Children’s House (3-6 years)
Our Children’s House classroom offers Montessori programming five days a week for children ages 3 through the kindergarten year.
The Absorbent Mind
As parents of preschool and kindergarten-aged children know, children learn by touching and manipulating objects. They thrive if given the freedom to discover things for themselves.
Early childhood education has come to accept what Maria Montessori discovered long ago: the first six years of a child’s life offer unparalleled opportunities for learning. At this age children have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to absorb knowledge from their surroundings just by being in and interacting with the world.
Dr. Montessori called this faculty in children the “absorbent mind.” The absorbent mind needs only to have opportunities to explore in order to learn. Our Children’s House classroom offers preschool and kindergarten students the opportunity to move, touch, manipulate, and explore.
Our Children’s House classrooms serve students ages 3 through 6 in a multi-age environment. Children ages 3 and 4 may opt for a noon dismissal or for a full day Montessori experience. Our kindergarten program is a five day a week, full day program.
Children have the freedom to choose their own work and are given the tools and skills to accomplish tasks independent of any unnecessary interference from an adult.
Children can and want to set the table for snack, or get out their own activities, complete them, and replace them on the shelf on their own. We respect children’s growing need for independence and help them to develop the skills and responsibility to be successful in new activities.
Through practical life activities, children learn the skills of daily life which lend themselves to building concentration, gross and fine motor coordination, order, functional independence and build the foundation for grace and courtesy.
Students explore language and math, and discover the world through sensorial materials, botany, maps, and other cultural lessons. It is a child-centered community that provides a peaceful environment for children to thrive.
Kindergarten students take part in additional enrichments classes including Music and Art, as well as various field trips throughout the school year. Kindergarten students also enjoy one day each week, beginning in January where they visit our elementary classroom for lunch, recess and varied work opportunities. Kindergarten students also participate in our elementary extended day programming.
Students arrive between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m. and are greeted in carline by a teacher or member of administration. After the first weeks of school children enter the building independently, putting away their personal belongings and joining their class in circle.
Circle time is used to share news about the day, share a special story or song, as well as a prayer or Bible story.
Students pursue their individual work. During this morning work time, students receive lessons from a teacher and are introduced to new materials. Lessons may be given individually or in small groups.
When they are not receiving a lesson, students are free to choose work from the lessons they have already received. Teachers act as guides for a child’s experience in a classroom and gently redirect a child who may be hesitant to start a new job or ensure a child is balanced in the activities she chooses.
On some days, students enjoy enrichment classes with one of our curriculum area experts in the areas of Physical Education, Spanish or Young Children and Worship.
At 11:30 a.m., all children gather in circle to prepare for outdoor play and lunch set-up begins for those experiencing our full day program. After recess and lunch, napping children sleep or rest, while non-napping children resume their work in the classroom.
“The first essential for the child’s development is concentration. It lays the basis for his whole character and social behavior.”
-Dr. Maria Montessori