NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER Kerrie Gauthier, with the city's Montessori Preschool and the Montessori Children's House of Medicine Hat, is seen with her young students Friday afternoon.
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Walking into the Montessori Children’s House of Medicine Hat, children can be seen working their hands, creating drawing and artwork, while other young children work on language exercises with physical, movable letters of the alphabet, with no computer screen or tablet in sight.
Children between the ages of 2 – 6 laugh together while unknowingly they participate in a learning philosophy that focuses on providing a solid foundation that allows kids to learn abilities and independence that builds a foundation for success, regardless of their eventual career paths.
Children are not taught a traditional curriculum or use electronic devices like computers or even calculators at a young age, but instead through peer-interaction, discovery and self-directed learning.
The Montessori school method was developed by Maria Montessori and emphasizes self-directed activities, hands-on learning and a collaborative play environment that fosters and encourages children’s natural curiosity and eagerness to learn new things.
The long-term impact of Montessori education on children’s lives often leads to confident individuals who show strong qualities of independence and resilience.
“They are going to shoot for the moon and nobody’s going to tell them anything else,” says Kerrie Gauthier, who has 37 years experience working at both the city’s Montessori Preschool and the Montessori Children’s House of Medicine Hat. “I can tell you, so many kids in this city have done extremely well and are making a difference in the world, and it started here.”
One of those students includes this year’s Medicine Hat High School valedictorian Fatema Riaz, who turned heads during the 2025 Canada Wide Science Fair after presenting her research on how to combat bacteria that has become resistant to multiple current antibiotics.
Riaz also scored a perfect 100 per cent on her Math 30 diploma test this year and will begin studying medicine this fall at the University of Calgary.
Riaz is only one example of dozens of children who have gone on to become community leaders and find successful careers.
Other success stories include former students excelling in various fields like medicine, law and environmental conservation.
“I want them to do the best that they can with what they have and to have that determination and that love to learn,” says Gauthier. “We’ve had so many (students) that have done successful things, many have faced diversity, there is an obstacle in the road, but they stand up and they overcome it.”
The secret to the educational approach begins at a young age and includes practical life exercises which help children as young as two develop concentration and coordination skills.
These skills provide a learning “foundation” that is expanded with the introduction of sensorial materials, like red rods and represent the numerical numbers between 1 and 10 and binomial cubes that can teach abstract math concepts, like adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing through hands-on experience.
These mathematical materials used in the large open-space classroom teach young minds the concepts of units, length, height and basic algebra without using traditional math equations.
Additionally turning the traditional education system around, children in a Montessori program learn to write and recognize letters in the alphabet by using moveable alphabet letters, before they learn how to read.
“The reason you don’t teach letters is because letters are connected to spelling, not reading,” explains Gauthier. “When they start spelling, right away they’re about to pick it up.”
This promotes mechanical reading in young students and is just one example of educational methods the school uses to build a “solid, concrete baseline” to allow children learning abilities to expand and flourish within the classroom.
“Every child has the potential,” says Gauthier. “They need somebody to give them that chance and provide what they need to do the best that they can and to work through diversity.”
