Montessori School of Northampton Programs

The Children's House welcomes children between the ages of 2 years 9 months and 6 years. The school and its programs are open from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM daily. The regular Children's House hours are from 8:30 AM until 11:30 AM, 12:30 or 3:00 PM and are described in more detail below.

Little Children's House meets three mornings a week from 8:45 to 11:45AM and is limited to twelve children ages 2.9 to 3.6 years of age. Students enrolled attend Little Children's House for the school year and the following year move into Children's House I, II or III.

Children's House Morning Program

This three-hour session offers your child a whole group experience at meeting time, as well as the opportunity for the sustained independent work that is the core of the Montessori method.

Children of mixed ages work side-by-side, individually, with a teacher, and in small groups or pairs.

The well-equipped classrooms offer a wide variety of materials for exploring the senses; refining everyday living skills; becoming acquainted with mathematics, written language, geography, natural science, art, music; and understanding other cultures and communities. Much emphasis is placed on social skills and creating a cooperative classroom community. There is an outside period during this session to complement the morning with attention to development of physical coordination and skills.

Lunch Club:

Many families choose to extend their child's morning to include our Lunch Club Program. Friendships are developed over a meal together, and teachers have the opportunity for extra conversation with your child. Lunch is followed by special activities and a group story time.

Montessori Extended-Day Program:

This program extends the Morning Montessori Program through Lunch Club, into the afternoon session.

The full day offers a follow-through of the learning of the Morning Montessori Program where concepts are explored in more depth. There are also group lessons and opportunities to participate in cooking, science experiments, walks for nature study, imaginary play and other enriching activities.

Kindergartners have "Kindergarten meeting" each day while younger children nap. Activities include Spanish lessons, writers' workshop, art, music and movement, poetry and language fun, and reading and discussion of chapter books.

Elementary Program:

Our Elementary Program welcomes children ages 6 through 12 years. The school and its programs are open from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM daily. The regular Elementary Program's hours are from 8:45 AM until 3:15 PM, with before and after school programs available. The Elementary program offers a rich and varied curriculum including language and literacy skills, mathematics, geography, cultural studies, botany, zoology, the physical sciences, the arts, field trips, and research projects.

Each child has the opportunity to follow the general curriculum, traveling at his or her own pace with the personal assistance and guidance of the teachers. Individual classroom materials permit a varied pace and accommodate many levels of ability in the classroom. Some children may work for many days or weeks on the same project in a variety of ways while others in the same class may move very quickly from one activity to another. Whatever their learning styles, children are always challenged by the wide variety of materials and their many uses.

The students are given key lessons and then suggestions for extension of the exercises. Related activities are given but not elaborated upon. This allows for further activities by the children who are motivated according to their individual interests.

Vacation mini-series

Similar to the after-school program, students will partake in an array of activities such as: free play, games, art projects, story time, lunch and rest time, and some special activities such as sing-alongs and puppet shows. The program runs from 7:30 am to 5 pm. The sessions are offered during school vacations which fall in December, February and April.