The Children’s Montessori School of Georgetown is a member of the American Montessori Society. In addition to their formal education, our lead teachers either hold Montessori Teaching Credentials or are actively working toward obtaining them. In our school, children’s education is tailored specifically to the needs, rhythms, and talents of each child. Multi-age classrooms are utilized with two programs grouped by age, with children working together from fifteen to thirty-six months and from two and a half years to six years. The multi-age classrooms allow the younger students to learn from older peer role models while giving older students the opportunity to build self-confidence and self-esteem as they become leaders in the classroom. The curriculum and materials are adapted to suit everyone from the youngest members of our community to the oldest.
CMS has a Toddler classroom, two Primary classrooms, and an outdoor learning space, each of which is carefully prepared to optimize the educational experience. In our Toddler and Primary classrooms students spend the day working with Montessori materials and, of course, having time for lunch, outdoor recess, and rest when necessary. After 3 pm, students may take part in special enrichment classes such as Spanish, Yoga, or Art.
Children’s Montessori School of Georgetown is a place where children learn from an early age to be independent. What that means goes far beyond washing their own dishes, making their own choices, or standing up to do what’s right—it means that they learn how to learn. They become natural leaders, discovering that they can learn anything they desire without being taught in a traditional manner. That is, they become “self-teachers” in the sense that they build a desire to understand that they know they are capable of figuring out for themselves.
What makes CMS special is the gentle guidance that its teachers provide to children to sharpen this skill. They employ the Montessori teaching method to discover each child’s gifts and interests, and to help them use those gifts as they continue to learn. Children become passionate about finding out everything about everything! One of the wonderful things about the Montessori method is that there is no limit to curriculum for a certain grade or age, as there is in a traditional classroom. That means when a kindergartner is ready to learn multiplication, division, and square roots, he does; when a four year-old is ready to read chapter books, she does. And the CMS teachers are there to guide her, without limits to what she can learn, nourishing each child’s unique skills and interests while ensuring that all topics are covered over time.
Along with the guidance of learning skills and knowledge to prepare children well-beyond the kindergarten level, the teachers at CMS also teach them to love their community and their environment. Our staff espouses the core values of respect, responsibility, compassion, honesty, kindness, and awareness. Students learn to respect their world and all the diverse people and creatures in it.
At CMS, we believe these are the skills that create the leaders of tomorrow—teaching children to find beautiful solutions to difficult problems. It is the goal of CMS that our graduates become kind, deep thinkers, who grow helping each other and become the caring citizens our world needs.