About
Welcome to Growing Seeds Montessori Children's House Website! We are a small, community based Montessori inspired school. Inspired meaning, we adore and respect Maria Montessori's idea of the prepared environment for the young child. Our school offers the educational material used in the traditional Montessori Method while supporting child initiated ideas about how else they can explore or manipulate the materials around them.
We offer a combined preschool-through-kindergarten program for children age's three to six.
Our school promotes kindness, empathy and acceptance.
Our environment supports children's natural curiosity for learning.
We offer a combined preschool-through-kindergarten program for children age's three to six.
Our school promotes kindness, empathy and acceptance.
Our environment supports children's natural curiosity for learning.
Curriculum and Philosophy
Growing Seeds Montessori Children’s House materials and approach are structured around the following principles:
The Absorbent Mind. This age group possesses an extraordinary capacity, the ability to absorb information from their surroundings. Dr. Maria Montessori named this quality “the absorbent mind.” The child of this age is a sensitive explorer, soaking up every aspect of the environment through all five senses, including language, the actions and behaviors that older children and adults carry out, and cultural ways and expectations.
Mixed Age Group. Feelings of community, responsibility and social cohesion develop when children learn to co-exist. The Montessori group structure enables older, more socially advanced and capable children to practice what they know and to become role models, and younger children can watch and learn from the older children. This way, children learn patience, respect, compassion, and an appreciation for other perspectives, choosing friends based on common interests and not just age. The carefully sequenced curriculum of Montessori materials and activities foster success within mixed-age groups by making available the tools each child needs to progress on his or her individual path of academic development while still experiencing the full benefits of group activities and the social environment.
Physical and Motor Development. To become independent, children must develop motor coordination and control. At this age, children are growing quickly and desiring more and more physical agility. Growing Seeds Montessori Children’s House provides various opportunities specifically designed to develop fine, gross, and eye-hand motor skills. Children can learn everything from tying their own shoes and sewing buttons onto fabric to refining their sense of equilibrium and self-control. Our playground and outdoor classroom area provide bigger challenges and natural motivations to move. Again, freedoms of movement are limited only in regards to safety and respect for others and the environment.
Everyday or ‘Practical Life’ Skills. Practical life activities develop the child’s ability to care for themselves, their environment and contribute to the social community of the classroom. The activities are varied from learning how to button or zip one’s jacket, to washing dishes, and setting a table, to learning the social graces and courtesies that build social cohesion (e.g., waiting to speak rather than interrupting a conversation or offering help only when it is needed). Practical life activities are the foundation for all future academic work because they promote the development of concentration, order coordination, independence and allow the child to experience a complete work cycle.
Sensorial Experiences. Maria Montessori developed the sensorial materials used in our classroom. Her intent was to enable and encourage children to explore, identify and refine their senses and information sensorily, and in turn, to order and classify sensorial impressions. This work stimulates children to make accurate observations that help them make sense of world.
Language. Between the ages of 3 and 6, the absorbent minds of children are especially sensitive to language, both spoken and written. We strive to create a “language filled environment” that leads the child to connect spoken speech sounds to written symbols (individual letters, phonograms and words). This process, combined with the development of writing skills, leads naturally to reading. This process, combined with the development of writing skills, leads naturally to reading.
Mathematics. Knowing how much or how many provides another dimension to understanding the world. Beginning with the manipulation of concrete materials, children follow a sequence of activities, building a secure foundation of mathematic principles, skills and problem solving abilities. This approach makes math exciting and relevant, stimulating what Montessori called “Mathematical minds.”
Science. Young children are natural scientists. Observing and caring for animals and plants creates many learning opportunities as well as a reverence for life, from the smallest insects to the giants of the jungles. Our beautiful outdoor environment provides an opportunity for the children to garden, compost, and explore the native flora and fauna. The natural cycle of plants is experienced from the Spring planting of tiny seeds in freshly turned earth, mixed with the compost that they helped create, caring for their gardens through harvest, and then returning spent plants and leaves to compost in the fall.
Geography. Peoples and places are presented in sensorial ways with specially designed materials and real life experiences. Children learn not only the names of countries but about the lives of people and their unique cultures, learning respect for the ways people differ and recognition of the ways that all peoples are the same.
Music & Art. A bounty of art and musical activities allow the children multiple opportunities for creative and joyful expression as well as to experience great music and works of art with all five senses. This approach leads to an appreciation of the value of art and music in our everyday lives.
Important Information
School Hours
The school hours are 8:30 am until 2:30 pm. The doors open at 8:15 to allow your child to transition into class. Growing Seeds Montessori is an academic preschool/kindergarten and not a daycare. Therefore, we have an arrival time of no later than 9am. Please be respectful of your arrival time as the classroom has a concentrated academic time from 8:30-11:30.
School ends promptly at 2:30. Please be respectful of pick times.
There is a $2 per child, per minute charge for children picked up after 2:30. At 2:45 there is a $5 per child, per minute late fee. This late fee will be added to your regular billing statement. (New 2014-2015 school year)
Contact
If you need to contact the school during school hours please call (707) 799-2587. If you reach our voicemail please leave a message. The voicemail will be checked every half hour. Texting is also available; I will do my best to respond when I have a free moment.
Admission and Trial Period
Children ages 3-6 are eligible for enrollment at Growing Seeds Montessori Children’s House. The school has a two week trial period to ensure that a proper placement has been made. The staff and parents will meet during and at the end of the two week period to discuss progress and concerns.
Tuition and Registration
Registration and tuition fees are non-refundable. Tuition is due and payable on the 1st of each month, September through June. Even though school has not started, September tuition is also due on the 1st. Tuition is figured on a flat rate and does not vary with the number of days attended. An automatic late fee of $20 dollars per day will be charged if your tuition is not paid in full by the 1st. Tuition is due until Growing Seeds Montessori Children's House has been notified, in writing, of your child's withdrawal from the program with a 30-day notice. Receipts will be given upon written request.
If tuition is not paid in full by the 15th of each month, it will be expected that your child(ren) will be withdrawn from school until your account is paid in full. Please note, we may not be able to hold your child’s spot during this time.
If you need to set up your account for payments at a different time other than the 1st of each month, it is expected that you will be one (1) month ahead in your payments.
A yearly registration fee of $175.00 is due upon initial registration and pre- registration each year thereafter.
The September tuition and registration fee will hold your child's spot. Or if you need to make payment arrangements, your September and October tuition, along with the registration fee will hold your child's spot.
There is a summer registration fee of $150.00 which will cover trips, events and season passes to local places.
We will be able to offer some scholarships on a limited bases. Please contact us to speak to our finance department for further questions and to apply. Our hearts are for all children to attend a safe, thriving educational environment, therefore we will never choose tuition over children. If you need assistance please ask, if there is space we can almost guarantee a place for your child(ren) at a rate that is affordable for your family.
Click here for tuition rates
/uploads/2/5/3/0/25304223/tuition_chart.docx
The school hours are 8:30 am until 2:30 pm. The doors open at 8:15 to allow your child to transition into class. Growing Seeds Montessori is an academic preschool/kindergarten and not a daycare. Therefore, we have an arrival time of no later than 9am. Please be respectful of your arrival time as the classroom has a concentrated academic time from 8:30-11:30.
School ends promptly at 2:30. Please be respectful of pick times.
There is a $2 per child, per minute charge for children picked up after 2:30. At 2:45 there is a $5 per child, per minute late fee. This late fee will be added to your regular billing statement. (New 2014-2015 school year)
Contact
If you need to contact the school during school hours please call (707) 799-2587. If you reach our voicemail please leave a message. The voicemail will be checked every half hour. Texting is also available; I will do my best to respond when I have a free moment.
Admission and Trial Period
Children ages 3-6 are eligible for enrollment at Growing Seeds Montessori Children’s House. The school has a two week trial period to ensure that a proper placement has been made. The staff and parents will meet during and at the end of the two week period to discuss progress and concerns.
Tuition and Registration
Registration and tuition fees are non-refundable. Tuition is due and payable on the 1st of each month, September through June. Even though school has not started, September tuition is also due on the 1st. Tuition is figured on a flat rate and does not vary with the number of days attended. An automatic late fee of $20 dollars per day will be charged if your tuition is not paid in full by the 1st. Tuition is due until Growing Seeds Montessori Children's House has been notified, in writing, of your child's withdrawal from the program with a 30-day notice. Receipts will be given upon written request.
If tuition is not paid in full by the 15th of each month, it will be expected that your child(ren) will be withdrawn from school until your account is paid in full. Please note, we may not be able to hold your child’s spot during this time.
If you need to set up your account for payments at a different time other than the 1st of each month, it is expected that you will be one (1) month ahead in your payments.
A yearly registration fee of $175.00 is due upon initial registration and pre- registration each year thereafter.
The September tuition and registration fee will hold your child's spot. Or if you need to make payment arrangements, your September and October tuition, along with the registration fee will hold your child's spot.
There is a summer registration fee of $150.00 which will cover trips, events and season passes to local places.
We will be able to offer some scholarships on a limited bases. Please contact us to speak to our finance department for further questions and to apply. Our hearts are for all children to attend a safe, thriving educational environment, therefore we will never choose tuition over children. If you need assistance please ask, if there is space we can almost guarantee a place for your child(ren) at a rate that is affordable for your family.
Click here for tuition rates
/uploads/2/5/3/0/25304223/tuition_chart.docx