Escuela del Mundo Near Sayulita

Escuela del Mundo is a Montessori school that accepts visiting children on a short term basis and provides the little ones with a sense of choice and freedom, while still maintaining a very orderly classroom setting.“Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create,” proclaimed Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, pioneer of theories in early childhood education, and founder of the first Montessori school.

This San Pancho school, a short drive from Sayulita, is a small community school, with less than 45 children in attendance. The visiting student will be brought into an environment where children are working on projects of special interest, while still being guided by the teacher. Mixed aged classrooms, where students are helping each other, are the norm. This allows younger children to see what the older kids are working on, and helps them gain awareness of where they are as learners and where they are going in the future.

The language of instruction is Spanish, but most of the kids are bilingual, and help visiting students with language barriers. This is the magic of this setting. Visitors are swept up in school life, and assimilate and learn in a natural child centered setting. Visiting students will experience the culture and food, and be full participants in school life.

A typical day includes circle time, which might include a story, or a discussion of upcoming events, and helps to create a centered start to the day. There is open learning with Montessori materials, movement and songs, lunch and clean-up, and supervised play. There are also workshops and classes, such as English, sports, art, music, yoga, art, environmental education, and imagination time.

“When my wife and I were first visiting Sayulita about eight years ago, we met the founding parents of Escuela del Mundo. They were simply glowing with a sense of pride and accomplishment of having just opened this new community school. Though we were only vacationing, I think we saw our future and our children’s future at that moment. This great little community school was yet another reason for us to pick up and make a permanent move to Sayulita. Both of our children currently attend this school and it’s amazing to see the kids learning. When we observe the classes, the kids are excited and working with each other, as well as the teachers. I wish our home life was this tranquil,” shared Darrin Polischuck, a Sayulita local.

Escuela del Mundo is prepared and currently open to accepting new students for short term visits, even as short as a week. This is the only school in the area that accepts students on this basis and offers a great way for visiting children to experience a different way of life and culture.