“We await the successive births in the soul of the child. We give all possible material, that nothing may lack to the growing soul, and then we watch for the perfect faculty to come, safeguarding the child from interruption so that it may carry its efforts through.”
A Little Bit About us
Cosmos Montessori is a home-based authentic Montessori school based in the Castro district in San Francisco. With the emphasis on eco-friendly living and Mindfulness education, our school offers a unique Montessori program and disseminates a sustainable Montessori lifestyle to the community. We strongly believe that our practices and Montessori philosophy are deeply interconnected. Our mission is to educate children on how to find peace within themselves to become peaceful leaders in the world.
Montessori Education is an educational approach that does not limit the child’s potential. Montessori education focuses on the aid for life, and the method encourages the children's independence, self-discipline, and self-exploratory. Each child can work at their own pace and collaboratively work with other children to learn how to maintain the environment. The children work individually and in groups to discover, explore, and collaborate, followed by their genuine interests.
The partnership with the parents is the core part of our program. We want to empower all parents to feel more confident in their parenthood. We will support you to gain the tools to nurture the children’s natural desire for learning. Along with this partnership, parents and the guides will impart the same values of Montessori philosophy that encourage the child to thrive.
THe Bridge
Our infant and toddler community will be a perfect transitional environment from home to school. Our home environment prepares the children to transfer to Montessori Primary programs and any other schools. In this environment, the children can fully discover their interests and engage with their curiosity outside their homes. We also support and help develop the children’s social and emotional skills.
We want all the family to feel comfortable and confident to send the child to our community. The guides will help the new parents to transit and support the whole family integrally. Our goal is that the families feel this Montessori community is their extended family.
The Community
This small Montessori community is prepared and designed for the little ones to be curious, self-exploratory, and confident. In this little nurturing and loving Montessori community, the children naturally become independent and thrive on learning life skills by collaborating with other children and the guides.
Our community is diverse and international. We welcome all the beauty of this world’s uniqueness. We invite the parents to present their cultures, customs, ceremonies, and food. The children will experience multiple cultural exposures in our multicultural community.
THe Children
We believe that children are much more capable than we think if we show them how to do it and allow them to challenge. In the prepared environment, the children are safe to try and seek their own potentials and feel safe to challenge numerous times until they are satisfied.
The older children naturally look after the younger ones, and the younger learn from the older ones. Everyone is given an opportunity to become a mentor and a student in this community. This natural learning cycle only happens in a mixed-aged Montessori environment.
The Peace
Peace education lies in a strong place in Montessori philosophy, and we believe that this little community is our future. As the guides model how to be a harmonious being in our community, the children naturally become peaceful citizens who can maintain the community with love and kindness. Our focus is to show the children how to live with peace and harmony within themselves so that they can return the love and kindness to others.
The Guide
The Montessori guide, Miho Namba Alvarenga, is a mother, daughter, and wife.
Ms.Miho was born and raised in Japan and came to San Francisco to pursue her education in 2008. She graduated from California Institute Integral Studies where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary/Multiple Studies.
She received her AMI Assistants to Infancy Diploma (0-3) from Montessori Northwest in 2015. She has been teaching in Nido and Toddler classrooms since 2014.
As an immigrant woman, her passion is to create an anti-bias/anti-racism Montessori classroom for all diversities, especially for minority communities.
In addition to her work, she is a certified Infant Massage trainer and Positive Discipline Educator. She also offers Montessori Consultant Programs for prenatal to age 0-3. She is passionate about educating both children and parents as a whole.
She loves traveling, learning and exploring different cultures, trying new food, cooking, and taking a walk with her newborn baby and her husband. She has practiced meditation, Buddhism, and minimalism for over 7 years.