A Day in the Life
7:30 – 9:00 am
Students prepare for a day of purposeful activity. They may work on Montessori materials, water plants, arrange flowers, fold laundry, feed the animals, or help prepare snacks.
Independent work with Montessori materials. Children may receive lessons on new activities or choose familiar work. It is very important that this precious time is not interrupted by late arrivals
Gathering time. We come together for group fun and sharing. We may do music and movement or introduce academic concepts which are suitable for group presentations.
These are often based on weekly themes—the emphasis is always on fun! The time is approximate and may be shorter or longer, depending upon the need.
Lunchtime. The students are divided into two groups for lunch. Half of the class eats first while the other half is outdoors.
At noon the children switch places. This allows everyone plenty of time to eat and plenty of time to play!
Lunch is a process where we encourage the children to eat safely and with good manners. Children help with set-up of placemats, napkins and cups each day.
In the clean up process we encourage children to bring home the food they did not eat, rinse their dishes and place them in the dirty dish bucket, throw away their own garbage and tidy up the table that they were eating at. This process is essential for children on their quest for independence.
Nap time for those children who are scheduled nappers. Non-nappers take a short quiet time, story time or yoga session and resume lessons until 3:00pm. It is very important that this time is not interrupted unnecessarily.
Optional activities include: outdoor play, group fun, dancing, building, playing games, Montessori work, art activities or helping with end-of-the- day tasks. In the afternoon it is our goal to spend as much time outdoors as possible.