The preprimary half-day program begins at 8:30AM and ends at 11:30 AM.
The full day class begins at 8:30 AM and ends at 3:00 PM.

The components of the curriculum include: music, art, language, mathematics,
sensorial, geography, science and practical life on a daily basis
and Spanish two mornings a week. 
The day has large group time during which children sing, do finger plays,
and listen to stories. There is outside time scheduled every day. 
The balance of the day is spent in a small group setting with a teacher
presenting material or in free choice.

Since movement is intimately connected with learning, activities engage the
child’s large and small muscles as well as his or her senses and mind.
There are materials to develop coordination, concentration, vocabulary, handwriting,
numeric concepts, language, geography and musical awareness.

The program is supplemented by special events in the classroom, such as visits
by local firefighters to explain fire safety or animal caretakers to show unusual pets.
Questions often asked about the montessori preprimary curriculum are answered on
the Preprimary FAQ page.

This area features activities that encourage independence, order, concentration,
and coordination. Children choose from a variety of works that includes learning
how to buckle, pour, and serve snack, spoon, wash tables, sweep, and dust.
Art is also part of this area and includes a wide assortment of materials that are
used in an open-ended manner. Materials include pencils, crayons, chalk, markers,
paint, staplers, tape, glue, clay, and paper in different colors and sizes.

This area includes materials that help refine the senses and includes many
works that involve seriation and gradation. The materials illustrate a variety
of concepts such as narrow and wide, thick and thin, tall and short, lightest
and darkest, rough and smooth, loud and soft.
Exploration, imitation, initiation, and pattern completionare
the objectives of this area.

The math area contains four distinct areas: 1-10, linear beyond 10, decimal system,
and memorization of addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division. 
Each area contains a variety of works that illustrates the concepts
appropriate for that area.

We use a phonics-based approach for reading. We also incorporate sight words
and whole language when it is appropriate. Each area in language has activities
that emphasize beginning, middle and ending sounds, word building, and reading words.
Handwriting is a built in feature of the language area and children learn
to write as they are learning the sounds.

This area contains puzzle maps of the World and its continents.
Children have the opportunity to learn the names, flags and location of countries.
There is a heavy emphasis on the cultural aspects and parents are encouraged to share
their culture and customs in the classroom.

Science is a hands-on activity and in addition to the work on the shelves that
includes biology, botany, zoology, and physical science. The children have organized
time outdoors to study nature. Our school is located on forty acres and is a wonderful
outdoor lab dedicated to gardening, composting and exploring.