Year: 2017 – Province: Ontario
Certificate of Excellence Recipient
Little Scholars Strandherd Montessori
Unit 116, 4100 Strandherd Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K2J 0V2
Telephone: 613-277-6866
Email: srehman@brightpathkids.com
Website: www.littlescholarsmontessori.com
Type of setting: Child care centre, children aged 12 months to 6 years
Award-winning engineer turned educator, Sabrina Rehman pioneers an innovative and holistic STEM-based program and inspires children to see and explore even the most abstract concepts.
Philosophy of care
Rehman believes that children are the future and invites them to celebrate their uniqueness. She sees the environment as their third teacher and organizes it with open-ended materials that her students can explore and use to communicate their ideas.
Support of child development
- Rehman's I am a Star initiative allows each child to build a star-shaped display of their likes, dreams, fears, etc. and displays the stars on a Stars of Fame wall. This knowledge is used to craft individualized activities and learning.
- Rehman's STEM program has students classifying gems and rocks, preserving leaves and racing marbles. In her Makerspace, students have designed and engineered creations like Rob the recycling robot, who cares for the environment.
- Rehman teaches ASL (American Sign Language) from toddler age, which offers children with developmental delays a bridge to communication.
Involvement with parents, families and the community
- Developed an Observe-Engage-Reflect documentation and observation tool that enables her to extend learning boundaries and provide feedback to parents.
- Partnered with families and the community to redesign a more nature-filled outdoor playground with pathways, art and slides that are accessible to all children. Students plant mini garden beds of herbs and vegetables where parents are free to pick from throughout the year.
- A Parent-Child Art Auction has parents and their children creating a freeform art piece that is auctioned off to raise funds for a charitable organization chosen by the children.
Rave reviews
"Sabrina empowers children with age-appropriate experiences related to engineering, physics and applied mathematics, but more importantly inspires an attitude that is beneficial for a lifetime: respect for self, respect for each other and respect for the environment."
"Sabrina uses science, technology, engineering and math based experiences to involve community professionals such as local mechanics, biologists, environmental engineers or architects to share unique perspectives and participate in age-appropriate projects with the children."