• Foundations
• Philosophy, Mission, Goals
• Underlying Principles
• Curriculum Spiral
• Curriculum
• Preschool
• Kindergarten
• Grades 1-2
• Grades 3-4
• Grades 5-6
• Specials - Music & More
• Activities & Events
• Beyond the Curriculum
• Enrichment Programs
• Parent Guild Activities
• Before-School and After-School Care
• Lunch Program
• Summer Camp

Daycroft’s Preschool Curriculum

In Daycroft’s preschool program, your child takes the first steps toward discovering the joy of learning. The Montessori Developmental Aims — Order, Independence, Concentration, Coordination, Self-Confidence, and Self-Discipline — are introduced at this stage, and continue to be emphasized throughout your child’s Daycroft education. Daycroft begins accepting children for preschool at a minimum age of 33 months.

Flexible scheduling allows parents to mix full-day and half-day sessions for their preschool children as needed.

Practical Life

Order is important at Daycroft, where most activities follow certain steps for completion. The shelves, works, classroom, and teacher express order, as physical order brings about order within the child. Concentration develops as a child chooses what to do and manipulates the work. Coordination comes from using one’s body to complete the work. Independence is also encouraged. Activities allow children to do the work themselves with success, leading to greater self-confidence.

Sensory Education

The preprimary years are a time of rapid physical development. Children at this age like to manipulate objects, and through this manipulation they become aware of the objects’ characteristics: roughness, emptiness, size, color, and more. Sensory education prepares children directly for their intellectual education by perfecting the organs of sense and the nerve paths of projection and association. Indirectly, sensory education helps the child adapt to his or her environment.

Language Arts

Daycroft’s preschool students develop good listening skills, and have many opportunities to use and experiment with language in the classroom. Activities incorporate early reading and writing skills. The placement of materials on our rugs introduces the child to the left-to-right sequence used in reading. Sorting exercises help refine the motor skills required to hold and write with a pencil. Sorting also helps the child understand likenesses and differences—an aptitude needed to recognize letters and words.

Mathematics

Daycroft’s preschool math curriculum provides a sense of order, and aims to develop concentration, coordination, independence, predictability, exactness, concreteness, logic and reasoning, problem-solving, decision-making, and a mathematical mind. Concepts covered include: numeration, the base ten system, linear counting, the four operations, materials leading to abstraction, and memorization.

Creative Play

In the Daycroft preschool classroom, the Creative Play area encourages and inspires your child’s imagination and enhances his or her cognitive abilities. The time your child spends here also helps develop social awareness of the global community as well as individual roles within the community. Activities in this area integrate and complement the skills gained from other areas of Daycroft’s Montessori curriculum.

Learn more about preschool at Daycroft Montessori School:
A Typically Productive, Enriching, and Fun-Filled Day in a Daycroft Preschool Classroom
Parents: Enjoy Flexible Scheduling for Your Preschool Children at Daycroft

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