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Toddler Program
Ages 18 months to 3 years old
The Shannah Montessori School
offers a toddler program for children 18 months to 3 years. The toddler classroom is simpler and slower
paced than the classroom for three to six year olds. Tables and chairs are smaller and teacher-child ratio
is lower (Two teachers to nine children).
The toddler program offers very young children a unique year of self-development in a tender atmosphere of special
understanding, respect and support. It is a place of self discovery where the child can be provided with
the freedom to begin to develop to his or her full potential. This Montessori education can provide the
basis for even the earliest stages of a child’s development. At this first level of a young child’s
education, the toddler is taking in knowledge entirely through his or her senses. Birth to three years
old is a time when learning takes place primarily through exploration of the immediate surrounding environment.
The mind of the toddler is busy “absorbing” the world through his or her observations, participation and
exploration. Simple sensorial
activities in the classroom respond to the toddlers’ urge to use all their senses – indeed their whole bodies
– to explore everything around them.
The toddler program also appropriately accommodates the very young child’s sensitive period for language by offering
creative and intriguing concepts to expand their growing vocabularies. Joining conversations, listening
to stories, classifying objects and learning songs and poems all nurture their budding language skills. To
help smooth their initial social interactions, the toddlers also learn to use words for the feelings they experience in themselves
and others. Many of the
activities in the toddler program highlight the self-help skills that lead to independence. Children are
gently urged to hang up their own coats and aprons and to problem-solve rather than say, “I can’t.”
Since this is an age of very strong imitation, the teachers constantly model appropriate social skills, good manners
and consideration of others. Through song,
dance and freedom of choice, the toddlers have access to a variety of large muscle activities that offer them opportunities
to jump, climb, balance, crawl or skip. These exercises as well as creative art activities are offered
for each child to choose. This freedom in a safe space is crucial to the toddler program. Hence
it is always tempered by two important limits that will be beneficial for a lifetime – respect for others and respect
for the environment. We, at the Shannah Montessori School recognize and
respect the developmental needs of the toddler. We emphasize learning through movement and activity within
a specially prepared environment. Our curriculum is based upon the toddler’s need for sensory exploration.
The goal of our toddler program at Shannah Montessori School is to provide our community with a loving, safe, educational
program.
Preschool ProgramAges 3 years to 6 years old
Maria Montessori wrote that the
adult works to perfect the environment while the child works to perfect himself. Our preschool program
respects and protects the child’s rhythm of life. It is calm, ordered, space constructed to meet
the needs of each individual child. In our preschool, the child experiences a blend of freedom and discipline
in a place designed for her development.
The Shannah Montessori School offers a preschool
program for children ranging in age from three to six years of age. The mixed age group creates a
family like setting where the children learn from each other and because of each other. The younger children
get a chance to look ahead by watching the older children, and the older children have the opportunity to reinforce their
knowledge by sharing it with the younger children. Because of their constant interaction, the children
learn to take responsibility for themselves and for each other. We lovingly guide them as they learn to
get along with children of different ages and abilities, to respect each other’s work and work space and to treat their
peers and teachers with courtesy. We encourage the children to take an active roll in maintaining their
classroom. The preschool program is a “living room” for children. All of the
furniture is child sized and all of the materials are scaled to fit the physical dimensions of a preschooler’s body.
The classroom is divided into four distinct areas: Practical life, sensorial, mathematics and language.
The preschool program is interdisciplinary and interactive and no subject is taught in isolation. Art
and music activities are integrated into the prepared environment and are always available to the child. The
materials in our classroom were created by Maria Montessori and are very attractive to the children. They
have access to the materials throughout the day and they may work with them for as long as they wish. In the classroom you
will find a variety of activities as well as a great deal of movement. We recognize the child’s need
to move freely in the environment choosing work that interests her. In our class the children learn to
work independently, based on their own initiative, which helps to build concentration and self-discipline. We
do have a daily circle time where the entire class is involved in singing, movement, storytelling and many other fun group
activities. We think that one of the children’s favorite group activities is lunch time!! The Shannah Montessori Preschool welcomes parent involvement. We acknowledge that parents
are a child’s first and most important teachers. Parents are invited to bring activities or hobbies
into the classroom.
Kindergarten
Program
5 years old by the start of the school year
At Shannah, we offer a five-day
Kindergarten program after the age of five. The development of emergent literacy and math skills, in conjunction with the
state standards, is the primary focus of the Montessori Kindergarten day. Expectations vary depending on the individual needs
and developmental readiness of each child. Throughout the day, learning takes place using concrete Montessori materials and
traditional Kindergarten materials. Lessons are presented individually, in small groups and in a whole class format. For the
Kindergarten children, lessons are presented in a deliberate and specific manner. Following a presentation, children have
the opportunity to manipulate and practice these lessons on their own. This reinforces independence, responsibility for both
learning and care of the classroom materials, and individual choice-making. The presentations and opportunities for practice
in the Kindergarten program build the foundation as the children progress to the next level.
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