Children's House Montessori School, Reston

We dedicate ourselves to the joyful task of helping children develop independence, self discipline, and respect for self, for others, and for the Earth. In partnership with parents, we strive to plant the seeds for a lifelong love of learning. Children's House Montessori School, CHMS, is located in a beautiful wooded setting in Reston, Virginia. We are a small, family-oriented school that offers half-day and full-day child care programs for children 3 years of age through kindergarten. We're not your typical daycare; we're a special place where your child will feel at home from the moment s/he steps in the door. If you're looking for a unique preschool experience, give us a call. Children's House is owned and directed by Keturah Collins, a certified Montessori teacher with more than 30 years experience. We are an American Montessori Society Full Affiliate School. The core curriculum of a Montessori classroom consists of practical life, sensorial, math and language. These areas of the classroom have activities for all ages, and lay the foundation for learning throughout the child's life. Practical Life Skills learned in this area of the classroom lay a foundation for the rest of the curriculum. We introduce socialization skills and the work cycle, and practice fine and gross motor skills. The lessons teach responsibility for oneself, others, and the environment. They encourage independence and promote the development of a sense of order. Some examples of these lessons are: spooning and pouring, scrubbing, polishing, sewing, food preparation, and grace and courtesy lessons. Sensorial These lessons sharpen the senses through comparing and contrasting activities, such as matching, grading, and sequencing objects. Together, these activities form the foundation for mathematical, musical and scientific studies. Examples in the Sensorial area are: matching sounds or smells, matching or grading colors, grading by size, and learning plane and solid shapes. Math Lessons in this area begin with the very concrete and move to the more abstract. A variety of objects are manipulated to learn basic number concepts; place value is learned through manipulating the golden beads. Some examples are: sandpaper numerals for learning the symbols 1–9, the spindle box for understanding the concept of 0, the teens board and tens board for matching quantity and symbol, and the golden beads for understanding the decimal system and performing mathematical operations. Language Our language materials are phonetically based and will help your child develop the skills needed for verbal communication, reading and writing. Examples in this area include games that provide opportunities for speaking, sandpaper letters for learning the sounds of the alphabet, the movable alphabet for constructing words and sentences, many opportunities for reading, and metal insets of design for perfecting the pencil grip.