703-481-2922Pre-Primary
(18 months - 3 Years)
Physical and Emotional Needs
Our uniquely prepared toddler environment meets the young child’s many physical and emotional needs.
Right Environment
The classroom is beautifully designed to appeal to the child’s curiosity. Furniture is custom-sized to allow for maximum exploration and development of the senses.
Classroom exercises include sensorial work, and instruction in math and language. As the child grows emotionally, physically, and intellectually, the activities in the classroom continue to change to meet his needs.
In many instances, this is the first experience the child has of being a member of his own “society.” The child is encouraged to be a functioning member of this society, thus leading him to a feeling of pride and dignity. Waiting one’s turn, sharing, and patience are important lessons that each child learns.
The Montessori teacher offers the tenderness, warmth and patience so essential at this age. An emphasis on the importance of a peaceful environment, along with the necessary nurturing and caring, are characteristics of this program.
Practical Life
“I did it myself” is a favorite phrase of children in this age group. Their desire for independence pushes them to explore their environment and gives them the persistence to accomplish challenging tasks. In this area of the Montessori classroom, the challenges of daily tasks are isolated in manageable activities.
The complexity of a task is slowly increased to gradually build skills and confidence while nurturing the need for independence. Children learn the basics of self-care; from feeding themselves, wiping their noses, and washing their hands, to dressing themselves, using the bathroom independently, and managing their own belongings.
Responsibilities such as tending classroom plants and checking that the shelves are in order give children a sense of pride and accomplishment. Through guided interactions and modeling, young children learn the basics of problem-solving and appropriate social conduct.
Key Outcomes
This area of curriculum also extends to social skills and etiquette. Children are taught to tend the environment of the classroom and to respect the needs of others as well as themselves.
Please, feel free to talk to us and reach us for more information.
01. Sensorial
Sensorial activities aim to develop a child’s awareness through his senses. By matching and comparing increasingly similar objects; Sensorial activities invite a child’s attention and curiosity. As a child gains the ability to quietly attend to his senses, he can move from visual comparisons to differentiating textures, sounds, smells, and weights. Supplementary activities such as nature walks and food preparation enhance the young child’s awareness of their surroundings and their senses.
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02. Language
Language is verbal, conceptual, and written. The work in a Language section is designed to support developing language in these areas. Verbal language is encouraged through group activities, guided conversation, modeling, vocabulary lessons, reading, and interaction. Conceptualizing language begins with understanding visual representations, being able to recognize pictures of objects, create logical sequences, and recognize patterns. Written language activities aim to refine motor control by tracing lines first with fingers and later with writing implements.
03. Math
Math for this age group encourages exploration of quantities with tactile materials and fuels a child’s natural curiosity about counting and reading numerals. One-to-one correspondence is used as a control of error while children become familiar with graduating quantities, eventually reading and understanding numerical symbols.
Curriculum
Learning Focus
Focus is to facilitate and assist children to meet their exploratory urge, so that they can confidently pursue the learning.
General
Children learn the basics of self-care; from feeding themselves, wiping their noses, and washing their hands, to dressing themselves, besides recognizing by images.
Reading & Writing
Children learn verbal, conceptual, and written language skills through group activities, guided conversation, modelling, vocabulary lessons.
Mathematics
Children become familiar with graduating quantities, eventually reading and understanding numerical symbols.
Reston Montessori Pre-Primary Class Gallery
Testimonials
What Parents are Saying
Parent /Gaurdian on Greatschools.org
We’ve been part of the RMS community for the past 8 years, and both my children have absolutely thrived at the school (one is in kindergarten there now, and the other was there through third grade). The teachers are dedicated and caring, the schoolwork is interesting and challenging, and the specials offered are excellent (French, art, music, etc). The school truly feels like one big family, and it’s a really nurturing environment for kids of all ages and backgrounds. I especially like the cultural diversity of the school, and the fact that the teachers and staff do such a good job honoring and teaching about a wide variety of holidays and cultural practices. In reading some of the other reviews, I have to clarify that the school *has* had quite an effective COVID mitigation strategy in place. What the previous poster neglected to say is that the teacher/student COVID cases mentioned in that post were literally the only two COVID cases in the school all year. The school *did* indeed communicate those cases to the entire school via email. RMS went to great lengths, in fact, to minimize class size and create new teaching pods in favor of smaller groups when COVID first started. They also have hand sanitizer everywhere, kids wash their hands often, and all staff and students wear masks indoors. Overall, we truly love the school and feel that it’s been a great, supportive environment that’s helped both our kids become the best version of themselves from an academic, social and emotional perspective.
A review by parent on greatschool.org
My children have been at Reston Montessori (RMS) since they were only a few months old. After touring many schools in the area, from the moment we walked into RMS it was nurturing, kind, welcoming, adaptable, and have gone above and beyond for our children. The RMS teachers and staff are not only excellent and nurturing teachers but the curriculum and structure is far and above others. We have also experiencing some issues with the owner, but my children are not learning from the owner, they are learning and with teachers and their peers everyday. I would also add in the five years we have been at RMS my children have not experienced any turnover in teachers or aides in the classroom.
A Parent's review on greatschools.org
I love Reston Montessori School. The teachers have fostered a love of learning in both of my children. We have found it to be academically challenging and nurturing at the same time.