History & Purpose of Spring BMA

The Spring Bilingual Montessori Academy (SBMA) was established in 1967 by Mrs. Anna Franchi Neri, direct student of Dr. Maria Montessori. As an accomplished foreign language educator as well as a respected practitioner of the Montessori method, Mrs. Neri envisioned Spring Academy as a logical and natural extension of Dr. Montessori's teaching philosophy - a place where children of diverse social and cultural origins can develop both the cognitive and communication skills equally essential to the learning process.

For over forty years, Spring Academy has innovated and refined the concept of integratinga Montessori education with the acquisition of proficiency in a second language. The Spring program, while containing elements practiced at other institutions of learning, is in totality unique. The Spring Difference Like other Montessori institutions, Spring Academy seeks to create a learning environment in which the student is encouraged to explore his own, innate sense of curiosity and eagerness to gain knowledge.

The difference between the Spring Academy environment and that of many other institutions lies in the parallel instruction of foreign language to all facets of the learning process, and in offering such an educational experience to children of 3-6 years. It has been shown in countless educational research studies that the child is most sensitive and receptive to a second language during the period from birth to age six. During these crucial developmental years the child tends to learn most effectively not through conventional teaching means, but by absorbing information through the senses, by means of purposeful activity within the environment to which he is exposed. It is a natural process, a process embraced by the child with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm.

The goal of the teacher in this process is to create a structured environment in which the child has access to information and activities which promote positive learning. At Spring Academy, learning the language of another culture is as natural as the stimuli to write, to count, to associate names with places and animals, and to develop sensory awareness and practical-life skills. The advantages of this added understanding go beyond the simple acquisition of a second vocabulary. Spring Academy believes that to know is akin to being acquainted with those people as individuals.

Language enables us to penetrate into another culture's philosophy, folklore literature and music. Though this understanding, we can begin to bridge the unnatural barriers which separate the world today, and hopefully give our children the inspiration to create a better and more peaceful world tomorrow.