I am thankful to found Hayfield Montessori for my son and daughter. Both my kids entered Hayfield Montessori at the age of three and graduated at the age of five years old. During their time at Hayfield Montessori they learned how to read, write, add, subtract, basic multiplication, and positive social skills. I am thankful for my kid’s learning experiences. They have received a great educational start.
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Since my wife and I are both high school teachers, we are definitely committed to and concerned about educating our two sons. Our experiences at Hayfield Montessori School provided an exceptional foundation that has created lifelong learners with inquisitive and insightful minds. As a teacher of older children, I had little understanding of how to develop the young mind. The environment at Hayfield was extraordinary in this regard. The classrooms, the activities and the teachers continuously invited and reinforced the learning at all levels.
The love of reading that my children have today began at Hayfield. The ability to recognize and process words and then to have those words develop into ideas is an eternal gift I can never truly repay to Aline Abell. Despite being two different types of learners, Hayfield was able to foster the ability to appreciate reading in both of our sons. I am absolutely convinced that my older son’s outstanding performance on the ACT follows from this basic set of skills learned at Hayfield. Our younger son has had similar academic successes, particularly in the area of mathematics, due to the Montessori method and nature of learning at Hayfield. He simply gets math in a context and manner that other students may struggle with and it can be traced back to how he was exposed to concepts and ideas in a real and tangible way at Hayfield. Further evidence of this real-world approach plays out in their curiosity about nations of the world and a love of geography as yet another piece of Hayfield that both boys carry with them to this day.
There is more to the Hayfield experience than academic performance and excellence. The greatest joy in life is to learn and try new things. The experiences at Hayfield reinforced that on a daily basis. Whether it was in reading, music, nature walks, yoga or creating food from around the world, my boys loved going to school at Hayfield because it was engaging and enjoyable. This continues today as they participate in academic competitions as well as musical performances. My older son recently competed in the state championship of Quick Recall academic competition on a team that consisted of three former Hayfield students who had taken different paths to that point but all reflected that love of learning instilled at an early age. Our younger son participates in the Louisville Leopard Percussionists and the exposure to a variety of music styles that he had at Hayfield serves him well in that venture.
Perhaps the most endearing, and enduring, attribute of Hayfield is the identification and caring for the individual in every child. Whether that child is self-motivated and driven and needs to learn to slow down and enjoy the finer points or a younger sibling who needs to develop some confidence in their own abilities or somewhere in between, Hayfield Montessori School excelled at doing this. Educating a child is an awesome challenge but rewarding in immeasurable ways and the community at Hayfield deserves the utmost praise and thanks for the accomplishments with so many children.
Erin and Scott Schneider
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Our daughter came to Hayfield as a 3 year old in the Preschool and stayed
for Elementary. What a wonderful experience it has been! Hayfield provides a
nurturing and intellectually stimulating environment for children. Art and
music are taught, self-direction is encouraged, and the teachers are
positive and creative. As a preschooler, our daughter worked on sounds,
numbers, sweeping, and puzzles, she painted, learned to negotiate, did yoga,
and sang songs. We joined her for lunch whenever we wanted.
In the Elementary school, families can join their child for lunch or watch
them work . Special visits from artists, writers, and other community
members bring life to the school, whether it is gaelic pipe players on St.
Patrick’s Day or a speaker on Kentucky history. Regular field trips are
offered, too. Recess is the norm, with children exploring the beautiful
grounds of the school, playing Capture the Flag, soccer, and tag or in the
hut village building the walls of their houses and trading goods and
services with pinecones. If a child finds an interesting bug or rock, they
can bring it into the classroom to explore.
One wonderful feature is the after school program, which is available on a
formal basis or drop-in. Clubs for knitting, soccer, and chess engage the
elementary students, while Preschool students play with toys and have a
snack during after school care.
Best of all, our daughter loves to go to school!
Bess Reed