Children's House Program (ages 2 1/2-6 years)

Primary Half Day Program (2 1/2-3 year olds only): M-F from 8:00am-11:15pm or 8:00am-1:15pm

Primary Full Day Program (2 1/2-6 years): M-F from 8:00am-3:00pm

Often called the Pre K/Kindergarten years, the Children's House consists of mixed ages and is staffed by a Montessori certified Guide and a classroom assistant. The classroom is specifically designed so that students can make independent choices that are multi-sensory, hands on, concrete and self-correcting. The real experiences that are offered in the Children's House occur within a community of peers, which allows a child to construct the person that (s)he will become.

Carefully designed activities and materials reflect the special effort given to following the natural pace of the child while nurturing exploration, critical thinking and problem solving. They are also designed to nurture independence, concentration, self-confidence and repsect for one another and the environment.

The four core curriculum areas of the Children's House are:

Practical Life
Sensorial
Math
Language

Children also have experiences with Botany, Zoology, Geography, Cosmic (days of the week, months of the year, calendars, time, and Solar System), Geography and Music.

Each skill of an area builds upon each other and are interrelated to and dependent on skills learned in other areas of the classroom. This allows a child to nurture his/her natural enthusiasm and interest in learning. Each child is appropriately challenged and given time to become proficient in each area and given the opportunity to work at his/her own pace.

The role of the Guide is to observe the specific needs of each child, to adjust the environment, to create materials and provide lessons that are appropriate, and to allow each child opportunities for spontaneous exploration of his/her world while at the same time maintaining structure and a peaceful atmosphere.

Children must be 2 1/2 years old by September 1st and toilet trained before entering the program.