What is the Toddler Community?

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Our Toddler Community serves children beginning at age 16 months in a classroom of up to 12 children, with a Montessori trained teacher, a morning assistant and an afternoon assistant. Joyful and spontaneous, our program is designed to meet the unique developmental needs of young children, and so it includes a great emphasis on language development, large and small motor coordination, and independence. Our work with toddlers centers on each child’s desire to “help me do it myself.” All furniture and activities are perfectly sized for their small bodies and hands. The classroom environment is beautiful and organized. At the age of 30-36 months children move to the Children’s House. The Toddler Community is based on the developmental needs of toddlers, and so we seek to facilitate development by:

• Providing a nurturing environment that fosters a love of learning and a sense of curiosity

• Helping children develop self-esteem based on experiencing themselves as capable and as valued members of a community

• Giving children the opportunity to develop friendship, empathy, compassion, and generosity

• Offering an appropriate balance of freedom and discipline in order to help children develop inner discipline and the ability to make good choices

• Supporting children’s concentration and experiences of being “in the zone” which leads to inner peace as well as absorbing new knowledge

• Feeding the child’s intellect through exploration with all the senses, a language rich environment, and fulfilling the child’s need for order (which is the foundation for organizing the mind and critical thinking)

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What is a typical day look like in the Toddler Community?

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Here is a typical day: Arrival: Children arrive for the school day at 8:30. (Children can attend early morning care beginning at 7:15). They start their day by hanging up their coats, putting on their indoor shoes, and greeting their teachers and friends. Breakfast is served at 8:30. Work Cycle: Children have an uninterrupted morning of hands-on activities, and the staff work with children one-on-one or in small groups. Types of activities include:

1. Practical Life: Children delight in doing activities from everyday life that are scaled down to toddler size. Examples include peeling and slicing bananas for snacks, scrubbing tables, flower arranging, and practicing zippers.
2. Fine Motor: We have a variety of manipulatives like puzzles, shape sorters, and stringing beads.
3. Language: We offer language objects and picture cards to enrich the children’s vocabulary. We enjoy sharing lots of songs, books, and poems.
4. Art: Our art philosophy is “process not product” and we have different types of art mediums for children to explore including paint, clay, crayons, and chalk.
5. Outdoors: We go outside to our natural playscape daily.

Lunch: We provide a hot lunch in the classroom. The children set the table, pour milk for themselves, and clean up afterwards. Half-day: Half day children go home at 12:45 pm. Nap: Children rest on comfy cots. Afternoon: The children eat a snack. Children go outside again or continue exploring the classroom environment until their parents pick them up. between 4:00 pm (the end of the school day) and 5:30 pm (when after care ends). Toileting: Using the toilet is part of the routine throughout the day. To facilitate toilet learning, all children wear underwear.

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What is the Children's House program?

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Our three Children's Houses serve children ages 33 months to 6 years (preschool and kindergarten. Each classroom has about 27 students, one lead Montessori-trained teacher and one to two assistants. Our program emphasizes language development, mathematical thinking, peaceful problem solving, and physical, social, and intellectual independence. Children stay in the same classroom for three years, ensuring that teachers get to know their unique learning styles and that they become strong, confident leaders. Children ages 3 and 4 are enrolled in our tuition-based preschool, Bright Water Montessori. Prospective kindergartners must enter a lottery to be enrolled in the elementary program. Our work with the children centers on each child's desire to "help me to do it by myself." We provide many practical life and art activities, from baking, sewing, and painting to scrubbing tables and caring for plants. We provide a wealth of language activities that inspire children to be passionate about storytelling, learning the sounds of the alphabet, writing, and reading. To help build children's mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills, we encourage children to work with manipulatives that teach them to count and to understand quantity. Our overall approach is to serve the whole child and help him or her fully develop socially, emotionally, physically, and intellectually.

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What does a typical day look like in Children's House?

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Here is a typical day: ​

• Arrival: The children arrive between 8:45 and 9:00 am (or can arrive as early as 7:15 am for our before-school program). They begin their day by hanging up coats, putting on indoor shoes, and greeting friends and teachers.

• Morning work: Children have an uninterrupted morning of hands-on activities in four main areas: practical life (everyday activities like flower arranging and food preparation), sensorial (hands-on exploration with the five senses), language (spoken and written language), and math using manipulatives like blocks and beads. The teacher shows children new activities one-on-one or in small groups.

• Snack: Children help prepare morning snack for their classmates and have their snack two children at a time throughout e morning.

• Recess: They go outside to our nature playscape for 30 minutes of outdoor play.

• Lunch: We provide a healthy hot lunch in the lunch area.

• Nap or rest: Depending upon their needs, children rest in the classroom or take a full nap.

• Afternoon: Children continue their hands-on activities until their parents pick them up, between 4:00 (when the school day ends) and 5:30 (when after-care ends).

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What is the Elementary School program.

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A free, public charter school, JJ Legacy is an urban-based Montessori program designed to inspire students to be passionate, life-long learners. We are an intentionally diverse community of children and caring adults. The elementary Montessori program is a holistic approach to help children develop intellectually, physically, and socially into respectful, caring, and engaged young people. Each elementary classroom has about 27 students, one Montessori-trained teacher, and one to two assistants. All Montessori classrooms include a three-year age range, ensuring that teachers get to know children's unique learning styles and that children become strong, confident leaders. Our Elementary school includes these environments:

1. Kindergartners are a part of the Children's House, where they hold the responsibility of the leader.
2. Children in grades 1 to 3 are together in a lower elementary classroom. Our lower elementary classrooms are named Canary Prairie and Eagles Nest.
3. Children in grades 4 to 6 are together in an upper elementary classroom. Our upper elementary classrooms are called Gray Wolves and Black Bears.

Our work with the children centers on children's desires to become independent learners and contributing members of their classroom community. We provide a rich curriculum and hands-on materials in the areas of language, mathematics, geometry, geography, biology, zoology, history, art, and music. Children have ample opportunity to develop their social connections and problem solving skills as they work in collaborative groups.

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What does a typical day look like in an Elementary Classroom?

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A typical day in lower and upper elementary classrooms includes:

• Arrival: The children arrive between 8:45 and 9:00 am (or can arrive as early as 7:15 am for our before-school program).

• Morning work: Children make a to-do list for the day of the work they plan to accomplish. They have an uninterrupted morning of hands-on activities in language, mathematics, geometry, geography, science, history, art, and music. Throughout the morning, small groups of children are invited to lessons with the teacher. During work time, children choose where they work and with whom they work (as long as they are respectful and productive).

• Snack: Children help prepare morning snack for their classmates and have their snack two children at a time throughout the morning.

• Recess: They go outside for 30 minutes of outdoor play.

• Lunch: We provide a healthy hot lunch in the lunch area.

• Afternoon work: Children continue their lessons and hands-on activities until 4:00, when our regular school day ends.

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