Our thoughtful program builds a positive, healthy foundation for your child's academic career.

Materials Matter: We believe as Dr. Montessori did, that high-quality materials contribute to the learning experience. Your child will benefit from interacting with educational works made of wood, natural materials, and glass beads. Children respect our materials and learn how to cultivate and maintain an organized and peaceful environment, naturally. Children feel respected by being surrounded with materials that honor their learning process.

Learning Through Experience: We believe children learn best through real experiences, movement, and hands on activities. Rather than passively receiving information, in our program your child will learn for themselves by engaging in self-correcting learning activities. Montessori "Guides" serve to support your child's natural curiosity, directing them to the activities that will nurture their academic development and teaching through demonstration. As your child masters each activity their confidence and independence will grow as much as their knowledge.

Social Learning Opportunities: Our classroom consists of a multi-age group, 2-6 years of age, and is limited to only 12 children. Older children model both behavior and activities for younger learners, and serve as informal guides. This offers younger children powerful role-models as well as peer instruction. It also benefits older children: cementing their understanding of core academic concepts, improving their communication skills, as well as instilling the invaluable character qualities of self-discipline, patience, and boundary setting.

Time and Space To Grow: While conventional programs often require children shifting quickly from one activity to another as a group (under the direction of a teacher who may be struggling to engage everyone's attention simultaneously) your child will benefit from having two uninterrupted morning and afternoon work periods to focus on their work. This is a chance for your child to receive individual lessons from a teacher, and follow their own curiosities to the fullest extent. It also allows them a quiet, peaceful environment from which to fully explore and learn from didactic Montessori materials -- at their own pace, and in their own way.

Full Montessori Curriculum: Your children will leave our program with foundational skills in every major academic area. Motor development work allows them to have control over their bodies, and succeed in a classroom environment. Fine motor skills gives them the ability to write with confidence. Our reading and phonics curriculum lays the foundation for a lifetime of joyful literacy. Through classic Montessori mathematics work your child will be given opportunities to incorporate advanced, abstract math concepts at a concrete, comprehensible level. Your child will begin their "Cosmic Education" learning foundational concepts of the natural and physical sciences, astronomy, and geography.

Growth and Development: Throughout your child's learning experiences, they will be artfully guided through Dr. Montessori's four direct aims of development: Order, Concentration, Coordination, and Independence. We understand that mastery in one level of development sets your child up for success in the next. Woven throughout every experience of every school day, your child will benefit from Dr. Montessori's "Silent Curriculum" of Grace and Courtesy. This teaches your child how to establish and maintain positive relationships with peers, communicate well, resolve conflicts competently, practice appropriate assertiveness, have respect for themselves and others, and grow into independent, confident and compassionate people.

A Nurturing Relationship: Children thrive when they feel secure, valued and supported. Our home environment feels "known" to children, allowing them to feel comfortable and settle in quickly. Our experienced Guides, Gertie Coffey and Bridget Coffey (mother and daughter) represent stable, caring relationships in your child's life. Given our small class size of only twelve children, and the length of our four year program, your child will truly be understood and prized as the unique individual they are. Your child's wellbeing will be nurtured in a respectful, peaceful and wise environment that builds them up on every level: developmentally, academically, socially and emotionally

A Lifetime Love of Learning: Montessori children enjoy learning and growing -- experiencing it as effortless "play." Because their natural curiosities and individual personalities are supported and honored children feel valued and appreciated. Our caring environment, plus the joyful success they experience through their self-guided mastery, helps them develop positive associations with school. But even more importantly, it cultivates intrinsic self-confidence in their own academic abilities, as well as a lifetime love of learning.

At Chestnut Montessori the Kindergarten children study a wide range of subjects in accordance with SVVSD Kindergarten standards and Montessori principles. This includes an accelerated reading program, advanced math activities, and very special cultural and science units that are unique to our program. The best part of our Kindergarten program is the chance these children have to develop strong social and emotional skills. As returning students to our program, the children who attend Chestnut Montessori Kindergarten receive a sense of community and friendship here unlike anywhere else; the announcements of friendship and goodwill warm our hearts. These children will succeed in life, not just because they learned how to read, multiply 4 digit numbers, or because they learned all the body segments of a crustacean, but because they learned (not through direct instruction but through experiences) how to be a leader, a teacher, a helper, a comedian, and most importantly a loving friend.