 Welcome to our school! Our school is located in southern Península de Nicoya. We are a small yet growing school. Our school population is composed of children of diferent cultural backgrounds (Europe, North America and, of course, Costa Rica). The beauty of our surroundings makes this part of Costa Rica a desirable destination for many people. Our children get to be inspired by artists of many different nationalities, who visit us and give workshops in theatre, dance, music… We have a full range of both artistic and academic programs that are constantly expanding. Our pre-school Montessori program is vibrant, and currently we are creating the first Costa Rican Montessori elementary school. Experienced instructors work with our children in somatic movement, music and a drawing class, as well as a full Montessori academic program. My name is Rocío Vargas Artavia I am Costa Rican. I lived in the United States for twenty one years. I graduated from the University of New Mexico in the faculty of humanities. In 1988 I completed my training as a Montessori directress in Phoenix, Arizona with the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). I worked in Montessori Schools for fifteen years. The greatest gift we can give this spontaneous explorer is time and opportunity — time to create intimacy with the world, time for free play, time to wonder, time to arouse the emotions, and time with us as her loyal companion to share in the discoveries and mysteries of the world.  Our School At this stage is more important to feel than to know. From The Sense of Wonder, By Rachel Carson
I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil. Once the emotions have been aroused — a sense of the beautiful, the excitement of the new and the unknown, a feeling of sympathy, pity, admiration or love — then we wish for knowledge about the subject of our emotional response. Once found, it has lasting meaning. It is more important to pave the way for the child to want to know than to put him on a diet of facts he is not ready to assimilate. ¨Give the world to the small child¨ — Maria Montessori |
