Montessori Jewish Day School

The Montessori Jewish Day School will inspire a lifetime love and excitement for learning in an environment that fosters a respect for oneself, for the community and for the world. Montessori Jewish Day School is an inclusive, pluralistic, egalitarian school dedicated to instilling respect for the individual and for the community. MJDS provides an engaging Jewish educational experience that embraces the diversity of Jewish practice, integrates Hebrew, and responds to a child’s natural search for spiritual and intellectual growth. MJDS educates its students toward becoming knowledgeable and committed Jews and responsible citizens who love Judaism, Jewish culture and Israel.

Order and repetition are the foundation for a toddler’s sense of safety; they make it possible for the child to take risks and to cement new learning. Beit haBambini is designed with this need in mind: the organization of the room, the flow of our day, the rhythm of Jewish time, Montessori materials themselves cater to a toddler’s unique need for order and repetition.

At MJDS every student has a part to play in our school community. It is common to see older students helping the younger ones with their shoes or including them in outdoor play. Each toddler will find their own niche in a place where they can learn and grow from Beit HaBambini all the way through Middle School.

Beit HaBambini is a place where a toddler’s favourite mantra – “I do it!” – becomes reality. Tiny vessels, lowered fixtures, and diminutive tools enable the smallest children to take are of their own needs and even the needs of others. Skills such as getting dressed, pouring drinks, and wiping up spills nurture the independence that will start your toddler on a lifelong journey of self-motivated Jewish learning. Picking flowers for the Shabbat table. Smelling the herbs. Digging in the dirt. Toddlers can touch, smell, and even taste their natural surroundings during our outdoor playtime in the MJDS Sensorial Garden.

Movement is crucial to brain development. That’s why our classroom is set up to incorporate movement into every activity. Whether building a tower, learning to pour, dancing during kabbalat Shabbat, or putting coins in the tzedaka box, toddlers at Beit Habambini are constantly in motion.

Early adolescence is a time of great change. There is tremendous physical, cognitive and emotional growth. The child takes on the formation of a personal identity, becoming an adult, and creating relationship patterns. Neurological changes are vast, and allow new ways of thinking and relating to the world to develop.

Our curriculum has been carefully designed with the adolescent in mind, involving individualized instruction and opportunities for students to develop their ideas and values in conjunction with current events, home life and community. The MJDS Middle School takes a thematic, integrated approach to studies, with chunks of time dedicated to leadership opportunities, self-exploration, social and ecological projects, business internships and adventure trips.

Our Casa classrooms cater to the needs and delights of children in this age group. Learning takes place through exploration of the materials in the room. Materials are, for the most part, presented individually or to small groups. All of the activities in Casa are designed to indirectly develop the child’s.