Programs
Infant Daycare (Ages 6 months to 18 months)
Infants grow and learn every day. MGA provides a safe and nurturing "home away from home" where infants can explore and make new discoveries. Young children learn through play, and our Montessori Infant care program is designed to provide infants with the skills that serve as building blocks for a lifetime of learning.
Toddler Program (Ages 18 months to 3 years)
The Toddler Program develops young children through a scientifically prepared environment. Everything in the room is child-sized to encourage independence and exploration. Using all five senses, toddlers develop language, art, music, and practical life skills. Through song and dance, they are free to jump, climb, balance, crawl and skip. Building the child’s self-esteem is the ultimate goal.
Preschool Program (Ages 3 years to 5 years)
Preschoolers possess what Dr. Montessori called the “absorbent mind” - the ability to absorb all aspects of their culture and environment without effort. Through practical activities such as food preparation, children develop concentration and muscular coordination. By touching, seeing, smelling, tasting, listening and exploring their environment, they build cognitive skills and learn to order and classify their observations. They gain a solid understanding of basic mathematical principles by manipulating concrete materials, preparing them for later abstract reasoning and problem solving. Conversations, stories and poetry foster language development in the form of both written expression and reading skills. Children learn about people and cultures in other countries with an attitude of respect and admiration. Lessons and experiences with nature inspire a reverence for all life.
Practical Life: Through practical life exercises, children learn to care for themselves, one another and their environment. They help develop concentration, coordination and independence. One of the most important needs of a young child is to develop his muscles and coordinate his movements. This need is addressed through Practical Life exercises such as sweeping, polishing, carrying and pouring water, and other common activities. Special Montessori materials enable the child to practice tying, buttoning, snapping, and the use of many other fastening devices. The purpose of these exercises is to develop concentration, the ability to pay attention to details as the child follows a regular sequence of actions and learns good working habits. These activities provide the very foundation on which the child approaches more intricate academic exercises.
Language: Language exercises nourish the child’s vocabulary, enhance self-expression and develop a foundation for reading, writing and listing skills. The Montessori child begins reading when he is ready and proceeds at his own pace. His experiences in Practical Life and Sensorial education serve as a preparation for this. With cut-out letters, the child builds his own words on a mat. The materials free him from the fatigue of his still developing writing skills, and yet still gives him the opportunity to pursue his interest in words. These activities serve as a preparation for the time when the child assimilates what he knows and begins writing.
Math: Math materials and manipulative allow for concrete experience with number concept. The children are introduced to the quantity 1-10 and progressively 1-100. The materials for Mathematics introduce the concept of quantity and its symbols, the numbers 0 through 9. The quantity is introduced by a series of rods which the child can count and compare. He matches sets of symbol cards with the rods. Using a variety of beads and symbol cards, the child becomes familiar with the numbers as a decimal system, including concrete experiences with the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. These exercises not only teach the child to calculate, but they provide a deep understanding of how numbers function.
Sensorial: Materials in the sensorial area allow the child to analyze and explore. This helps them broaden and refine sense perceptions. Sensorial materials in the Montessori classroom are designed to sharpen the senses of the young child and enable the child to understand the many impressions he receives through them. Each of the Sensorial materials isolates one defining quality such as color, weight, shape, texture, size, sound, or smell. The Montessori Sensorial materials help the child to distinguish, categorize, and relate new information to what he already knows.
Cultural: Science, history, geography, art and music introduce the child to the world and opens the child’s mind to the vastness of learning what our world has to offer.
Our Daily Schedule
Time Discription
06:30am Before Care Arrival / Free Play
08:00am Arrival and Breakfast ~ Children participate in quite activities and eat breakfast.
As children finish breakfast, they can participate in small-group activities or do
independent work until most children have arrived or are finished eating.
09:00am Morning Circle Time ~ Teacher brings the group together for morning routine like
calendar, sharing, and discussion of the day's activities.
09:25am Independent Work ~ Children choose activities to work on their own while the teacher
observes and give one on one lessons to children. These activities include practical life,
language, math, sensorial, geography, art, history and science.
11:00am Outdoor Play ~ Children select from a variety of outdoor activities
11:30am Lunch ~ Children wash hands, help set the tables, and prepare and eat lunch.
12:15pm Prepare for Nap ~ Teachers read aloud to the children as they settle down for naps.
12:30pm Rest Time and Quiet Work Time ~ Most children nap or rest quietly. As children wake
from rest time, they can select from a variety of quiet choices, such as Montessori
works, drawing, coloring and writing.
03:00pm Snack and Outdoor Play
03:45pm Individual Work or Small Group Activities ~ Children choose activities to work on their
own while the teacher observes and give one on one lessons to children. In addition to
Montessori work other activities include art, music, yoga, meditation and small crafts.
05:15pm Free Play