Our Programs

The Monet Room for Infants ages 0-14 months of age

We do not have a "schedule" for the infant room. We believe that children eat when they are hungry and sleep when they are tired. We try to give them plenty of space to move around inside and outside each day. We read to them, sing to them, and enjoy them.

Studies have continually shown that in the first year of life an infant needs to primarily bond with one or two adults. Usually this is the mother and father. When an infant must be placed into the care of more than 1 or 2 adults this primary bond does not happen as naturally and problems arise later on. The child must be attached and feel secure enable to develop normally. This presents a challenge to the care-givers in a child care setting.

To help the children bond with only a few adults, and to assist the adults in their efforts to personally respond to the uniqueness of each child, we use a Primary care-giving approach. Each adult is responsible for the same children each day. This not only allows her to personally become involved with only 3 or 4 children and respond to them individually, but it also makes recording of their primary care much easier to manage. This does not mean that that care giver ignores the other children or refuses to assist them if their primary care-giver is busy.

The Da Vinci Room Toddlers 14 to 24 months 

The primary goal of this program is to create a nurturing and secure environment where young children can do what they do best...explore everything!

Our environments are designed to support the tremendous amount of development that occurs during these first three years of life. The main focus is language and motor development, assisting the child in developing self-help skills, encouraging and aiding the child's budding independence, and helping children to build trusting relationships.

The Matisse & Renoir Rooms Toddlers 18 - 36 months 

Hands on Learning: In Montessori, students rarely learn from texts or workbooks. In all cases, direct personal hands-on contact with either real things under study or with concrete models that bring abstract concepts to life allow children to learn with much deeper understanding.

Spontaneous Activity: It is natural for children to wiggle, touch things, and explore the world around them. Any true Montessori environment encourages children to move about freely, within reasonable limits of appropriate behavior. Much of the time they select work that captures their interest and attention, although teachers also strive to draw their attention and capture their interest in new challenges and areas of inquiry. And even within this atmosphere of spontaneous activity, students do eventually have to master the basic skills of their culture, even if they would prefer to avoid them.

Active Learning: In Montessori classrooms, children not only select their own work most of the time, but also continue to work with tasks, returning to continue their work over many weeks or months, until finally the work is “so easy for them” that they can teach it to younger children. This is one of many ways that Montessori educators use to confirm that students have reached mastery of each skill.

Self-directed Activity: One of Montessori’s key concepts is the idea that children are driven by their desire to become independent and competent beings in the world to learn new things and master new skills. For this reason, outside rewards to create external motivation are both unnecessary and potentially can lead to passive adults who are dependent on others for everything from their self-image to permission to follow their dreams. In the process of making independent choices and exploring concepts largely on their own, Montessori children construct their own sense of individual identity and right and wrong.

Freedom within Limits: Montessori children enjoy considerable freedom of movement and choice; however their freedom always exists within carefully defined limits on the range of their behavior. They are free to do anything appropriate to the ground rules of the community, but redirected promptly and firmly if they cross over the line.

Intrinsic Motivation to Learn: In Montessori programs, children do not work for grades or external rewards, nor do they simply complete assignments given them by their teachers. Children learn because they are interested in things, and because all children share a desire to become competent and independent human beings.

The Degas Room for ages 3-5 years of age

Children in the primary program possess what Dr. Montessori called the absorbent mind, the ability to absorb all aspects of one's culture and environment without effort or fatigue. As an aid to this period of the child's self-construction, individual work is encouraged. The following areas of activity cultivate the children's adaptation and ability to express and think with clarity:

• Practical Life exercises instill care for self, for others, and for the environment. Activities include many of the tasks children see as part of the daily routine in their home, such as preparing food and washing dishes, along with exercises of grace and courtesy. Through these tasks, children develop muscular coordination, enabling movement and the exploration of their surroundings. They learn to work at a task from beginning to end, and develop their powers of control and concentration.
• Sensorial materials serve as tools for development. Children build cognitive skills, and learn to order and classify impressions by touching, seeing, smelling, tasting, listening, and exploring the physical properties of their environment.
• Language development is vital to human development. The Montessori environment is rich in oral language opportunities, allowing the child to experience conversations, stories and poetry. The sandpaper letters help children link sound and symbol effortlessly, encouraging the development of written expression and reading skills. To further reading development, children are exposed to the study of grammar.
• Geography, Biology, Botany, Zoology, Art and Music are presented as extensions of the sensorial and language activities. Children learn about people and cultures in other countries with an attitude of respect and admiration. Through familiarity, children come to feel connected to the global human family. Lessons and experiences with nature inspire a reverence for all life. The comprehensive art and music programs give children every opportunity to enjoy a variety of creative activities, as well as gain knowledge of the great masters.
• Mathematics activities help children learn and understand the concepts of math by manipulating concrete materials. This work gives children a solid understanding of basic mathematical principles, prepares them for later abstract reasoning, and helps to develop problem-solving capabis.

The Picasso room ages 4 to 7 years old includes First Grade

The Montessori elementary curriculum builds upon the experience of children in the Montessori primary program to meet their needs as they enter a new phase of life.  As children enter this phase, they begin to show more interest in the universe and all the beauty, wonder and knowledge that it holds.  They become more aware that we as humans are related to all things, places and especially people both seen and unseen.  Their mental ability to move from concrete experience to abstract contemplation is forming and they begin to understand that ideas, memories, and the spoken word are powerful tools of learning and also for sharing the human experience.  We offer a curriculum that fosters this phase of learning by providing a strong foundation in language, grammar, mathematics and geometry.   We build on these fundamental skills with our rich cultural lessons that range from both physical and political geography to history, zoology, botany, physics, cooking and beyond.  We compliment the curriculum with the addition of lessons about art and art appreciation, as well as music and music appreciation.  To capture the imagination of a child in an educational environment where they have support to develop the skills they need yet freedom to express themselves and take initiative in their learning is the goal of a Montessori classroom at any level.  We believe that true mastery of a skill is the ability to implement that skill when it is useful in any situation, not in isolation.  For that reason, we follow the needs and interests of each individual child in our elementary program.   This may mean that one child has “homework” for penmanship and spelling while another has “homework” for math facts depending on their levels of learning.  At Village Montessori, we focus on your child and what our environment can provide for them. Our goal is to help children become independent, responsible, successful learners as well as future productive and peaceful citizens of the world!