Preschool

Wider Horizons Preschool classroom follows the Montessori tradition in a multi-age group of children age three through five. The preschool classroom is large, with many windows for natural light. There are two bathrooms in each classroom. There are two sinks for frequent hand washing.

Circle time is a class gathering to sing, welcome a new student, listen to a story, watch a presentation of new material, have a lesson, observe a science experiment, speak in Spanish, try a new food they prepared, or play a game. The children play outdoors everyday that the weather permits on their own playground, learning games and learning to cooperate with peers.

The room is edged with low shelving units that house a myriad of beautiful Montessori activities for the children to use during the work periods. The specific areas of the classroom are: practical life, language, math, sensorial, cultural studies: including science, geography, history, music and art.

The classroom is organized around the principles of success, building self-competence in the children. The materials are created to help the children move ahead academically and enjoy the process. This is a respectful environment between teacher and student as well as towards the classroom materials.

Superimposed upon the daily work activities is a unit of study that usually lasts from a week to a month. Some of the topics studied are animals of land and sea, birds, the seashore, insects, holidays, the farm, trees, plants, other cultures and many other topics. Children are involved in active learning.

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