In Danville, CA, the best preschool options include a high-quality Montessori program that offers wonderful enrichment programs in a developmentally appropriate and caring environment.

What Makes Montessori Different?

Unlike a traditional classroom, Montessori schools are centered around the concept of a holistic approach to education. In addition to the core subjects of math and reading, the Montessori method places a great deal of emphasis on learning real life skills and social-emotional lessons. Children are also given a great deal of freedom to choose the lessons they would like to work on each day and work through them at their own pace. Because of the independence and self-pacing of the lessons, many children thrive in this type of environment.

What do Children Learn in a Montessori Preschool?

A Montessori classroom consists of four core subjects and several other lessons to create a whole-child approach to education.  

Practical Life lessons teach the child how to care for themselves and their environment. These lessons teach important life skills such as grooming, cleaning up after oneself, using tools and utensils and refining their fine and gross motor skills. These lessons are often among some fo the first lessons children learn when entering a Montessori classroom.

Sensorial lessons use hands-on materials to engage all of the child’s senses. Through these lessons, children learn visual discrimination, order and foundational math skills to prepare them for future skills.

The language lessons range from basic pre-reading skills such as matching, rhyming and finding things that go together to advanced reading and writing lessons. By walking through important reading skills one at a time, children are able to learn all the fundamental tools needed to become great readers.  

The Montessori math lessons build on many of the Sensorial lessons to refine the child’s ability to discriminate quantities and numerals. In a primary Montessori classroom, children learn with hands-on materials to count and complete advanced math functions. Each child is given the opportunity to build a solid mathematical foundation by providing all the building blocks they need to truly understand the math concepts.

In addition to these core subjects, a Montessori classroom contains rich materials that teach children about geography, science, peace education, art, music and movement. All of these lessons are designed to give the child an understanding of their place in the world and help them reach their fullest potential. They help unlock the creative and compassionate natures of the children. 

Our Danville location also includes the opportunity for children to participate in a Mandarin immersion program. With robust exposure to a new language, young children can typically learn much easier than adults. Children can experience many benefits to participating in a language immersion program in an early childcare setting.

To learn more about the best preschool in Danville, CA, contact us at Fountainhead Montessori today. Our staff can tell you more about the wonderful offerings a Montessori experience can bring to your young child and family as a whole.