Primary Program

Preschool and Kindergarten

Ages 3 to 6 Years

Our Primary classroom communities offer a rich variety of opportunities for children to experience freedom within a secure, attractively structured, and welcoming environment. Maria Montessori recognized the spontaneous interest that arises within each child at this age. It is through the child’s interest and active engagement that the love of learning arises. Our Montessori-trained teachers observe and record each child’s individual progress, knowing when to allow a child to work with genuine interest, or when to introduce a new challenge or point of interest.

The Primary environment in Monarch, Ohlone, Redwood, and Willow classes offers an integrated and developmentally based approach to educating the whole child:

• Practical life – Gardening, cooking, self-care, care of the environment including plants and animals, grace and courtesy, and the development of coordination of movement.
• Sensorial exercises – Gradations of color, dimension, and sound, tactile impressions, comparisons of smell and taste, geography, and geometry.
• Language development – Self-expression, writing, and reading.
• Music and movement – Songs, finger plays, music appreciation.
• Art – Creative expression, taught via individual and group projects, both in class and through weekly lessons with our art teacher.
• Mathematics – Montessori manipulatives for introducing numbers, shapes, mathematical operations, and the decimal system.
• Spanish – Bilingual assistant teachers in each Primary class

Each Primary class has a Montessori-trained head teacher, two assistant teachers, and up to 27 children.

Hours: 8:45 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 8:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., or All-Day Montessori (extended hours are available by arrangement).

I love that my children have learned how to self-initiate. I love that they are learning how to respect themselves, and thus respect others. I love that Montessori understood that learning is a true process, based on solid principles of child development.

SCM Parent