CHILDRENS HOUSE | Montessori

Children's House

The Children's House at Downtown Montessori Academy comprises of multi-age classrooms of up to 26 students ages 3, 4, and 5. Their learning is guided by a certified Montessori teacher and a classroom assistant. Students in our Children's House benefit from the Montessori practice of three-year cycle of study with the same teacher.

Our Children's House provides a prepared environment to meet the developmental needs of the child. Children work individually and collaboratively with sensorial materials that engage curiosity and allow students to explore and observe at their own pace. The primary goal is to develop the child's love of learning. The classroom engages the child with numbers and language, writing and reading, the tools of reasoning and communication, and the basis of self-directed learning.

Students learn by working with engaging materials that offer concrete and tangible representations of abstract concepts. The Montessori materials are organized around the classroom by area of study appeal to young children and to promote curiosity, awaken the senses, and inspire self-motivation.

Our Children's House students begin to acquire knowledge through the Montessori Curriculum which includes five areas of study: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math, and Culture (science, history, geography, art, and music). Students also participate in physical education and the 5-year-old students also participate in the Urban Ecology Center's Neighborhood Environmental Education Program (NEEP). The Children's House program prepares children for readiness into the first year of the Lower Elementary program, our first grad equivalent.

Children's House School Day

Children entering this program must be three years old by September 1 of the year they begin attending Downtown Montessori Academy. Children age 5 may attend full-day Montessori sessions that run from 8:40 AM to 3:30 PM. Children ages 3 and 4 may attend a half-day Montessori session that runs from 8:40 AM to 11:45 AM. We also offer before and after child care for a fee.

All Children's House programs are five days per week. School day hours are:

Before School Care (Optional) 7:00 - 8:40 AM
Full Day 8:40 AM - 3:30 PM
Half Day 8:40 - 11:45 AM
After School Care (optional) 11:45 AM - 5:30 PM

K3 Rates

(All K3 yearly rates are 5 days and include "with breaks")

Half Day (8:45-11:45) $5,355
Full Day (8:45-3:30) $7,580
Extended (7:00-5:30) $8,505

Literacy in a Montessori Children's House Classroom

Language Curriculum

The Montessori Language curriculum has four areas, each focusing on a different phase of Language development as described below

Vocabulary Building: provides Language exposure opportunities so that children can develop a large vocabulary at a young age

Language Arts: introduces logical relations such as patterning, classification, rhyming, sequencing, and the function of words

Phonics: focuses on pre-reading and reading materials including the Pink, Blue and Green Series

Handwriting: supports children as they navigate the long process of mastering pencil grip, forming letters, and recording thoughts onto paper

Montessori Materials

Dr. Maria Montessori developed only three Language materials for English speakers: Metal Insets, Sandpaper Letters and the Moveable Alphabet. Each of these materials has their own specific purpose, as described below

Metal Insets: To develop lightness of touch, muscular control, holding a pencil with proper grip, moving continuously from left to right, keeping within the limits, preparation for writing, acquiring a sense of geometric design, and acquiring a sense of artistic beauty

Sandpaper Letters: To unite sounds by means of muscular and visual memory to the appropriate symbol, making the child aware of sounds in words, and preparation for writing and reading

Moveable Alphabet: To reproduce words with graphic symbols, preparation for word building by associating sounds of Sandpaper Letters with Moveable Alphabet, preparation of reading

Additionally, along with the support of her colleagues, Dr. Maria Montessori developed the Pink, Blue, and Green Series to support writing and reading.

The series is a 3-stage process that helps children understand the rules, complexities, and irregularities that make up the English Language, grouping specific words together as described below

Pink Series: phonetic CVC words with short vowels

Blue Series: phonetic words that include blends and digraphs with short vowels

Green Series: all other words, including non-phonetic words with long vowels

Mathematics in a Children's House Montessori Classroom

Mathematics Curriculum

The Montessori Mathematics curriculum has seven areas, each focusing on a different phase of Mathematics development as described below

Introduction to Numeration: introduces the base ten number system, numbers 1-10 through quantity and symbol, mathematical language, the sequence of numbers, and teaches the concepts of zero and fixed quantity

Introduction to the Decimal System: presents place value, expands on sequence of numbers, and reinforces the base ten number system

Operations: combines Linear Counting, Decimal System, and Numeration concepts. Sequentially, Operations are taught in order of addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division

Linear Counting: introduces the color-coding system of Montessori Mathematics materials and reinforces the concepts first introduced in Decimal System presentations

Basic Equations: supports the memorization of math facts, starting with the big picture and then narrowing in on specific concepts

Fractions: presents the abstract concept of taking whole numbers apart in a concrete approach

Abstractions: introduces lessons that rely less on concrete materials and more on the child’s own knowledge of Mathematics

Preparation for Mathematics: The Development of a Mathematical Mind

An objective of Mathematics instruction in a Montessori classroom is for a child to learn how to think logically as a means of developing their Mathematical Mind. In order to achieve this goal, a child first needs to have experience in the Sensorial area of the classroom, where many materials mirror those found in the Mathematics area. As a child’s senses are awakened through Sensorial instruction, their Mathematical Mind starts to develop. Dr. Maria Montessori believed development of sense perceptions, based in a knowledge of concrete materials, should precede any Mathematics instruction. If not, she warned, a child will merely memorize Mathematical formulae without truly understanding it. The abstractions of the Mathematics area must first be based in the realities of the Sensorial area.

Sensorial materials introduce Mathematic concepts such as those described below

the concept of base ten
numerical systems
perceptions of differences and similarities
grading
exactitude
formulae used in algebra and geometry
discrimination of size, length, width, and form

Montessori Mathematics Materials: Materialized Abstractions

Materials in the Mathematics area of a Montessori classroom teach abstract concepts through tangible, concrete, and hands on exercises. Materials are open ended, and encourage children’s continuous exploration. They are multi-sensory, and meant to be physically explored as a means of internalization. Mathematical concepts are taught sequentially using materials that isolate difficulty and that are hierarchical in nature. In other words, each material presented builds on the skill of previously learned concepts. Montessori Mathematics materials are precise, exact, and beautiful. They are enticing, inviting, and purposefully call to children to psychically touch and manipulate them. Each material contains a control of error, which allows children to assess their own work and correct errors independently. The tangible nature of materials lends itself to a child’s progression through Mathematics, moving from concrete to abstract reasoning.