Preschool

An Introduction to the Preschool (3-6) Classroom

The Montessori classroom is a beautifully prepared, enriched environment, with child-sized furnishings and materials within reach of even the smallest student. The diversity of ages among the students necessitates a broad range of activities, and allows each child, regardless of age, the opportunity to find work suitable for his or her stage of development. All children are allowed to develop at their own pace, and to find work suitable for his or her stage of development according to their own capacities in a non-competitive and supportive atmosphere. The work in the classrooms falls into five main categories:

1. Practical Life: Of prime importance, this area includes activities such as sweeping, scrubbing, polishing, and other everyday tasks the child has observed in his or her own home environment. These activities allow the child to order his or her physical environment to perfection, and in turn, to order his or her own mind. They are also familiar, and serve as a link between home and school.
2. Sensorial: Special materials in this area are designed to help the child isolate and classify the perceptions of sound, texture, color, shape and size.
3. Language: Montessori observed that young children have a “Sensitive Period” during which learning names are of interest and relatively easy. Thus, basic nomenclature from geography, history, botany, biology, geometry and cultural studies is presented, and grammatical concepts gradually introduced. Over the three year program, the child builds from reading words to reading sentences.
4. Science: Science is an integral element of the Montessori curriculum. Among other things, it represents a way of life: a clear thinking approach to gathering information and problem solving. The scope of the Montessori science curriculum includes a sound introduction to botany, zoology, chemistry, physics, geology and astronomy. The Montessori approach to science cultivates children’s fascination with the universe and helps them develop a lifelong interest in observing nature and discovering more about the world in which we live.
5. Mathematics: The young child, in his or her need for order, seeks out mathematical concepts as a means of development. Montessori math materials present abstract math operations in a concrete manner, a presentation that children this age can understand. The materials also provide the children with a sensorial base for future abstractions.

Hours of Operation

7:00-8:30 Early Drop-Off
8:30-11:30 Montessori Morning program
11:00-12:30 Lunch/Recess
8:30-3:30 Montessori Full Day
3:30-6:00 After School Program