3. Current Flow of the Day for CH children not yet Kindergarten Age
11:30 dismissal
Morning Work Cycle 8:30-11:20
Transition to
EC
Lunch in
lunchroom
Recess
Nappers Nap
in lunchroom
EC 1pm-3:30, 4:30 or 5:30
Dismissal from EC
4. New Flow of the Day for CH children not yet Kindergarten Age
11:30 dismissal
Morning Work Cycle
8:30-11:30
Lunch in
classroom
Recess
Nappers Nap
in nap room
3:30 dismissal
Afternoon Work Cycle
1-3:30
EC 3:30- 4:30, 5:30
or 6pm
Dismissal from EC
5.
6. What will not change?
• You can still enroll for the morning work cycle
only. The 11:30 pick-up will remain.
•You can still contract for the 11:30-3:30 block
of time. You do not need to commit to 5 days a
week.
•You can still “drop-in” for the 11:30-3:30 block
of time.
7. What will not change?
•You can still contract for EC as you do now only
now the afternoon will open at 3:30.
• Children will nap at the same time they do
now
•We will not lose staff because of this change
8. What will change?
•The EC will be open from 7:30-8:30am and again
at 3:30pm. Pick up times will be 4:30, 5:30 or
6pm.
•Toddler aftercare will be open until 5pm.
19. Have questions?
We had a healthy Question & Answer session after the
presentation and assume you will have your own set of
questions. Please do not hesitate to ask them!
Please see Marnie if you have general questions about the
program, scheduling, contract or drop-in’s . Contact your
Guide if you have specific questions regarding your child.
Editor's Notes
Marnie McPherson : Welcome
To understand the changes we need to understand what is happening today.
New flow for next year.
Notice that in the new flow, there is less green. The green boxes are transitions. Transitions are hard on young children and are an aspect of the day that can cause stress. By making this change we eliminate our largest transitions.
You can still enroll for the morning program only – the 11:30 pick-up time will remainYou can contract for the 11:30 – 3:30 time block as you do now. If you need 3 days a week, great. If you need 5 days a week, great.You can “drop-in” during the 11:30-3:30 time block. If you have a root canal and don’t want to bring your 4 year old along with you, fill out a drop in form and leave them here for the day. Drop-in really is for those types of needs, the infrequent needs. If you know you will have needs that are more consistent, we suggest contacting for those times.
EC contracts and drop-ins will still be available, however it won’t open until 3:30pm. Naptime will still start at 1pm and take place in the room we use now. The first concern our Board of Directors had about this change was for our staff. Would we loose anyone over this and the answer is no. The staff here in the afternoon now will still be needed in the afternoon next year, however they may be in a different part of the building. Dishes will still need done, the nap room still needs supervised. Although some roles may change, no job is at risk because of this.
We will be extending the hours for the EC from 5:30 to 6pm. Our current hours have made our school not an option for some prospective families and although we believe that a shorter day is ideal for children, the reality for working parents is that this is a challenge. We feel that if children have to be somewhere other than home for so many hours in of the day, this is the best place they could be. Toddler aftercare will be expanding by a half hour and close at 5pm, again, to address the needs of working families.
The faculty,administration and the board of this school have long discussed making this change. It is an approachmost AMI schools across the nation have made over the last many years and we have been able to study their success using this format. As a part of this most recent discussion, the Board of Directors brought in an AMI consultant, Connie Black, who helped define the pedagogical reasons for moving to this format. Amanda Puchrieter will be sharing more that that in a few minutes. The Board, the Guides and myself feel that this is the next natural phase of evolution for our school and the staff are united behind this change.
Amanda Puchreiter:In 1907 Maria Montessori gave up all her commitments to focus on educating the “normal” child. She was asked to establish a center in the slums of the San Lorenzo quarter of Rome to care for 50 preschool aged children who were left completely unattended while both parents worked.
This is when the first “Casa dei Bambini” or “Children’s House” was born.
This extended amount of time in the prepared Montessori environment will give your child further time for concentrated work or complete work they were not able to finish in the morning cycle.
We strive to respect the child who is concentrating and give them the feeling of infinite time with minimal interruptions or transitions. With more time comes more repetition, which helps the child internalize information and solidify it to memory.
A mixed aged classroom is the pillar to the Montessori philosophy and keeping the children in a mixed aged setting all day is what we are striving for. The older children will continue to be mentors to the younger while the younger will benefit by having role models to observe all day. It also gives the younger children more of a change to view the BIG WORK the older ones are doing.
In the Montessori environment the role of the Guide is to follow. We are the followers of your children, of their ideas, interests their goals and all their dreams. We give them the keys to unlock their full potential. With the flexibility of our new programming, you can choose the best option for your family and truly, follow your child.
