All About Us
Get to know Sun and Stars MontessoriOur Mission
Sun and Stars Montessori school, established in 1981, serves families with preschool, toddler and Kindergarten children ages two through six years of age. The vision of Sun and Stars Montessori is to provide a nuturing educational environment that fosters a true love for learning.
Maria Montessori believed that children are the seeds of humanity’s future. We at Sun and Stars Montessori are dedicated to providing the nurturing educational environment required for the complete and total fulfillment of our children – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually – in order to begin the process of creating a new world where humanity recognizes its oneness and can thereby achieve a new level of peace and harmony.
Our Parents
We strive to strengthen the connections with our parents through education, training, information sharing and interaction within the environment and in support of the school. Sun and Stars parents recognize the importance that early years education plays in their child’s future. With that knowledge, parents make a clear commitment to use their time and resources to the best of their ability.
Our Families
We recognize the partnership between the child, the school and the family and strive to maintain a strong partnership on behalf of the child. We believe that the foundation for a successful future for children emanates from a supportive relationship between the school and family.
Our Children
Montessori believed that as important as physical development is to life and the body, psychic development is to the mind and spirit of the child. At Sun and Stars, we believe that teaching children about the world – its practices, language and geography and how to respect those within it – will allow the child to embark on a journey which leads to tolerance and peace. This is our goal for the child. This is our vision, lived through and led by our children. This is our hope for the world.
The Stars Class Ages 2 - 4
The first few years of life are the most crucial in the life of an individual. The Stars class (2-4 year old program) is designed to allow children to master the exploration needed as they move toward establishing self-confidence, self-discipline, self-motivation, ability to concentrate, inner contentment, thoughtfulness, compassion and understanding.
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The Stars class serves children who are comfortably walking, ages 2 through 3 years old in a small and intimate group setting with a low teacher-child ratio. There are different school day options in the Stars Class: M-F, M/W/F or T/Th and either half-day (9:00am – 12:00 noon) or full-day (9:00am – 3:00pm).
Our program also incorporates well rounded, multi-faceted development, which for 2-3 year olds, includes
- Sensory development
- Individual (self-help) skill
- Gross motor development
- Social and emotional skill development
- Language development
Children work at tables, choosing materials and manipulatives independently. They enjoy circle time, snack time and outdoor activities.
The practical life area includes materials necessary for caring for plants and animals, hand washing, polishing, pouring, spooning, folding, lacing, flower arranging, and so on.
The language area includes miniature objects, language nomenclature cards, sandpaper letters, books (fiction, poetry, and nonfiction), spoken vocabulary enrichment exercises, and other activities including art and music experiences.
The Suns Class Ages 3.5 - 6
In the Montessori preschool classroom, our learning environment is multi-aged, with children learning from their teachers, their peers, and through their own self discovery. The multi-aged preschool/ kindergarten environment permits children to work according to their own ability, and not to that of the whole.
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In the Montessori Preschool and Kindergarten class, five distinct areas constitute the prepared environment:
- Practical life enhances the development of task organization and cognitive order through care of self, care of the environment, exercises of grace and courtesy, and coordination of physical movement.
- Mathematics makes use of manipulative materials to enable the child to internalize concepts of number, symbol, sequence, operations, and memorization of basic facts.
- The Sensorial area enables the child to order, classify, and describe sensory impressions in relation to length, width, temperature, mass, color, pitch, etc.
- Language arts includes oral language development, written expression, reading, and the study of grammar, creative dramatics, and children’s literature. Basic skills in writing and reading are developed through the use of sandpaper letters, alphabet cut-outs, and various presentations allowing children to link sounds and letter symbols effortlessly and to express their thoughts through writing.
- Cultural activities expose the child to basics in geography, history, and life sciences. Music, art, and movement education are part of the integrated cultural curriculum.