Our School

Welcome from Head of School

As-salaamu alaikum, greetings of peace and blessings.

Allah created man with a natural, insatiable urge to explore, discover, and understand creation. This God-given urge is what propels the newborn to suckle, the infant to crawl, and the toddler to speak.

My journey as an educator began in 2008 as a middle school English language arts teacher. I hold a bachelor’s in English and a master’s in English Education. In 2016, I earned my Montessori administrator’s credential from the Center for Montessori Education. Currently, I am completing my second Montessori credential in early childhood (ages 2.5-6) with the Teacher Education Program at West Side Montessori School. For almost 14 years, I have been teaching, designing curricula, and leading teams of teachers, including Montessori guides at a Montessori preschool for children ages 2-6.

It did not take me long to embrace the Montessori philosophy soon after discovering it. This approach to child development and education reinforced my knowledge and experience as an educator. It made sense. It felt right. Today, as a mother to an infant and a toddler, I use the methods and tools of the Montessori method to raise my children with a Qur’anic outlook on life.

As a Muslim, I am drawn to the spiritual undertones of Dr. Montessori’s writing. In one of her most famous books, The Absorbent Mind, Dr. Montessori introduces the concept of the “spiritual embryo.” A Catholic, she believed that every human possesses a spirit, a soul. She argued that every human experiences two embryonic phases, a physical and a spiritual. The physical embryo develops during the prenatal phase, while the spiritual embryo develops during the first three years of life. And, just as the physical embryo in the womb requires a particular physical environment in order to properly develop, the spiritual embryo also needs a nurturing external environment in order to properly develop.

The 96th chapter of the Holy Qur’an, called Surah Al-Alaq (“The Clot”) begins:

The definition of the Arabic word, alaq (علق) can be translated to “the early stage of the embryo.”³

In the Qur’an (the holy scripture adhered to by Muslims), Allah (the One and Only God) tells humankind about our innate nature, or natural disposition, toward Oneness (tawhid).¹ We are born in a pure state of being guided by Allah. What occurs after birth (i.e. the environmental factors and life experiences we undergo), can either aid in maintaining our direction toward Oneness, toward being guided by Allah, or they can lead us astray. In Islam, we call this natural disposition toward Oneness, fitra.

“Special care should be shown for the psychic life of the newborn child,” Dr. Montessori explains. “If it already has such a life at birth, how much greater will this be as it grows older? If we understand by ‘education’ a child’s psychic rather than its intellectual development, we may truly say, as it is said today, that a child’s education should begin at birth.”² In other words, man’s innate inclination toward God, which exists at birth, must be protected and nurtured, because it is his natural disposition, not his intellect, which will make the difference in his life, and thus, in the world.

Seeing then – as many parents see today – that education is in need of genuine reformation towards cultivating the whole being of the child, and not merely appealing to his mind, Dr. Montessori cautioned:

“The most human of all the needs of the child is neglected – the exigencies of his spirit, of his soul… Moral malnutrition and intoxication of the spirit are as fatal for the soul of man as physical nutrition is for the health of the body. Therefore child-education is the most important problem of humanity.”⁴

Today, more than a century since Dr. Montessori established her first Montessori school, “Casa dei Bambini,” the Montessori method remains the golden standard in early childhood education. It may have been Dr. Montessori’s scientific genius which has allowed this method to stand the test of time. Or, perhaps it is the emphasis on respect and humility toward the most vulnerable and innocent that makes this approach highly effective. Or, it may just be that the Montessori method speaks a universal language because it speaks the truth – we all belong to God and to God we shall all one day return.

It is my belief that Dr. Montessori did not simply invent an educational methodology, but that she discovered something far more important. What she witnessed during her clinical observations of Rome’s most downtrodden children was God making Himself known to His creation.

Through hands-on exploration and experimentation of the physical world, a child’s mind will discover what the soul innately knows – God is One.

While Muslim parents in particular may be drawn to Lehigh Valley Montessori School, all are welcome.

It is my joy and passion to be on this special, challenging, and incredibly rewarding journey with fellow parents. Together, let’s build a village of God-conscious, wholesome, lifelong learners.

Wasalaam & peace and blessings,

Nour Goda

1. The Qur’an, 30:30
2. Montessori, Maria.The Secret of Childhood, p. 29.
3. Sahin, H. (2006). “Alaq”. In O. Leaman (Ed.), The Qur’an: An Encyclopedia: Routledge
4. Montessori, Maria. 1987, ‘The child’, in The Montessori method: Principles, results, practical requirements, ed. AM Joosten, Kalakshetra Publications, Madras, India.