PRIMARY OVERVIEW & SCHEDULE

At Creative Learning Montessori our Primary Program serves families wanting a Montessori based preschool program in a full day format.

The Primary classroom is licensed for 20 children ages 3 through 5.

OVERVIEW

The Primary program at Creative Montessori Learning School serves children 3 through 5 years old. With 20 children and two teachers, it offers a warm, enriching environment.

The Primary program prioritizes working with the children on developing strong self-esteem, social skills, independence, responsibility and a base for learning that will support their future academics.

EARLY MORNING

Arrival time for our early morning students is between 7:00 and 8:30 am. The early morning time is spent in greetings, conversation, and quiet free play. Also included is breakfast. This time is of utmost importance to the flow of the rest of the day since each individual child’s importance in our community is affirmed.

MORNING CLASSTIME

A morning during the Primary classtime includes group time, individualized work time and outside play. Class time is from 8:45-11:45 Monday through Friday. The classroom environment includes areas in practical life, sensorial, language, math, science, and geography. Children are encouraged to follow their interests and explore new concepts. On the whole, the classroom materials help to strengthen concentration, small muscle coordination, the sequence of steps in a complex activity and completion of an activity. These skills are paramount in succeeding in future academic endeavors. The activities and interactions help each child strengthen self-esteem and develop independence, responsibility, and respect for the things and people around them. The specific areas of the classroom answer to the parts of a child’s development that are so strong for these ages.

Class Time

Practical life offers practice in life skills. Pouring, sewing, scrubbing, tying, zipping and food preparation are among the activities done daily in Practical Life.

Sensorial materials help a child recognize and become familiar with skills of the senses. Size gradation, color recognition and shade grading, shape identification, patterning and sorting all are presented to help children understand the world around them.

Language materials include activities in pre-reading such as matching, classifying, rhyming, sequencing, and sound recognition as well as reading activities from listening for beginning sounds in words and phonetic word building to whatever level of reading a child may achieve.

Math activities help the children grasp an understanding of number concepts in their world. Presented with a hands-on approach the materials are created to be manipulated as the children learn through their sense of touch as well as sight and hearing what number concepts mean.

Science and geography lessons help children find an appreciation of and connection to the world as a whole. From learning the continents of the world to the parts of a reptile a child develops a greater respect for and connection to the world as his understanding grows. Montessori wanted children to be “world citizens” and as they gain knowledge they find it easy to live this dream.

DAILY OUTSIDE TIME

Fresh air & exercise is a part of the primary child’s routine. The outside environment offers opportunities for seeing in the world what we learn in the classroom, playful social interaction, and participation in games and projects. Along with the need to release enthusiastic energy and the ever-developing gross motor skills of children of this age outside time is thoroughly enjoyed by all.

AFTERNOON

Lunch Catered lunches are provided for all children and the cost is included in tuition. These are hot lunches with balanced meals made with natural foods containing no additives or preservatives. Our catering company also provides alternate meals for children with food restrictions due to medical (including gluten free, dairy free & vegetarianism) or religious reasons.

Rest Naptime is after lunch, starting with reading to the children and quiet activities provided for children who do not require daytime sleep after a period of rest.

End of the Day Activities After nap time is spent with supervised free play, crafts, games, and additional outside time. The staff is sensitive to the needs of children spending extended hours in group living, and help each child to find the blend of social and individual activities that are best for him.

Throughout our day, helping children develop positive social skills is a top priority of our program and is especially focused on in the primary room where children are entering a stage of development where they are testing and making decisions on their interactions with others. Social skills are worked on daily both as opportunities arise during the course of the day and with planned lessons. Children love to “role-play” and this teaching style is used to our advantage as we “act out” situations that often arise in a child’s life and positive ways of dealing with them. With the knowledge that conflict is a part of life and the philosophy that we want to prepare children for life, daily lessons in social interaction are important to our program.

During this period of a child’s life when they are highly sensitive to all areas of learning, we offer the variety and richness of experiences to start their educational experience with enthusiasm and confidence.

Primary Room Daily Schedule

Daily Specials

Montessori Mondays – New Lessons
Tuesdays – Values & Social Skills
Wednesdays – Science Exploration
Thursdays – Phonics Fun
Fridays – Friday Surprise