Our School
“Free the child’s potential,
and you will transform him
into the world.”
–Dr. Maria Montessori
Our School
–Dr. Maria Montessori
Julia Street Montessori School is an authentic Montessori preschool and kindergarten program for ages 3-6.
We implement an authentic Montessori curriculum that instills a love of learning, flexible thinking and fosters independence helping each child to reach their fullest potential while nurturing each child’s whole development.
Come and visit our beautiful campus in a historic neighborhood behind Claxton Elementary near downtown Asheville. We have a beautiful, natural playground and a spacious classroom.
We emphasize service learning and connecting to our local community in a variety of ways.
The Montessori Prepared Environment
The “prepared environment” is Maria Montessori’s belief that the environment can be arranged to facilitate maximum independent learning and exploration by the child.
Every Montessori preschool classroom is divided into the five main Montessori subject areas: Practical Life, Sensorial Development, Language, Mathematics, and Culture & Sciences, and our classroom is no different.
Additionally, there is usually an area set aside for artistic projects and outdoor area for play and further experiential learning.
Main Areas of the Classroom
“…the Montessori classroom is a true preparation for real life.”
– Dr. Maria Montessori
Math
Maria Montessori believed that children can absorb mathematical concepts naturally. The direct aim of the Montessori math materials is to work towards abstraction. Many math works are done parallel to each other.
First, we start with numbers to ten this is the foundation for math. The child learns one to one correspondence, name of numbers and that numbers each represent a certain quantity. Once proficient from one to ten we move to the Decimal System and place value using golden bead materials. Simultaneously, we begin working on teens and tens. Montessori teachers are skilled at moving the child thought the curriculum from success to success with lots of repetition. Montessori math materials are sequenced from concrete to abstract.
Sensorial
,Dr. Montessori observed that children absorb information about their world through their senses. The sensorial materials develop and refine the five senses and build a foundation for speech, writing and especially math.
The materials bring a sense of order to children’s experiences. Refining the senses are at the core purpose of the materials. There are a variety of skills children develop in the sensorial area. Children work with color, grading, patterning, texture and sequencing, just to name a few. The materials are self correcting, helping to develop pincer grasp for writing, some even correlate to advanced abstract mathematical concepts.
Practical Life
This area is a direct link to home for the child. The materials in the practical life area are real and purposeful and instantly capture the child’s interest. The child is doing real work like polishing, scrubbing, tonging, scooping and pouring. The direct aims of the area include coordination, concentration, independence and a sense of order.
All the skills gained in this area are necessary to work in other areas of the classroom. At first, we isolate each skill until the child has become proficient. Practical life works include Care of the Environment, Care of the Person, Grace and Courtesy, and Control of Movement activities. All of these support fine and gross motor skills.
Language
The language curriculum begins as the child enters the environment, they hear precise vocabulary within all areas of the classroom.
Dr. Montessori believed the child within the ages of birth through six has an absorbent mind for the acquisition of language and words. When a child is exposed to a literacy-rich environment language will come effortlessly.
At Julia Street Montessori we return to the total language approach in the environment through storytelling, poetry, and storybooks we connect our cultural studies through biome reading materials.
Geography & Cultural
The Montessori cultural area provides us an opportunity to explore and learn about the world. We dive into each continent and many cultures of the world, children learn about people, terrain, animals, music and foods of each continent as we study them over a three year cycle.
After working and learning with the world map children move on to each of the continent maps, we have separate puzzle maps for each continent.
Science
Maria Montessori discovered that children have a real desire to learn the names for things, they enjoy the natural world around them and want to help take care of it. We use nomenclature materials she created to teach parts of the tree, leaf and flower.
In the three year cycle children learn about living and non-living and move into five vertebrate classes. Children enjoy learning how to care for plants and animals in the classroom.
Julia Street Montessori has been such a lovey experience for our 5 year old. The teachers are so kind and patient and focus on your child as a whole. It has been such a nurturing environment for our daughter to learn.
We’re so grateful for this sweet little school.
Address
15 Julia Street
Asheville, NC 28801
Phone
(828) 254-6014
