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| School History | MDS At A Glance | Inquiry Form |
Primary Summer Fun Program (Ages 3 to 5) Elementary Summer of Discovery Program (Ages 6 to 10) Our Summer Fun program is available by the week. You may choose one week, several weeks or the entire eight weeks; whatever works best for your schedule. While our Summer Fun program for 3-5 year olds offers a different curriculum than that of our school program, its approach is Montessori oriented. The materials are displayed on child sized shelves and children are free to move about and choose their own activities. Younger children learn from watching older children and older children help the younger ones. Children are encouraged to develop independence while at the same time to become a part of a caring community. Learning to work together and talk about problems is an important part of our program. In addition to activities focusing on the strands mentioned above, children can choose general materials Our Summer Fun program offers children who will be joining our Montessori classrooms in the fall a chance to get to know us. This usually leads to an easier adjustment to our educational program. Montessori Discovery School staff members lead our Summer Fun program. Summer Fun integrates the following activities throughout the entire eight weeks: ARTS & CRAFTS COOKING MUSIC AND MOVEMENT SCIENCE AND NATURE
Summer Fun (Ages 3 to 5)
Our Summer Fun program for 3-5 year olds mixes fun withlearning in a Montessori way. Summer Fun offers childrena framework of order and routine but also gives them freedomto choose what they want to do. Rather than divide oursummer into theme weeks, we offer an integrated approach.Four basic strands are woven through the summer: arts andcrafts, cooking, music and movement, and science andnature. These are themes that we revisit each year. Someprojects are so popular that children ask for them again &again; others are new experiences. Our approach is flexibleso projects follow children’s interests.
such as puzzles, blocks and a whole range of everyday living activities such as sewing, pouring, spooning, etc. Although we usually eat lunch inside, sometimes we’ll have a picnic lunch outside in the shade. When it’s really hot we make nutritious yogurt and fresh fruit smoothies. We have two playgrounds for outside fun that includes water play.
Children love to work with their hands and stretch their creative instincts. Arts and crafts offer so many possibilities. Some of the things we will investigate include making our own placemats, sewing, making puppets to use in a play and creating sculptures out of recyclables.
Young children love to cook. We slow down and cook for the fun of it. Cooking encourages fine motor development, thinking skills and cooperation. It also helps children learn to work in sequence and, best of all; they get to eat their own creations! During Summer Fun, children will make their own snacks using herbs and vegetables from the school’s garden. They’ll learn basic cooking skills, how to follow a recipe and how to wash dishes. We’ll make smoothies & popsicles, home made pizzas & pasta.
Singing and dancing are ways of bringing joy into our lives. Children are drawn to experiment with their voices and bodies. We’ll sing songs, play rhythm instruments and listen to all sorts of music. We can even take a musical trip around the world without leaving the classroom!
We’ll investigate our own backyard and collect things like sticks and stones, plants and flowers to build our own miniature villages. We’ll plant and harvest things from the school’s gardens. We’ll visit the llamas and hens and learn all about eggs. We’ll learn about birds and keep our own bird count by watching our window bird feeder.