Children’s House

for ages 2 years 9 months-6 years old

Curriculum

Children from birth through age six have the ability to absorb a vast amount of information and experience with ease. Dr. Montessori called this first plane of development the “absorbent mind.” Young children explode into learning, gain independence, and want to master new skills by themselves. In the Heartland Children’s House they are surrounded by a stunning array of hands-on materials that give them the opportunity to explore on their own, learning in a way that is natural and successful for them. Learning is a joyful experience for children.

Children learn to work intently on their own tasks, building concentration and self-discipline. They are given uninterrupted work time, and the freedom to move around and interact in any way and with any children, so long as it is not disruptive or disrespectful to others. Academic readiness or the mastery of discrete skills is not the focus. The goal is the development of the whole child—socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually.

• The practical life materials offer children the opportunity to do what they see adults doing every day. Children relish taking responsibility for watering the plants, preparing and serving food, sweeping the floor—all with real but child-sized tools they can use with ease.
• The sensorial materials provide the children hands-on exploration of materials designed to enhance their discrimination and understanding of size, texture, color, sound, forms, relationships, and more.
• The language materials engage the children, who are already eager to develop vocabulary, explore the alphabet and learn sounds. Through the sandpaper letters, children learn about the individual sounds within words, and how these sounds can be represented by symbols. In this way, the children come--at their own pace--to writing and reading as a timely progression of their natural language acquisition.
• The mathematics materials are designed to present concepts from the concrete to the abstract, allowing children to see and experience mathematical concepts so that they can truly understand them. The children begin with very simple materials to help them comprehend numbers and quantity, then progress to more complex materials that help the children learn and apply the concepts that underlie addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and geometry.

The Extended Day

Somewhere around the sixth year of life, the child begins to make the transition to a new plane of learning. This is seen in a dramatic shift from wanting to do everything “by myself” to needing and wanting to do everything in a group of friends. The Extended Day program is a place where the needs of this transition can be met. The child remains in the Children’s House for the morning, but is also invited to join in this afternoon session with other 5-6-year olds. It is a time for group activities such as cooking, building, creating a play, taking nature walks, exploring museums, or undertaking more involved projects of the children’s design.

Teaching Staff

The guide (teacher) is certified by Association Montessori Intenationale. An assistant also works in the classroom.

Parent Involvement

Heartland is an independent nonprofit organization run by the parents and teachers. Each family agrees to contribute 40 hours of parent involvement time toward the operation of the school. Each family is required to be represented by at least one parent on a committee. Other involvement opportunities are available in such areas as cleaning, field trips, materials making, community events, and grounds work. Projects are available during and after school hours and offer an opportunity to be integrally involved in your child’s school.

For Enrollment Information

Contact Jane Mannetter at 715-426-0350
Email: jane@heartlandmontessori.org