BestStart Montessori Rongotai  

BestStart Montessori Rongotai (formerly Montessori Rongotai) is a Montessori school for the community that welcomes 2-6 year olds. Nestled conveniently in the heart of residential Rongotai, close to the Kilbirnie shops and community, the centre is perfectly situated for easy access to the local library, parks, recreational facilities and public transport.

Our multicultural centre is a member school of MANZ (Montessori Aotearoa New Zealand). We provide a fully equipped Montessori environment that brings to life the philosophy and principles of the Montessori Method for today’s child in today’s world.

Montessori for All – our vision “We are a Montessori for the community uniting teachers, family, whanau and friends, from many cultures, to develop in children the confidence to become independent learners, motivated to discover and develop life–skills for the joy of future success”.

What does Montessori look like? Children learn in carefully prepared environment where they can calmly select our Montessori curriculum materials. The materials developed by Maria Montessori for preschool children are designed to challenge and encourage a child’s natural curiosity to learn in five curriculum areas.

Practical life - Where your child learns skills such as pouring, spooning, threading and preparing food by peeling, chopping, grating and baking.  A practical fun way to perfect and control their body and develop their independence and ability to take care of themselves.

Sensorial - Children have the opportunity to develop and refine the use of their five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. Our unique sensorial materials provide the foundations for music, song, dance and art.

Maths - Your child will have the opportunity to learn about numbers, what they are called, look like and the magic of how numbers work when you add, subtract, divide and multiply them. When out in the community children connect this learning by identifying what numbers, shapes, measurement and size looks like in our world.

Language - Our language rich community supports children to recognise letters, learn their phonic sounds and how letters and sounds can be put together to make words and sentences ready for reading and writing. In our centre you will hear the many and varied languages of our families being recognised and valued.

Science - Children discover the wider world through geography, botany and zoology and look for the answers to their important ”why?” questions.

Be School Ready - By using our Montessori materials children are naturally developing the skills, understanding and knowledge that will prepare them for the next step in their learning journey - attending school. We work to ensure that transitions are positive and supported through our strong connections with local schools.