Our Programs
Toddler Program:
The toddler room offers children fourteen months through two years, six months of age a nurturing environment for your child. The room is designed to be safe and aesthetically pleasing, which helps build self-development, self-confidence, and independence. Toddlers are given the opportunities for developing, socializing, napping, emotional growth, physical coordination, and cognitive preparation for future academic activities.
The importance during the toddler years is on building self-confidence and developing the natural inquisitiveness that toddlers acquire. Our daily activities include sensorial exercises, simple everyday activities, art, music, stories, and a respect for each child. Your toddler will take pleasure in his or her environment and will continue to develop a lifelong love for learning.
Young Preschool Program
Country Hills Montessori offers a class for children between the ages of 2 1/2 to 3 years. These children benefit from an early introduction to Montessori before entering the mixed-age preschool and kindergarten classroom. Strong focus is placed on taking care of self (fostering independence), buttoning, folding, washing, etc. Language is introduced (sandpaper letters and phonics), math, one-to-one correspondence, numbers one to ten, shapes, geometric shapes, and numerical rods.
Once the teacher gives a lesson, children have the choice to choose independent work with the activity or if needed, the work will be presented again to the child. The daily schedule for the young preschool program includes time for morning group, snack, independent work, potty training, and outdoor activities. The Young Preschool class provides an introduction to all areas of a Montessori environment, including; practical life, sensorial, language, geography, science, math, and art.
Preschool & Kindergarten Program
The preschool program begins from age three to six years of age. This three-year age span gives the child an opportunity to learn from and with each other. The program is tailored to the developmental needs of each child. We control the environment, not the child. We provide a carefully planned and structured environment.
The child is free to use the materials until the skill or concept has been achieved. The child may choose to show the material to another child or move on to a new or higher level of interest. With the freedom to choose the materials, the child is given the opportunity to develop independence, establish confidence, and establish work habits that will lead to a love for learning. The preschool and kindergarten curriculum include:
• Practical Life: Care of self and the environment. Activities a child encounters in daily living, i.e. pouring, stringing, beading, sponge squeezing, and buttoning. These exercises build self-esteem.
• Sensorial: Exploration of the five senses such as size, volume, width, length, touch, temperature, weight, color, shape, and sound. Repetition is encouraged to help the child achieve mastery.
• Mathematics: Number, quantity, number systems, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
• Language: Reading readiness, phonetics, writing short stories, and reading.
• Cultural: Botany, zoology, anatomy, physical science, Earth science, geography, world cultures, astronomy, environmental education, and history.
• Music and Art: Develop the child's creativity and sense of beauty through expressive use of materials and activities.
Lower Elementary Program
At the elementary level, the children learn in mixed-aged classrooms as they did in the Preschool and Kindergarten classroom. The Elementary classroom is designed to meet the needs of the children from ages 6 to 9. The work involves the transition from the largely sensorial to more abstract. To facilitate this transition, the 6-9 classroom is equipped with many of the more advanced materials from the 3-6 classroom and materials which challenge the elementary child’s expanded cosmic interests and abilities, such as those of the planets, U.S. History and animal phyla.
The 6-9 curriculum also addresses the child’s more advanced social and emotional development with education in such things as Grace and Courtesy, and Conflict Resolution.
The students do group research projects and continue to explore and gain a deeper understanding of the world around them. Timelines, concrete materials for Math, Grammar, Geography and Science all encourage continued academic growth.
We are committed to touching both heart and the mind of every student. We teach our students to have respect for all living things and non-living things and help them understand that they always have a choice. We show them that each person is responsible for his or her actions and the consequences that result-whether positive or negative.
We are committed to offering an academic program comprised of high expectation that is tempered with love and respect for the differences in each student’s learning ability. Positive reinforcement is used to modify impolite behavior. Responsibilities are assigned to students to help them realize the importance of their own role in the learning environment and to encourage confidence in their own capabilities.
Summer Camp
Country Hills remains open year-round to ensure your child's academic progress throughout the year and during the summer, we also offer a twelve-week program for students who will be entering kindergarten through third grade. With a focus on academics via structured work time each day, journaling, themed projects, and off-campus field trips, your student will enjoy a fun-filled and learning-rich summer.