About Blooming Minds
About Our School
Did You Know?
Jeff Bezos (founder of amazon.com) and Larry Page & Sergey Brin (cofounders of google.com) attended a Montessori school. They credited their years as Montessori students as a major factor behind their success.
Our Mission
Blooming Minds Montessori will provide a safe, nurturing , and stimulating environment where children will be educated through enriching activities that prepare, embrace, and promote learning. Our preschool will help your child achieve their learning potential, while enabling their mind to bloom with socialization, knowledge, creativity, imagination, and the necessary skills needed for the foundation and success in future years of schooling.
Curriculum
Blooming Minds Montessori approaches education from the premise that children thrive when they become the lead participant in their acquisition of knowledge. When children are allowed to explore they become interested, when they are interested they become engaged, and when they are engaged the true learning happens.
Fueled by their inner desire to discover, they become active participants in their education and they take themselves further then any teacher could take them alone. Engaged children are self-motivated, happy, joyful, excited, curious, capable, responsible, independent, confident children who learn that learning is fun and develop the skills to become life-long learners.
As educators, we are here to provide a rich environment and to guide each child through this environment along his or her unique path of exploration, interest, engagement, discovery and self-development.
Our Goal
Blooming Minds primary goal is to prepare each child for all walks of life. We provide interactive environments in which hands-on exploration engages the mind; interactive environments where learning becomes a process of self-motivated curiosity and discovery; interactive environments where children cultivate a lifelong love of learning along with the higher-cognitive brain functions critical for advanced problem solving and lifetime success.
Cultural Customs & Religious Beliefs
Our students (toddlers and early childhood) study and learn to respect major cultures and religions, however, we do not promote any particular one. We will recognize and celebrate different holidays throughout the school year.
Snacks & Lunch
Blooming Minds Montessori will provide a morning and afternoon snack. These snacks will consist of crackers, pretzels, fruits, vegetables, etc. If your child is enrolled in a Before or After School Enrichment Program there will be a snack offered then as well. Families will be expected to provide their child with a lunch everyday.
We study nutrition throughout the school year, helping children practice making healthy food choices. Please help your child to prepare his/her own lunch with healthy food choices in mind. Please note that we do have a refrigerator and microwave available for your child’s lunch.
Our Programs
Dr. Montessori observed that as museums and cathedrals are designed for contemplation and inspiration, so should schools be designed as temples of learning. Every classroom features classical art, music, plants, animals, and beautiful materials.
The entire Montessori learning environment is designed to be supportive of the child. Teachers, classrooms and equipment are carefully selected and prepared to provide a learning environment that is fully equipped and beautifully presented.
The Montessori classroom contains a wide variety of multi-sensory, sequential and self-correcting materials which facilitate the learning of skills and lead to an understanding of abstract concepts. Materials are arranged in graduating order so children can see their progress as they master each task.
Infant Community
The Sprouts: 6 Weeks – 12 Months
Blooming Minds infant program is for children ages 6 weeks-12 months. In our Sprouts class, we strive to foster the development of basic trust.
Teachers assist in the natural development of personality, based on unique needs and wants, they respond appropriately to the infant’s needs to be loved, respected, and accepted.
We believe that nurturing infants through their senses is very important to the infant so we allow them to observe and move freely while still offering them the holding and feeding comfort they need.
We have created a special routine that we maintain everyday so that the infant feels secure in their environment yet we stay flexible to an infants’ daily need. We pride ourselves in developing a stronger sense of self, self-confidence and independence in infants to start preparing them for our next program.
Toddler Community
The Sunshines: 12 Months to 24 Months
The Raindrops: 2-3 Years
Our toddler community provides an environment that is carefully prepared to meet the unique needs of this age group. In each setting, the children come to feel that the classroom is their own peaceful, special space where they play a meaningful role in their own care and the care of their environment. All furniture is a size that allows maximum independence, and the Montessori toddler materials are designed to be attractive and inviting to the children.
The primary goal of our toddler communities is to create a nurturing and secure environment where young children can do what they do best – explore everything! The main focus is language and motor development, assisting the child in developing self-help skills (including toilet-training), and helping children build trust in relationships.
The entire environment is designed to allow the children to explore and to develop concentration and coordination. The teachers observe the children each day and monitor their development and readiness. Social interaction, language skills, independence, food preparation, outdoor play, music and movement activities are integral to the Montessori toddler experience.
Early Childhood Community
The Bumblebees: 3-4 Years
Our Bumblebee Program begins to really dive into the Early Childhood Montessori philosophy- it is a great prerequisite for our Early Childhood Blossom program.
The environment is carefully prepared to facilitate exploration and discovery. We have practical life, math, language, science, art, and geography works available for children to explore during work time. Practical life activities include washing hands, wiping tables, pouring water, grasping with tongs, and many others.
Phonic awareness is important for children in this program- they learn how to break apart a word by sounds before they even begin to recognize the written symbols. Once a child recognizes that sounds make up words, the child learns to associate the letters with sounds. For math, children begin to recognize numerical symbols, and they begin to associate quantities with the symbols. Toilet training is also a huge focus for our Bees!
The Blossoms: 4-6 Years
The Blossom Program allows the child to focus upon ordering their environment and to become familiar with academic concepts through concrete manipulation. A love of learning results which prepares the child for a lifetime of education.
Maria Montessori called this period, from age 3-6, the Absorbent Mind. The Early Childhood classroom is divided into several different areas (Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math, and Cultural, Art, and Science) and within these areas, the exercises are logically organized from simple ideas to the complex, and from concrete to the abstract.
Each area has hands-on materials which are geometrically shaped, simply designed, aesthetic, and suitable for small hands. Interaction with these high-quality materials, rewards the child with a range of sensorial experiences. Our language arts focus includes phonemic awareness with letter boxes and objects to attract and retain children’s interest.
Our Pink reading program emphasizes reading and writing words at progressive levels to help children blend syllables and practice writing them. Math is introduced with a variety of concrete materials—all designed to build children’s conceptual awareness. Social studies and science are arranged in integrated thematic units that are rotated monthly- these thematic units include language arts, math, and art curriculum.
Children also participate in movement activities such as dance & yoga daily, which are part of the BMM emphasis on the whole child.
Kindergarten: Must be 5 by September 1, 2021
The Early childhood Montessori program is designed as a three-year cycle. The third year, or Montessori kindergarten year, is when all the learning that has taken place in the previous two years reaches fruition and a child’s knowledge begins to fall into place. Your child will be challenged to reach his/her potential by his/her Montessori teacher who knows your child incredibly well and so can provide precisely what is needed next. Children build upon what they have learned, experience rapid academic and social growth and their skill level dramatically increases when they are given the opportunity to consolidate their knowledge within the Montessori classroom. Third year students are ready to explode into more complex learning and discovery and they delve into a wealth of new and interesting materials. They are guided to take on more and more complex work, begin to learn time management skills and have an increased set of expectations and privileges in the classroom. These older children also reinforce their academic skills by helping another child, a well-documented way to consolidate knowledge.
Your child has been unconsciously looking forward to being one of the “big kids” in the classroom so when he/she is put into a school where the kindergartners are looked down upon as being in the “baby class” his/her cycle of maturing is interrupted. It is especially unfortunate for a child who is a younger sibling at home to miss this opportunity to shine. This year of leadership gives a child immeasurable self-esteem and intellectual confidence.
A key advantage of staying at our school for the Kindergarten year is that your child’s teacher already knows your child very well so no time is lost at the beginning of the year trying to assess him/her. The gift of this third year can never be taken away and it sets up a child for future academic and social success.
Meet Our Team
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Montessori?
The Montessori education system is based on the philosophy of Maria Montessori. She was the first woman to graduate as a doctor of medicine in Italy at the turn of the century.
She began working with poor children, establishing a school, or “Casa de Bambini”, which provided a child-oriented environment in which the children worked on specific skills such as buttoning, sweeping, reading and math. This class of underprivileged children soon exceeded the goals for children in the traditional schools.
The Montessori Method today is world-wide and very much the same as it was 100 years ago.
Is Montessori education religious in nature?
We honor the spirituality of the child at BMM but do not espouse any particular religious belief. As a school we celebrate human diversity and incorporate traditions from many different cultures and religions into our classroom studies.
What schedules do you offer?
You can choose 2, 3, or 5 days per week- you can choose which days as long as we have those days available. Please check out our Tuition section for more info.
What is your tuition?
Do you offer a ½ day or part time hour’s option?
No. Our only part time option is part time days. All students attend, at the minimum 8:30am-3:30pm.
Do you have a waiting list?
Yes, we have an active waiting list. If you would like to be added to the list, you can just call and request to be added. We will call the list as spots become available. At re-enrollment time, we will call the individuals on our waiting list before opening enrollment to the public. Please call to find out what spots we currently have available.
How can children learn if they're free to do whatever they want?
Dr. Montessori observed that children are more motivated to learn when working on something of their own choosing. A Montessori student may choose his focus of learning on any given day, but his decision is limited by the materials and activities—in each area of the curriculum—that his teacher has prepared and presented to him.
Is Montessori a franchise?
Since “Montessori” is a person’s name it cannot be copyrighted. Anyone is free to use the name whether or not their program includes Montessori techniques, equipment or certified staff.
The test of a true Montessori school includes asking for American Montessori Society (AMS), International Montessori Council (IMC) or Association Montessori International (AMI) relations for staff members and for the school as a whole.
Parents should be welcome to observe classes and will notice a happy, harmonious atmosphere, respect of teachers for children, respect of children for teachers, and a full complement of well-cared for, authentic Montessori materials in each class.
What is the role of the teacher in a Montessori classroom?
The teacher’s role is to control the environment, not the children. The teacher prepares the materials and demonstrates how to use them
What are your hours of operation?
We are open M-F 7am-6pm. Our academic school day runs from 8:30am to 3:30pm. We offer before-care starting at 7:00am and after-care until 6:00pm, at an additional cost.
What ages do you accept?
6 weeks to Kindergarten.
What are the advantages of attending school four or five days per week?
1. Consistency is important to a young child. Between 3 and 5 years of age the child is just beginning to grasp the concept of time; today, tomorrow and yesterday. In order to ensure a smooth transition and normalization period the child needs to attend school consistently so there is no confusion each morning as to whether this is a “school day” or not.
We find this is important to toddlers as well as consistency is huge in a toddler’s world.
2. Our comprehensive curriculum covers a different topic each day of the week. This curriculum is designed to begin with the most basic concepts at the start of the school year and slowly build on each of them, integrating each subject into the rest of the classroom so that the child can discover how each is interrelated.
For instance, at Thanksgiving we combine Monday’s lessons on art with Tuesday’s lessons on seasons and the Thanksgiving Timeline, Wednesday’s study of North America, the original inhabitants and endemic species, Thursday’s literature including stories about Native Americans, Pilgrims, and North American plants and animals and Friday’s study of Botany which includes parts of the plant and which edible plants will be included in our Thanksgiving Feast.
If a child has missed only Tuesdays and Thursdays, she has missed a huge portion of this lesson.
3. Our teaching methods are based on the concept of allowing the child plenty of time to practice each skill.In Early Childhood we have found that if a student is attending sporadically his academic, social, and emotional progress will be sporadic as well.
4. Each day the entire class is introduced to new lessons, participates in community roles, such as caring for the pets and updating the calendar, and listens to announcements, often told in storyteller fashion about upcoming events.
The class assumes a family like closeness with each member relying upon the others to perform their role, and all working together toward a common goal such as putting on a play or planning a party. A child who is frequently absent often feels left out.
What are your student to teacher ratios?
We are state licensed and follow the state recommendations:
Blossoms/Kindergarten: 3 teachers to 29 students
Bumblebees: 2 teachers to 20 students (1 part time aid)
Raindrops: 2 teachers to 14 students (1 part time aid)
Sunshines: 2 teachers to 8 students (1 part time aid)
Sprouts: 2 teachers to 8 students (1 part time aid)
Do Montessori teachers follow a curriculum?
Montessori schools teach the same basic skills as traditional schools, and offer a rigorous academic program. Most of the subject areas are familiar—such as math, science, history, geography, and language—but they are presented through an integrated approach that brings separate strands of the curriculum together.
While studying a map of Africa, for example, students may explore the art, history, and inventions of several African nations. This may lead them to examine ancient Egypt, including hieroglyphs and their place in the history of writing. The study of the pyramids, of course, is a natural bridge to geometry.
This approach to curriculum shows the interrelatedness of all things. It also allows students to become thoroughly immersed in a topic—and to give their curiosity full rein.