Primary

The activities in this area resemble many adult tasks that a child sees at home. These ordinary routines, or “chores,” that are part of everyday life are familiar, and children are eager to imitate what they see. Practical Life activities are created using real, attractive, functional, and child-sized tools. Some activities include washing, dusting, plant care, dressing, and food preparation. In addition, children are given tools to establish a culture of grace and courtesy through lessons and daily rituals.

Children develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, concentration, independence, and sequencing skills. The activities help children learn to care for themselves and their environment. Work in Practical Life lays the foundation and prepares the child for all future learning.

Dr. Montessori observed that children cannot think abstractly about something they have never touched. Sensorial materials help children develop and refine their senses by providing concrete representations of abstract concepts. Each material is carefully designed to isolate a specific quality— such as dimension, color, sound, or weight— so the child can perceive the physical property through their senses. 

By manipulating and exploring the materials, children develop the ability to discriminate and classify the physical qualities of the world around them. These materials lay the groundwork for future mathematical concepts, language experiences, and provide indirect preparation for handwriting. When a child later encounters the concept of “heavier,” “rougher,” or “taller” in language, mathematics, or science, they are returning to an experience stored in their hands and body.

The Children's House language curriculum provides children the tools and experiences they need to explore language and build literacy skills. Children begin by tracing sandpaper letters with their fingers, learning the shape and sound of each letter through touch. This same motion— tracing letter forms in sand trays, on chalkboards, and eventually on paper— prepares the hand for writing. 

Writing emerges before reading through the Moveable Alphabet. By arranging letters to build worlds, children discover they can construct language before they can decode it on a page. This repeated, hands-on encoding leads naturally into phonetic reading. From there, children move into phonograms, sight words, grammar, and sentence structure.

Language is woven throughout the classroom, not confined to one area. The cultural materials in art, music, science, and geography continually expand the child’s vocabulary and support the development of oral and written language. 

A rich language environment builds listening skills and expressive ability. As children refine their hand control and their ear for sounds, they gain the confidence to write and express themselves creatively. Many children become eager and capable readers before the end of Kindergarten.

Following the principle of moving from concrete to the abstract, children first meet the idea of quantity through the Number Rods— ten wooden rods of increasing length— paired with sandpaper numerals the child traces with their fingers. Once children can confidently match a quantity to its symbol, they’re introduced to the four operations of math with hands-on materials.

Using the Golden Beads materials, children physically carry, borrow, and exchange quantities as they perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, experiencing the mechanics of each operation with their hands before ever working with numbers alone. Over time, a carefully sequenced series of exercises guides children from these concrete experiences toward memorization and abstract computation.

Through this hands-on exploration, children build a deep, intuitive understanding of mathematical concepts. As they progress from concrete to abstract, their awareness expands to include numeration, the decimal system, place value, and the four operations, laying a foundation for mathematical thinking that goes beyond memorized facts.

Children's House Garden
A central pillar of Montessori philosophy is the child’s connection to the natural world. The Children’s House Garden is a natural space and essential extension of the prepared indoor classroom— a living space where the same principles of freedom, order, accessibility, and purposeful engagement continue to guide the child’s development. Our Garden Coordinator offers Practical Life activities, sensorial exploration, and activities for imaginative building and discovery every morning.

Land School
Land School faculty work with young students at the Urban Campus, teaching through storytelling and hands-on demonstrations and explorations of Land School materials (wool, maple syrup, seeds). They work with students to plant and tend gardens at the Urban Campus, enabling children to experience the joys of nurturing life firsthand. These initial connections with nature lay the groundwork for a lifetime of curiosity and stewardship and prepare students for visits to the Land School at the Elementary level. 
Core Concepts: Working with hands, peaceful community, stewardship

Physical Education
Kindergarten students attend Physical Education once per week, engaging in fundamental motor skill development, the practice of body awareness, and teamwork.

Music
Children's House students engage in weekly music gatherings where they explore concepts such as rhythm, pitch, percussion, and musical expression through directed listening activities, movement, and vocal exploration. 

Spanish
While LCS is not an immersion program, Children's House learners are exposed to Spanish daily. Spanish is used in a natural way through typical interactions, songs, transitions, and weekly collectives using basic vocabulary such as elements of the calendar, weather, body parts, and clothing. Children develop an ear for sounds in the world language, learn everyday words, and by their third year, use some of the language they are exposed to while they interact with simple functional phrases.

Foundational identity and belonging lessons are integrated throughout the year through classroom conversations, literature, cultural studies, and Grace and Courtesy.

The Equity, Diversity & Justice (EDJ) Advisor collaborates with classroom teachers to provide developmentally appropriate lessons focused on identity, fairness, inclusion, and respectful language.

Supplemental materials are provided for classroom reinforcement.

Our Health & Wellness curriculum is designed for students to explore their identities and deepen their knowledge at developmentally appropriate levels.

Led by our Wellness Coordinator, students at the Children’s House level explore concepts of consent and healthy relationships within Montessori Grace & Courtesy lessons, as well as basic human biology.

Children's House teachers are in regular communication with our Learning Support Team to address student support needs as they arise. In addition, Kindergarten students participate in a Dyslexia screening and follow-up as needed. 

If LCS identifies a child who needs more individualized support in the school setting, there are a wide array of options to consider. Based upon a variety of factors, LCS determines what services students with learning and/or mental health challenges will receive from our team of Student Support Specialists. These factors include the presence of a diagnosis, the level and type of need, and the availability of specific types of support.

For Full Day 3 & 4 Year Olds
The Children’s House program for three and four-year-olds first involves a half-day in their assigned classroom from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. This three-hour work cycle provides the ideal balance of engagement for children in the prepared environment. It allows them to have meaningful learning experiences in the classroom while also giving them ample time to play, rest, and recharge at home.

We know the majority of parents/guardians are working full time; therefore, we offer the option for our three and four-year-olds to enroll in a Full Day Program.

Afternoons for 3 Year Olds
After lunch, Full Day three-year-old students transition to the Nap Room. Staffed by a trained Montessori guide and Children's House assistants, the program includes nap/rest time, a work period, recess, and an afternoon snack. The environment is equipped with Montessori materials, puzzles, manipulative toys, and art activities. Although Montessori principles are followed, it is not a duplicate of the Children’s House classrooms.

Four-year-old and Kindergarten students remain in their classroom during the afternoon. 

Students in Children's House do not use computers or any other digital technology and do not receive instruction from technology devices. Our emphasis is on concrete and hands-on natural materials. The children have the freedom to choose these materials and work with them independently after receiving presentations.