Preschool through Kindergarten Program
Program Times for Preschool and Kindergarten
9:00 am -12:00 pm or 12:00 pm-3:00 pm and 9:00 am-3:00 pm
Extended Care for Preschool and Kindergarten
7 am - 9 am, 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm, 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm or 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
The 3-6-year-old Montessori classroom is divided into different curriculum areas: math, science, art, music, practical life, sensorial, language, writing, geography and history. Although the classroom has different learning areas, the curriculum is always integrated among the areas. The classroom is designed to give the children independence and freedom within limits.
Upon viewing the Montessori classroom, one will see children with carefully prepared materials in an atmosphere of calmness and cooperation. The child is encouraged to use precise terminology to explore and classify subject matter using materials graded from the simple to complex. The objective is not the transmission of knowledge for its own sake, but rather the development of lifelong skills as a resource from which the child can build to master his/her own environment. The Montessori classroom is set up in a way that children are able to work independently at their own level. The classroom is a warm, safe and supportive environment. It is a multi-age group, spanning three years. Much like society, the Montessori classroom works because the children are motivated by their natural curiosity to learn. The child reinforces his/her own learning by repetition of work and, therefore, has internal feelings of success.
The prepared environment of the Montessori classroom is filled with many manipulative materials that have been used by children in all corners of the earth with the same outstanding results.
The role of the facilitator (or mentor) in the classroom is vital. A facilitator doesn’t teach in the traditional sense, but guides each child’s progress by helping the child to help him/herself. The facilitator is trained to observe, to respond to the needs of the individual child and to direct the group as a whole. The facilitator is concerned with the total development of the child on all levels --physical, social, emotional and intellectual. Facilitators recognize the child’s readiness to progress and, in this way; act as a link between the learning materials and the child’s needs. The facilitators are responsible for the content and order of the environment. Authority is exercised mainly by example. Most importantly, facilitators are not just dispensers of “the answer.”