Montessori Nursery / Montessori Pre-k, 3 to 5 YEARS OLD.
What the Nursery and Pre-k years look like here, room by room.
The Montessori Nursery / Montessori Pre-k room
The three and four year old Nursery classrooms have five important areas. Each one holds its own work: practical life, sensorial, language, math, and culture. A child chooses an activity, finishes it, and returns it to the shelf.
Teachers move through the room rather than standing at the front. They give a lesson to one child or a small group, then step back. The mixed ages let a younger child watch an older one, and let an older one show what she knows.
At this age the work is slow and repeated. A child pours water until it stops spilling. A child sorts by size, then by color. What looks like play is practice, and the practice builds the habit of finishing what was started.
What to expect
Montessori Nursery / Montessori Pre-k Program
Teachers prepare each area so a child can find the work, use it, and put it back without help. Lessons are given one child at a time or in small groups. The room belongs to the children in it.
What this looks like in practice
A day here moves between focused work and the rest of being small. Children choose from the five areas, then gather for group time, snack, and outdoors. Lunches come from home. Teachers guide rather than direct, which means a child may spend a long stretch on one task before moving on.
The change parents notice first is usually at home. A child carries her own plate to the sink. He zips his coat without being asked. Small tasks, repeated in the classroom, become habits a child owns. That is what the five areas are for. Teachers will tell you what they are seeing in the room, and you can ask them.