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Why IMS
IMS is committed to providing the most authentic Montessori learning environment through an immersive bilingual curriculum. From our toddlers to Middle School students, each individual is exposed to English and Chinese, all day, in all of our classrooms. Full-time bilingual immersion means that IMS students learn English and Chinese in the most natural setting by following their curiosity first. With over 20 years’ of experience, IMS’ team comprises of over 70 trained Montessori teachers who have received the most rigorous training from Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), the organisation founded by Maria Montessori herself. From our toddlers to middle school students at age fourteen, each child’s learning is stretched individually to maximise their potential.
When you step into IMS, you will see every child matters to us.
Why IMS
IMS is committed to providing the most authentic Montessori learning environment through an immersive bilingual curriculum. From our toddlers to Middle School students, each individual is exposed to English and Chinese, all day, in all of our classrooms. Full-time bilingual immersion means that IMS students learn English and Chinese in the most natural setting by following their curiosity first. With over 20 years’ of experience, IMS’ team comprises of over 70 trained Montessori teachers who have received the most rigorous training from Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), the organisation founded by Maria Montessori herself. From our toddlers to middle school students at age fourteen, each child’s learning is stretched individually to maximise their potential.
When you step into IMS, you will see every child matters to us.
Authentic Montessori
IMS Montessori Teachers are all AMI-trained, to ensure a school-wide commitment to all aspects of the original Montessori pedagogy. AMI (The Association Montessori Internationale) was established by Dr. Maria Montessori in 1929 to ensure the integrity and comprehensiveness of Montessori teacher training. The AMI Diploma is recognised globally for its ability to empower teachers to become masters of transformative teaching.
At IMS our undertaking to Authentic Montessori also includes three year mixed age groups, a full scope of Montessori materials, an uninterrupted three hour work period, and an individualised holistic approach to every child’s development. In addition, each classroom within a programme is aligned horizontally across all our campuses to ensure that the curriculum is consistently delivered by our faculty. Practising authentic Montessori throughout our entire school is essential for the complete development of the child, and the fulfilment of each teacher’s dedication to Montessori.
At IMS our undertaking to Authentic Montessori also includes three year mixed age groups, a full scope of Montessori materials, an uninterrupted three hour work period, and an individualised holistic approach to every child’s development. In addition, each classroom within a programme is aligned horizontally across all our campuses to ensure that the curriculum is consistently delivered by our faculty. Practising authentic Montessori throughout our entire school is essential for the complete development of the child, and the fulfilment of each teacher’s dedication to Montessori.
Child Driven
We believe each child’s education begins with their curiosities and passions. Children will naturally learn to do what they want to learn to do. At IMS, their interests matter because when they are invested in the topic at hand, they will learn with ease. The information is not just memorised but genuinely known and internalised. Likewise, when children learn something new at a time when they are particularly receptive, it feels like they are making their own discoveries.
With this empowerment, they are excited to go beyond that lesson and to know more. An approach driven by your child means that we embrace this desire and follow their thirst for further study. Conversely, when an eager child is instructed to wait for the rest of the class or for the next time that subject is taught, that intrinsic motivation to learn is destroyed. When our teachers introduce your child to activities and materials that align with their interests, needs and development, they feel profoundly respected as an individual.
That connection between teacher-child-material becomes the foundation for a joyful way to learn. Our child-centred classrooms are scientifically designed to spark each student’s motivation to do, to learn, and to think for themselves. We want each child to be taken to their maximum potential on their trajectory, not a path or pace imposed on them.
With this empowerment, they are excited to go beyond that lesson and to know more. An approach driven by your child means that we embrace this desire and follow their thirst for further study. Conversely, when an eager child is instructed to wait for the rest of the class or for the next time that subject is taught, that intrinsic motivation to learn is destroyed. When our teachers introduce your child to activities and materials that align with their interests, needs and development, they feel profoundly respected as an individual.
That connection between teacher-child-material becomes the foundation for a joyful way to learn. Our child-centred classrooms are scientifically designed to spark each student’s motivation to do, to learn, and to think for themselves. We want each child to be taken to their maximum potential on their trajectory, not a path or pace imposed on them.
Bilingual Immersion
We prioritise language learning through full-time bilingual immersion all day for all IMS students from ages 1 to 14. Instead of being taught in a formal way for a specific duration during the week, both languages are equally emphasised in your child’s school day.
Across all of our classrooms, both English and Chinese (Putonghua) teachers actively engage the children; with each teacher communicating exclusively in their own language. As the two teachers rotate around the classroom giving lessons individually and in small groups, the children converse and listen in both languages. Throughout their day, our students are surrounded by living language experiences, such as learning how to prepare a snack, how to ask a peer for forgiveness or how to organise their cubby; children assimilate meaning effortlessly because the new words they hear are in context. This constant exposure, coupled with the freedom to speak and to interact, facilitates an early ease of code-switching between English and Chinese.
Students experience the same lessons in all subjects, such as geography or science, in both languages so the two actually complement each other and broaden understanding. The consistency of the bilingual curriculum means that our children can construct a bilingual way of thinking in the most natural way. By living and learning amongst two languages, IMS students also develop an openness and respect for different cultures and habits.
Across all of our classrooms, both English and Chinese (Putonghua) teachers actively engage the children; with each teacher communicating exclusively in their own language. As the two teachers rotate around the classroom giving lessons individually and in small groups, the children converse and listen in both languages. Throughout their day, our students are surrounded by living language experiences, such as learning how to prepare a snack, how to ask a peer for forgiveness or how to organise their cubby; children assimilate meaning effortlessly because the new words they hear are in context. This constant exposure, coupled with the freedom to speak and to interact, facilitates an early ease of code-switching between English and Chinese.
Students experience the same lessons in all subjects, such as geography or science, in both languages so the two actually complement each other and broaden understanding. The consistency of the bilingual curriculum means that our children can construct a bilingual way of thinking in the most natural way. By living and learning amongst two languages, IMS students also develop an openness and respect for different cultures and habits.
Lifelong Love of Learning
At IMS, we believe education involves being able to deeply touch and discover the core of who your child is, and ultimately to set them on a path with a lifelong love of learning. Students are surrounded by models of adult learners. Our teachers convey they too are constantly pursuing new information and knowledge, as there is always an opportunity to learn something new.
By using hands-on materials and experiential learning, we aim for your child to gain true understanding and meaning across all academic areas but also to make greater connections between disciplines. As children actively use tangible tools, a strong emphasis is placed on the process over the product and learning how to learn. We like to say that IMS students are not learning what to think but how to think. We want our children to know that with practice and time, skills and knowledge can increase.
A growth mindset for continual learning is directly built into the IMS classroom experience by purposefully challenging each child to practise with a specific material matched to their developmental needs, to make mistakes in that process, to repeat, to struggle, to persevere and to achieve mastery. This cycle characterises every lesson at IMS and internally reinforces learning success and an appreciation for challenge. As a result, our students become go-getters, self-starters, and doers in life.
By using hands-on materials and experiential learning, we aim for your child to gain true understanding and meaning across all academic areas but also to make greater connections between disciplines. As children actively use tangible tools, a strong emphasis is placed on the process over the product and learning how to learn. We like to say that IMS students are not learning what to think but how to think. We want our children to know that with practice and time, skills and knowledge can increase.
A growth mindset for continual learning is directly built into the IMS classroom experience by purposefully challenging each child to practise with a specific material matched to their developmental needs, to make mistakes in that process, to repeat, to struggle, to persevere and to achieve mastery. This cycle characterises every lesson at IMS and internally reinforces learning success and an appreciation for challenge. As a result, our students become go-getters, self-starters, and doers in life.
Education is a natural process carried out by the child
and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.
Maria Montessori
