Top 10 Resources for Preschool or Childcare in the Delaplane, Virginia Area

Making sure your child has adequate,and in top ten Preschool or Childcare in your area and engaging childcare as an infant or toddler is number one on the minds of most parents. They want to know what their child will be doing all day.
Are there games and activities that enrich their mornings and afternoons? It is important to make
a list of what you are looking for including the cost, convenience and how suitable it is for your
child and easy to drop off on the way to work. It’s very easy to go on line and ask for the top ten
resources for Preschool or Childcare in your area. You can check each website and read reviews
and see what they have to offer. When you have a list for 3 or more favorites, make
appointments to visit, tour, talk to some of the teachers and maybe even see classes in session.
These days, many families use Care.com to search for in home childcare and they do have a
great reputation. However, if your child is ready to go to school and interact with others, here
are some suggestions.
Care.com This service will provide a Childcare person to come to your home and take care of
your child or children. Their references are carefully checked and they can be tailored to your
needs.
Among the top ten resources for Preschool or Childcare are these examples:

The Goddard School for Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers.

In the Arlington area,
Goddard’s has a comprehensive curriculum for various age groups designed for individual
learning skills, communication, social interactions bonding with teachers learning about the
world around them using the STEAM method. Goddard’s also offers a summer camp program.
Check them out here https://campaign.goddardschool.com.
The Minnieland Academy at Kirkpatrick Farms offers similar programs and enrichments for
infants, toddlers and Preschoolers. Call them to make at appointment after you have read
reviews and information on their website at http://www.minnieland.com/location/minnieland-
academy-kirkpatrick-farms/.
Mountainside Montessori in Delaplane, Virginia is the premier choice for discerning parents.
The carefully designed classes arranged by age groups allows students to actively engage with
others a little older or younger. Students can learn as they play and teachers guide them through
different steps of learning. Come to our website and view our beautiful campus. There is so
much safe open land for children to explore and enjoy. Serving Infants to children up to age 15,
means that Mountainside Montessori is a popular choice and among the top ten resources for
Preschool or Childcare in your area. https://mountainsidemontessori.com.

The Montessori teaching method is well respected giving children the opportunity to learn at
their own pace in a comfortable, supportive and safe environment. Here are some other schools
in your area.

Mountainside Montessori School
5.0 (16) · Montessori School
Marshall, VA · (540) 253-5025
https://mountainsidemontessori.com/

Middleburg Montessori School
5.0 (3) · Montessori School
Marshall, VA · (540) 687-5210
https://www.middleburgmontessori.com/

The Boxwood Montessori School
5.0 (1) · Montessori School
Warrenton, VA · (540) 347-1679
No website available.

Contact the school closest to you for more information and there are more throughout the region.
Give your children the best education possible and the Montessori Method of teaching is well
known and respected. Check with your local school to see if they have any openings and to ask
for more information.
It’s never too early to get them started on the right path to education. Find a Montessori school
in your area. It’s easy to find public results on the successes of Montessori students and here is a
quick look at some you may recognize.

DAVID BLAINE – Illusionist & magician. He has taken something that’s been around for a
long time and created something new and unique with it to entertain us.
GEORGE CLOONEY – Started as a toddler. Academy award-winning actor, director,
producer, humanitarian, and United nations messenger of peace. This Montessori preschooler
made good.
ANNE FRANK – Memoirist & author. Anne Frank’s diary is a natural extension of her
Montessori education. She learned observation skills and how to record her thoughts in a journal.

This has been a sampling of information to help guide you to the right decision for your child’s education.

What About the Montessori Kids?

Anytime you want to ask students about their schools you expect to get a mixed bag of information.  It depends on the ages of the people involved and many other factors, such as age, geographical location, economic situation or their general mood and attitude.

Arianna was homeschooled and did not come to Montessori until the 4th or 5th grade year since she was about 8 years old.  She liked that there were older kids she could learn with and from and that she could pace herself.  The style of learning helped to create new habits that she felt could be used throughout her life.

Meredith felt she had a careless attitude before going to Montessori and it helped her to focus and gain the trust of her teachers.  She learned to work on the things she knew she needed to learn and she learned how to become a leader and help kids who were having trouble. In the second semester we were given notebooks by our teachers to record what we did each day, she said.  The teachers would decide if we had used our time wisely that week and their monitoring helped me learn to manage my time better and this has stayed with me throughout my life.

These methods of learning have impacted them and many others all their lives and helped them learn how to learn, manage their time and form good habits.

Here are some other Montessori kids that may seem familiar to you:

JEFF BEZOS – Amazon founder has an extraordinary ability to learn from others and is proud of his Montessori roots.

DAVID BLAINE – Illusionist & magician.  He has taken something that’s been around for a long time and created something new and unique with it.

JULIA CHILD – Celebrity chef & author.  Julia had an unusual personality and used her gifts to relate to people everywhere with the love and joy she found in her work.

GEORGE CLOONEY – Academy award-winning actor, director, producer, humanitarian, United nations messenger of peace.  This Montessori preschooler made good.

ANNE FRANK – Memoirist & author.  Anne Frank’s diary is a natural extension of her Montessori education. She learned observation skills and how to record her thoughts in a journal.

How many of our current and future Montessori students will be world famous and valued. Will it be your child or someone you know well?

An Overview of Mountainside Montessori

There are so many questions about Montessori Schools, what they are and how they work.  There are also many resources and answers on the internet, so take a look at some of them and see which appeal to you.  Finding a definitive answer for everyone’s question is not easy because we all see things differently, but here is a good example from Wikipedia.  It also contains a lot of resources and explanations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori education Let’s do a comparison of some highlights about Montessori and traditional schools.

            Montessori                                                                              Traditional                              

No set lesson plan.  Children determine direction                  Lesson plans are pre-set per grade.

Children set own schedule.                                                     Teachers work within a time frame.

Students explore and discover                                                Education plans adhered to.

Concrete ideas                                                                         Abstract Ideas

Reality structured                                                                   Role playing and fantasy

Students Order and Responsibility                                         No sense of order for students

Child oriented environment                                                    Teacher oriented

Teachers as guides only                                                          Environment controlled by teachers

Freedom of movement and expression                                   Teacher controls activity

Disorderly conduct is teachers fault.                                      Punishment for disorderly conduct

These are basic ideas that are compared and there are many more ideas to compare.  One good resource is http://www.montessoriint.com/the-montessori-method/comparison-between-montessori-traditional-education/.  It is evident that the Montessori model is much more geared to freedom for a child to learn at their own pace and that traditional schools are more structured, which is what most of us are accustomed to seeing.  Each family needs to decide which method is most suited to their personal goals.

Montessori classrooms are designed in three-year age brackets, such as age 6-9, rather than one age traditional per class.  This allows older children to help younger ones and for them to interact together freely.  Neither do they emphasize textbooks, homework or grades. Students are responsible for their own progress.  Visit our website at https://mountainsidemontessori.com/ and look through our wonderful programs and videos to get a true picture of our school, teachers and classes.

These are some very innovative and interesting ideas to consider when deciding about your child’s education. You will want to be an active participant in which ever choice you make, so get as much information as possible.

Earth Village

The Upper Elementary and Adolescent classes engaged in a wonderful outdoor program with Earth Village Education in Marshall on Monday, October 16, 20017.  The program was lead by Kevin and McNeal who are fabulous outdoor educators.   Read more

Adolescent Field Trips

Sculpture Collection:

Wednesday, Oct 4th, the Adolescent class was invited to walk the grounds of St. Bride’s Farm to view their sculpture collection.  The collection is vast and each piece is both artistically and physically impressive.   Read more

Community Breakfast (by Courtney, 8th grade student)

201709_CommunityBreakfast_5

September 21 was International Peace Day and the adolescent class had their first Community Breakfast of the year. Although we had a smaller crowd than expected, it was a good experience. Read more

Adolescent Odyssey 2017 (by Courtney, 8th grade student)

Every year the Adolescent class goes on an Odyssey trip in the beginning of the year. The purpose of an Odyssey trip is so that we can bond as a class as the year begins and share time exploring sites and living together for a few days. This year our first day was rainy so we altered our plans and adjusted to the weather by spending it at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.  Many students have family members who served with the Marines at various times.The museum was incredibly informative and all had fun and learned a lot.

Adolescent_Odyssey_201709_MarineMuseum

 

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Adolescent Trip to Blandy

The AdolescAdolescent_Blandy_1ent group got an early start on spring break by taking in the beautiful blooming trees and flowers at the Virginia State Arboretum in Blandy, VA.  The students used the self-guided materials to explore the park and enjoyed an al fresco lunch.
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A Grizzly Discovery (by Mason, 8th grade student)

The Q?rius “A Grizzly Discovery” program (pronounced “curious”) is a hands-on forensic educational program. The goal to this is to determine whether bones found in the forest belong to a missing person who disappeared in that same general area. The instructors provide all of the bones and provide instructions and assistance in using them to determine if they belong to the person missing.

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The Cat Story! (by Nora, 7th grade student)

img_5468The adolescent class of Mountainside Montessori School went on their Odyssey Camping Trip on September 14th. When they got there they started setting up the camp, and Rachael said, “Everyone be quiet”. There was a little kitten sitting right behind everyone. Everyone tried to get a little closer, but the cat kept on hissing and moving back into the bushes. Zoe suggested giving him food. The students gave the cat pepperoni for the first time, and he loved it. We also gave him tuna salad! That night he decided to stick around for dinner. For dinner he was served fresh hamburger, and then he ran into the forest. He came back later that evening while everyone was playing charades, and watched from a distance.

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