The Montessori Method encourages self-directed learning that promotes self-confidence, independent thought and action, and critical thinking, while fostering social-emotional and intellectual growth. The Primary curriculum includes Sensorial (a refinement of the five senses), Practical Life (self-care and care of the environment, and the practice of basic everyday tasks), Grace and Courtesy (awareness and respect for the needs and feelings of others), Language Arts (phonics, reading, and writing), Mathematics (understanding the qualities and functions of numbers, through addition, multiplication, and place value up to 1000), Cultural Studies and Natural Science, Art and Music. The Primary Class spans 3 full years, Pre-K through Kindergarten. The work of pre-k 3 and pre-k 4 is the foundation of the kindergarten year. We ask that you enter your child into this class with the intention of completing the full 3-year cycle. Kindergarten is the third year in the Primary Class and is the culmination of the previous two years’ work. In their kindergarten year, the children naturally adopt a leadership role among their peers, nurturing their own self-confidence, and sense of responsibility to care for younger children. On the foundation of the previous two years studies, they explode into reading, writing, the mathematical functions of addition and subtraction into the 1000’s, the study of geography, and science.