Kindergarten

At Centre Square Montessori Schoolhouse and Centre Square Academy, we do something unique for our Kindergarten children. In the old model of Montessori, which is over 100 years old, children from 2 ½ to 6-years-old worked in the same classroom. After teaching and observing for many years, I felt this was too much of an age gap. I decided to move our 5-6-year-olds to a separate room so they could expand their horizons. We have a very large room – a perfect home for our Kindergarteners to move about and explore. It gives them the opportunity to “spread their wings” without the little ones.

The Kindergarten year is so important for the Montessori child. It is the culmination of their learning experience.

Many parents feel that since the public school system offers Kindergarten, that this is a good time to transition. If you make a commitment to Montessori, it is, ideally, a 3-year experience, and that third year is important. Studies and science prove that most learning takes place between 0 – 6 years of age. Why miss the opportunity of the entire experience?

In our Kindergarten classroom, we offer advanced practical life and advanced sensorial material, perfect for fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

We start the children in reading at their individual level, not the level of their fellow classmates. Most of our curriculum is phonetic based. We do not experiment with other systems. At the end of their Kindergarten year, all of our children are reading. Many children are reading at a 3rd grade or above level. They have a solid foundation for later learning.

The Kindergarten math area is exceptional. First, we review teens, hundred board and move to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Our goal is to move from the concrete math materials toward the ability to understand each process, then move to on to the abstract. We also learn about time, money, geometry and fractions.

Geography is an important area. We study the continents, land and water forms, and we explore cultures allowing the child to become more aware of the world and their role in it. Each child works on a state project.

To round out our curriculum children are immersed in Music twice a week, where they learn how to read music and are introduced to instruments. To address their physical abilities, children participate in gym weekly, where they learn body coordination and teamwork.

All of our students go on to transition from our Montessori environment to traditional or private schools extremely well. Many of our students come back to revisit us to tell us what a difference Montessori made for them, in elementary school and beyond. So why not give them their Kindergarten year to cap off their Montessori experience. It will last a lifetime.