Alpine Montessori offers a developmentally appropriate infant care center, pre-school, kindergarten and before & after care program that nourishes and enriches the lives of children. We apply the Montessori method and care for your children in a loving and respectful environment where they are stimulated by their own natural curiosity and desire to learn every day. Research shows the significant growth in children’s brains from birth to age 6. Their minds are like sponges absorbing the world around them. For generations, we have taken this to heart, offering programs that teach children how to be independent, happy, and loving individuals. At Alpine Montessori, no matter what the age, children learn by doing!
Sparta, NJ: Pre-school, Kindergarten and Before & After Care
Quality pre-k and kindergarten during your child’s most formative years is important in giving them a solid foundation from which to grow. Focusing on delivering self-directed education that promotes growth and development in all aspects of life (i.e., social and cognitive), Alpine Montessori provides the perfect start to your child’s educational journey.
Our Sparta School uses the Montessori Method which encourages your child to learn in a way that is most effective to their specific skillset. When combined with our before and after school care program, your child will have the perfect opportunity to put their skills into practice.
Oak Ridge, NJ: Infant Care, Pre-school, Kindergarten and Before & After Care
The Alpine Montessori School in Oak Ridge provides both infant care and high-quality education through a variety of self-directed methods, allowing your child’s innate ability to develop and grow in the most natural way.
With our commitment to ensuring that children of all abilities are given the building blocks from which to thrive, our Montessori school is the ideal nurturing environment to aid in your child’s social and emotional development from a very early age. Our teachers are highly trained to provide a wide range of educational activities on a daily basis that incorporate play at your child’s own pace.
Why Choose Alpine Montessori?
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Educational Growth
Strong academics lay the foundation for our little learners to excel for years to come
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Love of Learning
Encourages children to explore & learn at their own pace while reinforcing a lifelong love of learning
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Social & Emotional Growth
Peer interaction & positive reinforcement are critical to the balanced growth of each child
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Tenured Teachers
Highly experienced with many of our core staff developing young minds & hearts for over 10 years
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Nurturing Environment
Focus on loving care that makes our schools feel like your ‘home away from home’
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The Right Ratios
Teacher student ratios closely monitored to enhance the one-on-one time each child deserves
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Unmatched Reputation
Long standing reputation with +25 years of service to generations of children. Word of mouth testimonials from our parents and area educators alike… just ask around!
Curriculum
Practical life exercises are the basis of the Montessori environment. Not only do they promote concentration, but they help children grow in independence and develop a spirit of friendliness and helpfulness.
Life Exercises include many familiar objects – buttons, brushes, dishes, pitchers, water and many other things that the child recognizes from his home experiences. Although the Practical Life Exercises may seem simple and commonplace, they are actually a very important part of the Montessori program. Each of the tasks helps a child to perfect his coordination so that he will be able to work later with the more intricate academic materials. Practical Life Activities fall into three categories:
1. Manipulative Skills:
A child begins pouring, carrying containers/books and sorting
2. SELF-DEVELOPMENT SKILLS:
A child learns social graces, courtesy and personal care
3. CARING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT:
Children learn to care for the environment by sweeping, washing, dusting and polishing.
Sensorial Materials teach children to recognize what they see. Equipment is designed to refine the senses, helping children learn to compare, contrast, and distinguish between objects.
Each of the sensorial materials isolates a defining quality, such as color, weight, shape, texture, size, sound, smell, etc.
At Alpine Montessori in Sparta and Oak Ridge, we use the Open Court phonics system along with the Montessori Method. We use the Lippincott Shapebook and Letterbook series. The reading skills that children acquire will make future days in school a rich, productive, and enjoyable experience.
To be able to write, a child must develop a two-fold skill. They must commit to memory the shape of the letters and their corresponding sounds, and develop the muscular skills necessary for using a pencil with control. In our classrooms, we also use sandpaper letters and a movable alphabet to assist in learning letters and sounds. Metal Insets are also used in the classroom to develop pencil control. These two skills are combined together to aid in learning to write. A child must commit to memory the shape of the letters and their corresponding sounds and develop the muscular skill necessary for using a pencil with control.
Word-building exercises are used; e.g., matching words and pictures.
As part of our daily program, we include activities that introduce students to several foreign languages, such as Spanish, Italian, Japanese and American Sign Language.
Oak Ridge: Spanish, Italian
Sparta: Spanish, Japanese, ASL
Children build up their concept of numbers and their ability to concentrate through the manipulation of concrete materials. Dr. Montessori designed these concrete materials to represent all types of quantities after she observed that children who becomes interested in counting likes to touch or move the items as they enumerate them. In a Montessori environment, children not only sees the symbol for 1, 1000 or ½, they can also hold each of the corresponding quantities in their hands.
Later, by combining this equipment, separating it, sharing it, counting it, and comparing it, they can demonstrate the basic operations of math.
Puzzle maps help children to visualize their world. Children are encouraged to become aware of their own culture, as well as to be accepting of others. Through these maps, children learn geographical skills such as the names of countries and information about them.
From botany and zoology puzzles to card games and booklets, our wide range of science activities will broaden children’s awareness of the world around them. Students will carry out various science experiments in the classroom, helping each child to become more observant of environmental concerns and characteristics.
An art easel is provided in the classroom and available each day for children’s individual use. Numerous art projects are incorporated into our program throughout the year.
The Montessori Method
The Montessori method is an approach to teaching and learning that recognizes the tremendous capacity of very young children to absorb the environment that is their immediate world. The classroom environment is prepared so that children can experience the satisfaction of concentration and independent work and develop the intellectual, social and physical skills which make life engaging.
