Our Commitment to Early Learning
Fostering independence and curiosity through Montessori principles.
Our Mission
Fostering a Supportive Community
Montessori Children’s Center is a supportive community, applauding the individual and diverse gifts of children and adults. Our classrooms are safe and nurturing environments where the child is allowed to explore and discover his or her unique place in the world. Our Montessori teaching enables us to strive to understand the individual needs of each child in our care, including their physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs, while we create an interdependent community to help propel a strong sense of connection and support development.
Aesthetically Designed for Holistic Growth
Our environments are aesthetically designed to invite the child to learn with a full heart, mind, and spirit. We work closely with families to support and nurture the healthy development of children. Our teachers are supported and sustained with ongoing Montessori training and professional development in a warm, familial environment that inspires dedication and personal growth.
Commitment to Our Local Economy
As a small business, we contribute to the local economy by using local resources and drawing employees and business support from the surrounding area.
Highest Quality Care and Education
Offering the highest quality in childcare and Montessori curriculum, our programs are designed to support and nurture the parents and teachers who surround each child on their important Montessori journey from infancy to early childhood.
What our Logo Means
Our logo of three stars and a heart exemplifies the ideals of our center. We are, at our heart, a Montessori center, supporting the children in our care at each level of their development—infant, toddler, early childhood—as they reach their potential, the stars in our logo. We aim to assist them as they grow toward independence, confidence, and self-esteem, and to help each develop a lifelong habit of learning, curiosity, and collaboration. It is the light of their natural intelligence that we look to nurture.
Welcome Letter
From the Director, Dr. K.T. Korngold
Dear Parents,
We know that many of our families first come to us because we are a child care center offering full-time, year-round care for children as young as three month old in a beautiful and safe environment. We also know that many of our families are drawn to us because we are a Montessori center and, as such, provide a rich curriculum of development, education, and learning for the children in our care.
When you visit our environments, you’ll see children happily engaged. The rooms are peaceful and quiet; the children are joyful. Even the youngest children are busy: “reading” a book, discovering their new ability to climb the stairs. See a toddler delight when she discovers something new she can do by herself; watch as two early childhood children bend their heads together, working cooperatively; listen to the sounds of three children discussing their work around the easel.
Please take a moment to explore our website, as it provides insight into our philosophy and the daily life we share with your children. This will help you see the benefits of the mixed-age groups in action: infants (3 months to 18 months), toddlers (18 months to 36 months), and early childhood (3 years to 6 years) as we assist children in growing and developing in a supportive, non-competitive environment that supports their learning at their own pace.
We are honored and privileged by the work you enable us to do with and for your children at the Montessori Children’s Center. We look forward to working with you in the years ahead in this meaningful task of assisting your children as they grow.
Your children are the stars in our logo. We are grateful to be able to use the tools of our trade, our Montessori training and practice, to help them shine.
The Montessori Difference
Dr. Maria Montessori believed that children need positive role models who treat them with respect rather than from a position of authority or intimidation and from whom they could learn respectful behavior. Through her observations of children, she saw that by being in an environment that enabled them to cultivate respect for others and practice social solidarity, they would express moral character.
- Mixed-Age Grouping: Children experience a mixed-age grouping so they can become role models for each other.
- Freedom within Limits: At MCC, children model for one another, respect each other, and behave responsibly when their ideas are accepted and they are allowed to make choices.
- Benefits: This allows the children to direct their learning, develop concentration, express their agency, and fully engage in their activities without interruption.
Montessori Children’s Center offers personalized learning programs focused on a child’s development.
- Infants eat and sleep according to their own schedules.
- Children choose their work based on their interests and curiosity.
- Children are invited to explore, solve problems, collaborate, and trust in their own abilities.
- Most children enter as infants or toddlers, enabling them to be fully engaged in Montessori for the first four or five years of their lives.
- 12-month program schedule creates a strong, stable foundation of continuity and routine from which to grow.
Our primary task is to help the children in our care construct themselves to flourish in an increasingly challenging world. The most important assets we believe our philosophy offers to help sustain them throughout their lifetime are a love of learning, confidence, agency, and the ability to adapt.
It has been suggested that most people will change careers at least two or three times during their lifetime. Introductions of new forms of technology will continue to alter the pace of life. How can we best prepare our children for the changes facing our society when we can’t even anticipate what those future demands will be? We believe we can prepare them by offering a curriculum that develops and supports their abilities to think logically, cope with change, cooperate with others, identify problems, solve problems in new ways, articulate their own thoughts, values, and ideas, and be respectful of the rights and concerns of others, and to help protect the earth.
Goals
Our basic goals for all children include:
- Engendering a positive attitude toward learning and school.
- Fostering inner security, self-confidence, independence, agency, and a sense of order and organization.
- Developing habits of initiative, perseverance, grit, self-control, and cooperation.
- Nurturing social interactions and mutual respect.
- Promoting the healthy growth and development of each individual.
- Supporting social, physical, and learning skills.
- Encouraging intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation.
- Encouraging the light of each child to shine while being able to respect the needs of others.
- Promoting peace in our classrooms and communities and throughout our world.
Montessori Philosophy
The Montessori Children’s Center’s approach to teaching is based on the Montessori philosophy of education. We are committed to the Montessori approach to learning in all aspects of our center, including:
- Teacher Preparation: All head teachers are Montessori trained and certified or in the process of their certification. We practice lifelong learning, with over 15 hours of professional development each year and annual membership for all our staff with the American Montessori Society, as well as supporting ongoing engagement in academic learning for staff (bachelor's, master's, or doctoral level).
- Materials: We use Montessori materials for all age groups.
- Classrooms: We utilize multi-age classrooms: infants (3 months to 18 months), toddlers (18 months to 36 months), and early childhood (3 years to 6-year-olds).
- Environment: We foster respect for differences and celebrate the unique contributions and light of each member of our community.
- Respect for the Individual: We view the child as a developing person with self-motivated curiosity, a desire to learn, and the ability to master skills when provided with an environment that has been prepared to allow him/her to develop at his/her own pace, with “just enough help."
- Grace and Courtesy: We work to have our children develop in a nurturing environment that helps them understand mistakes are part of learning and that grace and courtesy can help smooth the way for our interactions with each other. We model how to resolve social conflicts in a peaceful and respectful manner.
