Montessori Program

The Morning Program (8:30 am to 12:00 pm)
A typical day involves a three-hour “work cycle” which includes arrival, greeting and setting in for the day, lessons with the various Montessori materials (we included an example of a child’s metal inset work on the folder cover), periodic spontaneous group activity if it naturally arises out of the needs of the children (this may include gathering to hear a story or a walk about the neighborhood), snack that the children often help prepare, serve and clean up, and outdoor time on the school’s beautiful shaded playground. Practical life skills, sensorial materials, language, math, music, botany, biology, art and cultural awareness are part of the Montessori curriculum and such activities are built into the classroom.
We have 28 children in each of our two classrooms with one directress and one assistant guiding each. The child to adult ratio is higher in a mixed-age, Montessori setting because the Montessori philosophy is based on the independence of the child, relies to some extent on older children mentoring and assisting their younger classmates, and is guided by directresses specially trained to handle such ratios.

The 3/4 Day Program (8:30 am to 3:00 pm)
During the third or fourth year of the program depending on the developmental readiness of the individual, each child will have the opportunity to stay until 3:00 pm, Monday through Friday and become part of the 3/4 Day Program. For such older children, a hot catered lunch is served, the children have outside time, and they continue work with the Montessori materials they have chosen during the morning work cycle or receive lessons on new work, guided by the directress and her assistant. Again, if a situation arises to engage in a group activity, the class will do so.
For families in need of care beyond the morning program for younger children, AMH has limited space for younger children until 3:00 pm, Monday through Friday. They remain in their assigned classroom, have lunch with the third/fourth year children, and then proceed to nap time. An additional afternoon classroom assistant is added to help in this program. Please be aware that due to the size of our facilities and county requirements related to cot size and napping area, space is limited in the ¾ Day Program.