June, July, and August

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Summer offers a wonderful opportunity to fully utilize our outdoor environment.  The gardens, meadows, wooded area with its nature walk, and a nearby stream create a classroom without walls, so to speak, a perfect setting for the expansion of botany studies.  It also facilitates the children in linking the materialized abstractions of all the Montessori activities to the outside world.  

MUSIC & NATURE – A NATURAL PARTNERSHIP

“Nature Trail, Summer Program”® is part of the curriculum.  It is a component of the “MUSIKGARTEN”® program that we use throughout the school year.

Music engages the ear through listening, vocalizing and moving.  Nature furnishes a living exploratory environment which engages all the senses, particularly hearing.  Touch and sight confirms them through movement.

The curriculum includes a rich selection of folk songs, which link children to their musical heritage.

GARDENING

During the summer session, the children care for the vegetable garden which they may have helped plant in the spring.  In addition to weeding and watering the plants, the children enjoy picking and preparing the vegetables for lunch and snack. They also tend the herb garden and the many flower gardens located in various sites of our campus.

ART

IN THE ART STUDIO the children will explore different types of art medium daily.  Each week new techniques in painting, collage, weaving, printing, and mosaics will be introduced.  The children will be inspired by nature and use natural materials to enhance their work.  On a typical day, the children may make nature rubbings outdoors to create a collage in class, or they may use pressed flowers to create a mosaic pattern.   

HANDICRAFTS 

Embroidery, applique' and fabric painting are some of the activities reserved for afternoons.

LUNCH AS AN ACTIVITY

The extended morning provides additional time for the children’s involvement in cooking and baking and the preparation and serving of lunch.  This is an integral part of the Summer Program.  Lunch is included in the fees.

SPANISH

The children will be immersed in Spanish language throughout the day, led by fluent assistant teachers.  This is a continuation of the format used during the school year.

WATER PLAY

Sprinkler and other water activities are reserved for the late afternoon as a respite from the heat.  Our students in this years's summer program even received professional swimming lessons from Teresa D'Aprile, who is also a Flamenco dance instructor. 

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