San Juan Montessori

San Juan Montessori
32143 Alipaz Street
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
ph: (949) 496-2927
info@sanjuanmontessori.com

Stonebridge Montessori

32091 Alipaz Street, SJC, CA 92675

(949) 496-6776

"A well rounded, nurturing, and learning experience for the young child from 3 months to 3 years."

Infant/Toddler Program

Our philosophy of care giving is based upon the research of Magda Gerber and Tom Forrest, the co-directors of Resources for Infant Educators (RIE), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing resources and support to parents and professionals in infant/toddler care. The philosophy of Dr. Maria Montessori is implemented in addition to the insights of RIE throughout the curriculum. In our work with young children, our primary goal as teachers and caregivers is to RESPECT each infant and toddler on his individual path toward self-development.

OUR PROGRAM PROVIDES FOR THE FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES:
EMOTIONAL:    To assist each child in developing a positive self-image, encouraging each child to be capable, independent, confident, and intellectually curious by providing daily positive experiences.

COGNITIVE:    To assist the child in what Piaget called adaptation through assimilation and accommodation by providing concrete and sensorial experiences in which the child manipulates his environment.

LANGUAGE:    To provide opportunities for the child to realize his language potential through vocabulary development activities, stories, finger plays, self-expression, and dramatic play.

MOTOR:    To assist in developing optimum coordination of the child’s neuromuscular system in both fine and gross movement, by providing opportunities for the child to experience success in the coordination of his senses, brain, and muscles.

SOCIAL:    To assist the child in developing positive relations with other children and adults by providing for age appropriate activities in play and other learning situations, and by assuring the caregiver’s understanding of developmentally appropriate behavior for children between the ages of 3 and 24 months.

PreSchool Program

Our program is a traditional Montessori curriculum, with an emphasis on Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, and Mathematics. The first few years of your child’s life are crucial to the development of personality and intellect. This is a period during which learning takes place at an accelerated pace. At Stonebridge Montessori,

The Focus is on Four Key Developmental Areas:

Sensory and Perceptual Development
Self-Help Skills
Physical and Motor Skills
Social and Emotional Growth

Practical Life
One of the first goals is to develop in the very young child a strong and realistic sense of independence and self-reliance. This area of the curriculum focuses on a variety of developmentally appropriate activities to assist the child in developing:

a high level of concentration
a sense of order
pride in a job well done
an increasing sense of independence by learning to care for himself and the environment
respect for the environment, classmates, and teachers
fine motor skills

Examples: spooning, tonging, sponging, sweeping, washing, etc.

Sensorial
All sensorial materials are constructed for fine motor manipulation. It is with these materials that a child will learn to compare, contrast, and differentiate various sense impressions. It is the beginning of a child’s “conscious knowledge” of his environment. The use of hands, plays an important role in early education. Doing these activities that use the fine motor skills assists the child in discovering that perseverance produces positive results. Improving dexterity strengthens concentration and assists in character development during the learning process.

Examples: pink tower, brown stair, sound cylinders, knobbed cylinders, etc.

Language
The purpose of this area is to give the child an awareness of the power of language and an appreciation of the beauty language can express. The ability to acquire language is innate. The Montessori materials are designed to give order and form to the experiences necessary for language acquisition, both in reading and writing. The language materials include objects and pictures to be named, matched, labeled, and classified to aid vocabulary development.

Examples: sandpaper letters, alphabet board, story time, finger plays, etc.

Mathematics
Math is a concrete experience in the Montessori classroom. The Math area allows the child to develop his thinking, reasoning, and problem solving powers. The direct aim of the Math materials is to help the child work toward more abstract thinking. The materials are designed with such precision that they allow the child to work with the concrete until he internalizes the process through tactile and visual contact and can work independently in his mind. The awareness of detail gained in the Practical Life area and the decision-making skills learned in the Sensorial area help the child refine his use of the Math materials.

Examples: number rods, number/quantity association, sizing, sandpaper numbers.

Other Academic Areas
In addition to the regular academic subjects, the curriculum includes an introduction to subjects such as Spanish, art, music, and cooking on a weekly basis.