Children’s House

Overview

Our Children’s House program unites superior academics with concentrated human development. Students are educated through direct instruction.  The Montessori curriculum educates the young child through the acquisition of a series of individual skills and then marries those skills to obtain full and complete mastery of concepts.  Students are specifically taught “how to care.”  First they are taught to care for our classroom works, then our classroom environment, then our classroom plants and pets, and then, most importantly, they are taught how to care for each other. Our program embraces the naturally egocentric, thirsting for independence and movement-seeking individual. These three characteristics are the driving force behind our students’ successes. Our program is an impressive three-year cycle that comes to fruition at age 6. The goal of the Children’s House is to develop life-long, independent learners who are confident and eager to accept the rewards and challenges that life will present.

Philosophy

The Montessori philosophy is used in the Children’s House. The classroom environment is designed for optimal access and success of the student. Through careful planning, the skills and concepts are mastered through experiences that intentionally progress from simple to complex and concrete to abstract; thus, to insure complete understanding. The Children’s House Program stresses: the importance of belonging to a community, gaining independence, being academically competent and challenged by directing and being responsible for one’s own learning.

Developmentally Responsive

The Children’s House program seeks to be developmentally responsive. The notion of respecting the classroom environment and community then leads to the school community, outside community and ultimately the world. Children are expected to be successful through individual and developmentally-appropriate experiences and lessons.  The unique design of the child-centered classroom supports the child in gaining a complete understanding of the curriculum while including all areas of that child’s development including intellectual, physical, emotional, social, and ethical.

Our teachers are facilitators in learning. Through the creation and modeling of a positive psychosocial environment, students are able to take education risks that are needed for them to go above and beyond typical expectations. Teachers help to link school and home through communications with parents. They build a bridge between our school and the community, locally and globally.

Academics

Practical Life is the foundation of the Montessori 3-6 classroom. Students are given lessons in Care of the Self, Care of the Environment, Food Preparation and. Practical Life lessons provide the student the opportunity to excel in four main areas: order, concentration, coordination and independence.

The Sensorial area provides students with a sensory education.  Because brain development at the young age is crucial, Children’s House students are provided with lessons that initially allow for sensory input. Sequential lessons provide depth to acquired sensory experiences and allow for exceptional refinement of the senses. These areas are form, color, tactile, gustatory, olfactory, size, auditory and stereognostic.

Mathematics is a collection of highly sophisticated processes that are learned using concrete materials. The math curriculum is divided into two strands: linear counting to 1,000 and the decimal system to 9,999.

The focus of our Language area includes encoding (writing), decoding (reading) and handwriting. Our program provides experiences to support phonemic awareness including: rhyming, alliteration, word play, word rhythm and direct instruction of letter and phonogram sounds. Students write to read in our program. Coupled with the direct instruction of language such as prepositions, homophones, conjunctions and more, students do journaling, book making and use writing in practical forms such as thank you letters and record keeping.

The Geography area can be divided into two sections: physical and cultural. Physical geography covers land, air and water, hemispheres, continents and oceans. Cultural geography covers people, and customs of the world. Students learn about past and present cultures through food, music, arts and celebrations.

Our Science program covers biology, botany, earth and physical science. Students not only learn the advanced nomenclature associated with the science but also the vital understanding of science concepts.

Movement is provided through direct instruction, everyday activities and free play. Our program allows students free movement throughout the day. This movement is “purposeful” and helps a child develop strength, stamina and coordination.

Art begins with direct instruction on tool usage and art mediums.  Students study color theory and artists as well as art from other cultures or time periods. Students engage is a variety of 2-dimensional art (watercolor, printing, drawing) as well as 3-dimensional art (sculpture, fiber arts).

Music primarily focuses on voice and rhythm.  Students sing and chant and play rhythm instruments while learning musical concepts and nomenclature. The study of instrument families and composers are included as part of the history of music.

Spanish is presented to all Children’s House students each day.  Students are taught in the classroom through games, commands, stories, listening centers and direct instruction with a focus on vocabulary and conversation.