Key areas focused upon in our programs include:

• Communication: assisting the child in (1)identifying and understanding her/his own feelings, (2)listening to the child's feelings and therefore, (3)giving the message that her/his feelings are important, (4)feeling comfortable enough to speak up for and about her/his feelings.



• Problem Solving: helping the child work through conflict situations successfully by equipping her/him with tools (language) they need in order to do so.



• Assertiveness: once the child feels respected by others and achieves that strong sense of self, she/he will feel confident enough to speak up in situations; henceforth, being assertive and demanding respect.

Distinct areas are defined in our programs, concentrating on a particular area of learning:

• The Practical Life Area is comprised of exercises designed to develop concentration and coordination through the provision of activities to strengthen ability in caring for oneself and the environment, as well as to encourage the practice of good grace and courtesy skills. Lessons in this area include:
• Face/hand washing
• Blowing/wiping our nose
• Covering our face when coughing or sneezing
• Excusing our self
• Waiting our turn
• Saying "please" or "thank you"
• Diapering (in the Primary program) or using the toilet
• Dressing/undressing our self
• Mirror or window washing
• Polishing activities
• Sweeping up crumbs
• Scrubbing a table, setting a table
• Food preparation activities
• Serving our friends


• The Sensorial Area materials develop the child's ability to discriminate through the use of the various senses.
• Sight - sorting according to height, width, length, depth, shape, color
• Hearing - exposure to different sounds via musical instruments, records, tapes, nature walks, discovering "silence"
• Touch - discriminating size, shape, temperature, weight, texture
• Taste and Smell - identifying, matching, discerning, or grading according to particular tastes and smells: sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, etc.


• The Language Area concentrates on assisting the child to:
• Communicate her/his feelings
• Identify with and better understand the world around him/her

This is accomplished through - nomenclature, pre-reading exercises (provision of a broad variety of books, puzzles, pictures, matching activities, etc.), pre-writing exercises (knobbed puzzles, drawing, tracing shapes, sounds, etc.)

Other significant activities in this area include talking with the children (modeling), listening, reading storeis, and singing songs. The Montessori sandpaper letters are utilized as an introduction to the initial consonant and vowel sounds, and it should be noted that only the sound is introduced - not the name of the letter - in order to more concretely ready the child for reading when this sensitivity arises.

In the Early Childhood group, additional language activities include patterning, sequencing sound sorting, sentence structure and grammar, penmanship, and reading.

• The Math Area includes math-based manipulative materials such as matching, counting, sorting/grading/stacking objects, number identification and recall through the use of the Montessori sandpaper numbers. Early Childhood children become involved with the more complex Montessori materials, such as goldne beads, addition/subtraction/multiplication/division boards, fraction puzzles, etc., moving from the concrete into more abstract mathematical thought processing.



• The Cultural Area in the classroom bring the child in tough with the world around him/her via exposure to the outdoors, weather, seasons, leaves, our universe, land/water, as well as sampling of different cultures through their celebrations, clothing, foods, stories music and artifacts.



• Art and Music allow for free expression inspired through the use of a variety of mediums and tools. Exposure to the fine arts and artists is encouraged. Children's art will be displayed each spring at our Annual Art Show for all to marvel over.



• Large Motor Activities - imperative both indoors and outside the classroom involves and develops the large muscle groups via the employment of stretching, jumping, climbing, running,c rawling, swinging, blanacing, rocking/rolling apparatus.

Repetition is encouraged and expected. Through repetition, one engrains a newly acquired skill, mastering it to perfection. Once the child has mastered a skill, he/she teaches the younger child, and through modeling or teaching, the older child is further refining the skill that has been learned. This is the beauty of the Montessori mixed age grouping or Family Structured classroom.