Chico Montessori Children's House

This is my son's third year here. He started when he was 2 1/2, and is now in his Kindergarten year.



The classroom is a wonderland of activities for the children to explore at will. Younger children gravitate towards the "sensory" and art areas, while older children begin moving on to the language and mathematics areas, but any child may choose any activity that interests them.



Because of the mix of ages in the classroom, the older students get to help the younger ones, and they learn to interact with children besides their year-mates.



The teachers are amazing. Drop by the private "observation room" any time of day, and you can observe the classroom through one-way glass. What you'll see, at first, is chaos. Children moving from activity to activity, at will. The teacher stands back with her arms folded, and watches her flock, while the assistant is at a table, engaged in some hands-on activity with a number of children. Then, you'll see the teacher move: She reminds a child to put one activity away before taking another. She helps another child with a book. She shows two active boys playing with brooms how to also use the dust pans. Then back to watching for a minute, until another child comes up, grabs her around the knees in glee, and shows her a drawing.



Somehow, in all of this, each child gets individual attention, and Teacher sees all. It's really amazing.



There are no limits placed on the children in terms of their learning. They may follow a subject as far as their interest leads them, which often leads them surprising places.



When we started having some problems with our son, due to some things he'd been through, our teacher was supportive, and helped us find solutions before the problems could become serious.



The teachers seem to truly care about each individual child. We'll be very sad to leave.