"The child who has felt a strong love for his surroundings and for all living creatures, who has discovered joy and enthusiasm in work, gives us reason to hope... hope for peace in the future." - Maria Montessori
Our Curriculum
LANGUAGE: Letter recognition, letter sounds, phonics lessons, Read Together books, sight words (colors, numbers, basic nouns), work with the moveable alphabet, writing preparation with sandpaper letters and numbers, letter formation at the easel, fine motor skills for pincer grip to foster writing.
MATHEMATICS: Counting, simple addition, odd and even numbers, teens and tens, recognizing and sequencing numerals to 100.
SCIENCE: Hands-on activities with a variety of key concepts, including botany, biology, nutrition, the human body, magnets, dinosaurs, ecology, the solar system, insects, birds and transportation.
THE ARTS: Drawing, painting, sculpture, collage; exposure to a wide variety of music and instruments, plus movement to music; time is spent in some form of exercise each day.
EVERYDAY LIVING: A foundation of the Montessori classroom, these activities foster personal growth and self-confidence. Activities such as gardening, sewing, folding, sweeping, cleaning, polishing, and cutting & preparing food prepare the child's eye for reading and hands for writing.
GRACE & COURTESY: With everyday living, our class also practices responsibility for our own words and actions, with daily opportunities for leadership skills to be developed. Conflict resolution skills are taught and practiced, along with important social skills to be used in and out of the classroom.
SENSORIAL: At these crucial times in your child's development, we use specifically designed materials to engage multiple senses to reinforce basic concepts. Refining the sense of visual acuity auditory discrimination, touch, smell and taste prepare the child to discern differences between letters, numerals, amounts, weights, one-to-one correspondence and more.
GEOGRAPHY/CULTURAL STUDIES: Children "visit" many different countries throughout the year with dress-up, tasting food, listening to much and playing instruments. We learn about the climate, agriculture, vegetation, animal life, resources and trade of each country or continent studies. We use globes and puzzle maps throughout the year.