Preschool
Learning by Exploring
In Walden’s Montessori Preschool and Kindergarten Program, teachers foster children’s natural curiosity and energy into learning.
Children intently work with beautifully designed hands-on materials. Earlier lessons such as pouring water without spilling, buttoning a shirt, or recognizing shapes, colors, and letters build naturally into more complex lessons including arranging letters into words, understanding the power of ten, or drawing a map of the world.
As children advance, so do their activities, preparing for abstract thinking and building a foundation for a lifetime of understanding. During their Kindergarten year, they internalize and reinforce their earlier experiences, they master more advanced math, reading, and writing skills.
As a result of being in the same classroom for three or four years, children have the unique opportunity to experience learning as both the littlest learners and as leaders and teacher helpers in their classroom. The confidence children feel as a result of this experience readies them for their next educational experiences.
Children in preschool have the opportunity each week to visit the library, enjoy music class, learn Spanish, and engage in a fun physical education program. In kindergarten, the opportunity expands as the kindergarten students have an extra music class, formal art instruction, and kindergarten enrichment run by a classroom teacher each week.
In the Montessori classroom all activities are referred to as “work.” The word work is meant to have the same positive meaning as the word play. The idea is to help the child understand that these activities are an enjoyable experience in which learners take pride.
Kindergarten
A Deeper Dive
The kindergarten year at Walden is the time when many of the earlier lessons come together and become a permanent part of the young child’s understanding. Through the Montessori method children start as a novice, grow to an apprentice, and in their Kindergarten year, they become a leader.
Our Kindergarten curriculum is carefully structured and integrated to demonstrate the connections amongst different areas: critical thinking, composition, and deeper learning.
Learning to be organized and focused is as important as any academic work. During the second half of the kindergarten year, students are introduced to “Work Plans” as a means to plan and keep track of their work. As the year progresses, so does our kindergarteners' freedom in the classroom. The Work Plan gives students autonomy over their work choices. The end goal - that of a child who is a mature, independent adult - will be characterized by innate discipline.
Most people will follow rules when being observed or graded, but the true test of character is what a child does when left alone. When a child can make good choices when no one is looking, you can know that the combination of liberty and discipline is in perfect alignment. Work Plans are sent home at the end of each week so parents can celebrate their children’s accomplishments together!
Elementary School
Continuing To Build
At The Walden School, children work on skills and projects across the curriculum. Each classroom is an ever-changing, energetic mix of activity: one teacher working with a small group, the other helping a student one-on-one, and the remaining students working independently or in teams.
Teachers tailor their interactions to the needs of individual children, and children who grasp a concept quickly can help others along as well as continue their learning through enrichment opportunities.
Children in the elementary school enjoy supplemental programs that enrich their daily school experiences. During their days, students participate in music, physical education, art, life-skills, library, Spanish, and technology. There is consistent effort that all these programs support content learning and there is often collaboration between the classroom teachers and the supplemental programs teachers making these educational experiences even more meaningful.
Over the course of their four years in the Elementary program, students get to know their teachers well, receive a truly extraordinary level of individual attention, and continue to have the valuable experience of learning from older peers and then teaching the younger.
