San Lorenzo Montessori strives to assist children attain the fundamentals of life at an early age. We focus on developmental skills that will enable a child to be independent, social, self-confident and to become life-long learners. At San Lorenzo Montessori (SLM) the children's potential is unlocked by providing them with a beautiful, enriched and challenging environment filled with age and size appropriate materials.

San Lorenzo Montessori's Primary program accepts children age 2¾ to 5½ years old. The classroom offers a half day, five day a week program for children 2¾ years old to 4½ years old, called the Children's House and a full day, five day a week program for Kindergarten age children called the Extended Day. Both Children's House students and Extended Day students are in the same classroom.

We Are "Different"

At San Lorenzo Montessori we believe in helping to develop each student's independence, concentration, and problem solving abilities, and that these fundamental skills are the key building blocks to a child's future success. Our desire to create a "True Community" within the school allows the staff, in conjunction with parents, to create a place of belonging for their children. This naturally leads to a nurturing environment where the children can work towards developing their fullest potential through their work with the Montessori materials.

The Teaching Style

Today in America alone, over 5,000 schools use the Montessori Philosophy. Dr. Montessori introduced the concept of observing each child to discover their specific characteristics, learning style, and needs. The Children's House Philosophy is based on a 3-year work cycle, with children starting Montessori between the ages of 2½ & 3 years old, and staying until their Kindergarten year, or 6 years old. This allows the teachers to meet each child's individual needs within a structured and nurturing environment over an extended period of time. The teacher can focus on a child's individual milestones by really getting to know each child.

The children "work" with materials developed by Dr. Montessori that meet their needs and developmental milestones. The environment fosters a community atmosphere, where children assist each other and work collaboratively together for the good of themselves, each other, and the classroom community.

The teacher presents materials to the children, either one-on-one or in small groups, depending on the material.

Exploring the Environment

The Montessori Classroom, often called The Prepared Environment, allows children the freedom to be themselves and learn at their own rate, within the limits of a structured environment. A chaotic environment can cause stress, confusion, and frustration to most children. A Montessori classroom provides a safe, calm, peaceful place for children to explore their strengths, work on their weaknesses, and learn new concepts. The children develop various skills, such as concentration, gross and fine motor skills, positive social interactions, positive discipline skills, and emotional growth, over a period of 3 years.

The Prepared Environment is fundamental to the success of Montessori. Each classroom provides the right amount of educational materials to enable a child to work. The classroom is separated into subject areas: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math, Geography & Culture. The children receive presentations on the materials in the classroom, and are able to work on the materials to develop specific skills.

In the Montessori classroom, there is a mixed age group of 2-and-a-half-year-olds to 6-year-olds. This gives the children freedom to work at their own individual pace without fear of competition or criticism. Older children will assist the younger children, which develops self-confidence and positive social interactions. Younger children model the older children, which creates a community of peace and joy while learning academic and life skills.

Teacher Ratio - 1:1 and 1:30+

The average teaching ratio in a 3 to 6 Montessori classroom is one trained Montessori teacher and one assistant to 25-28 children. Each classroom should have approximately 8 to 10 children per age group (3, 4 & 5/6 year olds), and an even number of girls and boys. Since the Philosophy for the Children's House is based on the child attending for 3 years, each classroom accepts approximately 8 to 10 children a year, and loses 8 to 10 children who graduate to First Grade. Two-thirds of the classroom remains the same, which will assist the transition of the new students into the Environment. In addition, rolling admission throughout the year allows children to start the program whenever they are ready, rather than only in September.

The trained teacher is able to observe the classroom and guide each child, dependent on their needs and interest level, to the correct materials.

At SLM we are licensed through the Office of Children & Family Services (OCFS) and follow all State requirements and regulations, including the State teaching ratio which is 1:7. We offer a mixed age classroom, adhering to the Montessori philosophy within State regulations.

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