The primary goal of a Montessori program is to help each child reach full potential in all areas of life. Activities promote the development of social skills, emotional growth, physical coordination, as well as cognitive preparation. The holistic curriculum, under the direction of a specially prepared teacher, allows children to experience the joy of learning, time to enjoy the process, helps with the development of self-esteem and provides the experiences from which children create their knowledge.
Infant Program
Our infant program serves infants from 6 weeks of age to 18 months. Maria Montessori believes that education as an “Aid to Life” begins from the period of pregnancy. Our infant program specializes in meeting infants’ and parents’ unique needs and offers parent education about pregnancy and the young infant’s needs. From birth on, we are all on a path toward independence, and we adults are responsible to guide children’s needs to this path. At each stage in development, we must meet children’s needs to maximize their development interests and potential.
Toddler Program
Our toddler class serves children from 18 months of age through three years. For this age group, we offer half day and full day programs, three days and five days a week. Specially designed materials and activities that meet the toddler’s interest in movement, independence, order, language, and music fill our toddler’s room. Toddler-sized furniture and materials enable our children to confidently succeed in their explorations and endeavors, assisting them in their pursuits for independence.
Each activity includes at least three phases:
- First, taking the work to a table or floor mat
- Second, engaging and eventually mastering the task chosen
- Third, putting the work away
Practical Life activities and manipulative materials make up the majority of the activities available to our toddlers. Practical Life activities isolate everyday activities so that children can master the tasks necessary to grow into independent people. The button frame, for example, allows children to learn to button, thus learning to become more independent.
Preschool & Kindergarten Program
At three years of age, sometimes earlier, children are ready to join one of our two Primary preschool environments, where they will stay for three years and through kindergarten. In this mixed-age environment children participate in a natural social setting, growing into the unique opportunity to be leaders in their third year.
An example of this proven mixed classroom concept allows 3 year old children to learn from 5 year old children, and the 5 year old children the opportunity to be develop as mentors to the 3 year old children.
The main pedagogical areas of a Primary classroom include Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics, Science, Creative Arts and the Cultural area. A variety of beautiful and meticulously crafted Montessori materials in each of these areas, meeting the children’s various development stages.
Lessons begin with presentations of concrete concepts such as size or volume (sensorial), sounds (language), and quantities (mathematics), and gradually and logically progress toward abstraction, such as the words ‘big’ and ‘small’ for the concept of size, the shapes of the sounds (letters), and the numerals associated with quantities while doing mathematical operations.
Lessons from a Montessori teacher progress in a logical order according to each individuals readiness. Each lesson and material have multiple purposes, including preparing the child for increasingly complex and challenging activities. The Montessori teacher is specially trained to carefully observe children for their interests and readiness to progress through the curriculum.