children cook for their own group under the supervision of a cook. We believe that by allowing children to come into contact with healthy food early on and by teaching them where food comes from, they discover the value of healthy eating. In addition, children develop their motor, social, reading and math skills during preparation.

For more detailed information about our approach to nutrition and food education, please refer to the accompanying nutrition policy linked below.

Food/Weekly Menu

Casa offers a changing weekly menu with a fixed number of elements. The current weekly menu with specific dishes can be found via Parro.

In 2014 Casa requested Haagse Hogeschool to review the food policy of Casa. The report (Dutch only) can be downloaded here

Parental Contribution

The food and drinks served at Casa are financed via a financial contribution from the parents of the students. For more information, please see our school fees.

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