Montessori School Of Manhattan Beach - #1, Manhattan Beach

Here’s Some of What You’ll Find at the Montessori Schools of Manhattan Beach The Test of Time Founded in 1968 by Judy Ernst, AMI certified Montessori teacher and teacher trainer. Manhattan Beach raised and educated. Professional development through UCLA. After more than 50 years of ownership Mrs. Ernst continues to be actively involved with the day to day operations of the school. High Quality Staff Longevity, with an average employment length of 10 years – we value our teachers! Credentialed Montessori teachers proudly display their diplomas in their classrooms. Our Curriculum Every classroom, preschool through elementary, is brimming with Montessori materials. All policies, programs and facilities designed for the safety of your child. Emphasis on fine art education. Monthly themes emphasizing history, science, biology, horticulture, etc. (with on-site guest demonstrations.) Weekly music lessons. Spanish immersion, art, cooking, and yoga lessons. Family Friendly Our Peck location offers year round programs. Open as early as 7:30am until 6:00pm. Stimulating after school programs include: art, crafts, and music. On-site enrichment programs include tennis, soccer, foreign language, art, and music. Summer School Summer sports camp with Tennis and Soccer lessons Daily swim lessons at our Peck Campus on-site pool. We currently service students as young as 18 months (Toddlers), 2-3 year olds (Pre-Primary) 3-5 year olds (Primary), and lower elementary. Due to popularity, early enrollment is recommended. Communication Direct contact with your child’s teacher as well as parent/teacher conferences and parent education nights. Open door policy with our administration. Observations are encouraged. Simply make an appointment in the office. OUR METHOD The Montessori Classroom All children – rich, poor, gifted, from a variety of different cultures – have benefited from a Montessori education. Your child will also prosper in his or her own subtle, creative way. Your child is coming to our school because you sense that this is the right time. Perhaps the toys at home no longer seem interesting. Perhaps your child is bored and needs new friends and new experiences. When your child is ready for an experience apart from you, he or she will benefit and grow in our Montessori environment. The Montessori Classroom Not only is the Montessori classroom a place for individual learning, it offers a mixture of ages. The older child learns through teaching the younger child. The younger child, in turn, is inspired to do more advanced work by having the older child in the same environment. After showing interest in an activity and receiving a lesson from the teacher, the child continues working with the material and returns it to its proper place. Therefore, the Montessori classroom is a community of workers with freedom of movement and choice. Although most of the class time is spent in individual or small groups, some part of each day is spent in whole class activities, or “circle time”. These activities would include singing, storytelling, movement exercises, or large muscle activities. In Montessori, we begin with practical and social skills, not just academic. Keeping track of belongings, putting things away, dressing oneself, sharing materials and respecting the limits of the community, are some of the initial benefits of total development of the Montessori classroom. These form foundations for growing independence. The Montessori Primary program offers a unique, mixed-age classroom environment, for children approximately 3 to 5 years old. Here, children engage in individual learning experiences, as well as one-on-one interactions, which are integral to the Montessori Method. As children get older, they tend to see things that adults find ordinary as very interesting and special. Practical life exercises like sorting, pouring, or washing dishes absorb them completely. We recognize this as the beginning of control and coordination of mind and body. That’s why Montessori learning revolves around tangible, hands-on experiences. Children use concrete materials to learn math; movable alphabet letters to explore language; and cubes, cylinders and other objects to categorize, find spatial relationships, and more. Practical learning experiences explore key subjects including: Science and Nature Music and Movement Sensorial Cooking and Nutrition / Practical Life Cultural Awareness History Geography Language Arts Mathematics In the process, children are discovering independence, confidence, and innovation.