The Basics

“A respectful beginning is an investment in the future of the relationship between your child and you, your child and others, and in your child’s experience of the world.”
Magda Gerber, founder of RIE

RIE – Magda Gerber spent a lifetime studying the best practices for interacting and caring for infants (distilling this is difficult!) – and found the best approaches were all steeped in respect and appropriate freedoms, with caregivers that are very focused and present in their interactions...

In practice, this means our staff members are deliberate in all their actions – for example: ... telling an infant what’s going to happen before diapering and including her in her care. ... enabling infants to safely explore their environment by themselves – a revealing process which helps reveal their inner motivation and interests. ... looking an infant in the eye while feeding, and talking to them – cementing a trusting primary relationship that will last for years.

Again, this is a lifetime of study distilled into a few sentences and examples, so check out the RIE resource section (link) for more information – you’ll be glad you did!

Montessori – A physician by trade, Dr. Maria Montessori developed an education method borne of observing that children are driven to independently explore and learn on their own accord – at specific times in their development.

Within a highly structured environment, Montessori teachers recognize these “sensitive periods” in each child’s development – and know when to most effectively introduce new (specially designed) materials, skills and responsibilities. The result? Studies show Montessori kids demonstrate a natural love and enthusiasm for learning that extends long after they leave the Montessori environment...

When authentically implemented, Montessori is more than just THE LESSON, it's about the PERSON. Equal focus is placed on the curriculum in developing etiquette skills, peace education, character development, and a sensitivity to global minded thinking. The result? Montessori children become not just students - but citizens of the world.

“Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire.”
William Butler Yeats

Approach

We’re a team of believers!
Our entire team is steadfast in our commitment to making the most of a child’s first developmental plane – those crucial first six years of life.

Every day, we work hard to ensure the children are both emotionally secure and challenged – with plenty of opportunities to satisfy their curiosity. To create this safe and stimulating environment, our team is trained in, and they employ, a number of childcare approaches.

“The child is endowed with unknown powers, which can guide us to a radiant future nation.”
Maria Montessori



To begin, nearly every person on our staff is trained in RIE or Montessori (or both!) – and we’re passionate about implementing these philosophies... Why? These approaches have stood the test of time and are proven – in study after study – to really work.

And while RIE and Montessori provide the foundation for our program, we don’t stop there. Each year, we continue to invest in collaborative learning experiences in other fields as well, including cultural studies, ecology, sustainable living, master gardening, Slow Food, Self-Directed Child, “Redirecting Children’s Behavior,” Orton- Gillingham and the Piklarian Method.

The result?

Visit us, and you’re likely to see budding empathetic relationships between infants and their caregivers; toddlers demonstrating deep concentration or leading small group activities; and self-motivated, self-assured primary students who collaborate on work and conflict negotiation for the good of the community.

In fact, many parents are astonished during their first observation – at our students’ independence, their intense level of focus, depth of understanding and concentration.

Ultimately our children set their own standards and are gently guided to continue to challenge themselves - which means there’s no limit to what they can achieve.

Our History



Our work at MMP School is very much in line with the vision of our founder, world-renowned early childhood expert and author, Beverly Kovach, MN.

Initially a nurse and later a family counselor by profession (she co- founded the first crisis center in Charleston, SC), Beverly became increasingly dissatisfied with daycare options for her two young children. Her frustration quickly evolved into a passion for creating a better solution – a high quality approach to infant and childcare that meets the challenges of a group setting. And so the vision for MMP School was born.

In 2004, Beverly’s daughter, Nicole Vigliotti, and her husband David took over management and operations of the school, and further developed the infant and professional/parent training programs. Today, MMP School continues to house Little Learner’s Lodge (our infant program) and Montessori of Mount Pleasant (our primary program) as an independent private preschool, PLUS our center for RIE and Montessori training and professional development.

And we won’t stop there.

Future plans include the completion of our sister school in Costa Rica (which will offer globally-minded exchange opportunities), a partnership and training for local teen parents as both mothers and future educators, and multiple collaborative research projects focused on the first developmental plane (birth through 6). Stay tuned!

“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.”
Galileo Galilei

Additional
Integrated
Curriculum

In addition to the above, our teachers are experienced and trained in......

  • Orton-Gillingham|
  • Redirecting Children's Behavior |
  • Self-Awakened Child |
  • Slow Foods |
  • Master Naturalist |
  • Pikler |