Montessori Schoolhouse
Montessori Schoolhouse for ages 5-12 is our touchstone program, with ample opportunities for outdoor play and exploration, indoor studies with Montessori materials and K-8 content learning, guided choice, and certified educators.
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About Our Schoolhouse
Our Schoolhouse is an elementary Montessori classroom for ages 5-12. With multi-age groupings and certified educators, we prepare the room for all ages – and content learning for kindergarten to eighth grade. Our work cycle includes planning, choice, connections with peers and content, and closing. We believe and find that this is an ideal experience for homeschoolers seeking a compliment and expansion of their learning at home.
At Dandelion, we meet each child with curiosity, connection, and community, supporting them emotionally and academically to become confident learners and compassionate community members. Our intentionally designed, Montessori-based curriculum provides high quality k-8 learning for personal development, literacy, math, science, nature, social studies, and community. These opportunities are available to all students each year and feature multiple entry points, ensuring every child can find success and chances to grow. Our robust menu of choices empowers children to explore topics that ignite curiosity, foster motivation, and make their learning engaging and comfortable.
Learn More About Montessori
Personal Development
We consider the development of the whole child to be the key to meaningful growth and learning, in this, we provide ample opportunities and guidance to ensure that all children have are able to develop self discipline, choice, confidence and connection within themselves, with others, and with content.
Math
Our approach with mathematics is hands-on and interactive to start. Our room is set with Montessori Materials such as Beads and Blocks as well as games, Math Talks, puzzles, and modern tools – all for building understanding through middle years content.
Social Studies
Social studies is where we consider how humans interact with our world and with each other. We explore human geography, history, and social interactions. We use research, discussion, and story to learn about those who share our experiences and to learn from those who have experiences unlike our own.
Sciences
In our space, science is learned through inquiry and action – questioning, experiments, research, and data collection. Topics in our curriculum include ecology, biology, geology, zoology, and physics – all taught in relation to our real world.
Literacy
In our space, we provide ample materials and experiences for children to explore literacy and language on their own, with peers, and with direct guidance from educators. Our approach integrates concrete Montessori materials, early experiences with writing/use of letters, phonics, and authentic and meaningful texts.
Practical Life
We believe that, through care for themselves, others, and their environment, children learn responsibility, independence, interdependence, care, concentration, skills, and a sense of belonging. In the Schoolhouse, this means that we support students in identifying their own wants and needs, provide appropriate ways for them to fulfill them independently, and foster teamwork with care for our space.
Peace and Service
We invest deeply in meaningful relationships with ourselves, others, the greater community. Mindful pauses, journaling, and opportunities for service are all embedded within our practice. This allows all members to experience autonomy as well as support for learning with the community.
Nature
We find that young people experience reassurance and growth when given ample opportunity to share time together in nature. All meetings include time outside together – both simply and with intentional lessons, texts, journals, guidance, and shared wonder and joy.
Multi-Age Groups – The Advantage
All of our programs operate as a one-room, multi-age schoolhouse. We know that not all kids are ready for K-8 content when the grade-level schedule demands it, so we keep all of it at the ready for kids ages 5-12 in our space and provide it to match each kid’s personal readiness.
- Having members ages 5 to 12 allows us to truly celebrate diversity and all its forms. Older children naturally help younger children, and it makes sense. Younger children naturally ask for help from older children and can get it.
- Children who are “young” or “old for their grade get to experience relationships with children who are younger and older than them.
- Children with learning differences and children who are academically gifted can find materials and peers to develop skills that may not be available in a single-grade-level classroom.
- Being multi-age also allows us to include and celebrate sibling relationships. While many families will notice competition and comparison pop up when older and younger siblings enter grade school, we instead see older and younger siblings celebrate and support each other.
- Staying with the same teachers and younger and older classmates allows you to be seen and understood more deeply and across time and as you develop. Children get to invest in relationships that are lasting and won’t expire in June with graduation to the next grade classroom.
Self-Directed Learning – Kids Learn More
No one needs to learn everything; that would limit our uniqueness and our ability to develop a meaningful understanding of what matters to us. What we do instead is notice and nurture the learning that kids are ready for, interested in, and ready for the next step with.
We know that kids learn A LOT – especially when they’re given lots of opportunity to work at their own pace and with high-quality educators, materials, and tools. Every two weeks, our educators “set the room” and prepare a written Menu of Works with entry points for K-8 learning across all areas: Math, Literacy, Phonics, Social Studies, Science, Nature, Art, Personal Development, and Community. Our shelves contain books, maps, tasks, Montessori tools, and materials for children to explore and engage with classmates and teacher guidance and support.
Each day, children explore our room and Menus and make a plan for their own work-cycle in their journals. They share this plan with teachers who offer guidance and support as well as observe and record while the group is working.
Self Directed Learning
A Typical Day – That’s Not So Typical
Morning – Montessori Schoolhouse
Arrival
Outdoor play that fosters connection, imagination, group games, and interaction with the natural world – with access to our extensive loose parts and outdoor learning collection in the garden, natural play area, and playground.
Circle Up
Indoors or Outdoors, a group game or activity to foster community, quick announcements, and planning.
Work-Cycle
Children use our Menus to select and plan for both Content and Choice works. They record their plans in their journals and share with an adult before launching into their tasks. This allows adults to both help prepare materials as well as provide support for selections. Journals are used throughout the work cycle to keep notes and record information. Educators observe, interact, and provide guidance throughout the cycle.
Closing
The entire group gathers to share, record notes, and/or make plans for future learning. All members work independently to pack up their belongings and complete a Practical Life task to clean and prepare our space for the next group.
Lunch Club/Morning Pick Ups and Afternoon Drop Offs
A supervised and supported time outdoors that allows for flexibility with pickups and drop-offs, and truly belongs to children and their friendships. We often see field games, jumprope, playground play, mud kitchen, and garden action and complex imaginative play and building with loose parts during this time.
Afternoons – Montessori Schoolhouse with Academics, STEAM
Afternoon Arrivals
Outdoor play that fosters connection, imagination, group games, and interaction with the natural world – with access to our extensive loose parts and outdoor learning collection in the garden, natural play area, and playground.
Circle Up
Indoors or Outdoors, a group game or activity to foster community, quick announcements, and planning.
Lesson/Project
Afternoon sessions begin with a teacher-led lesson or project. These may look more similar to a traditional classroom experience with shared discussions and tasks from our Menu and Spiral Curriculum. Monday Montessori Schoolhouse Academics focus on literacy, Wednesday Montessori Schoolhouse Academics focus on mathematics, and Tuesday and Thursday STEAM Project Labs integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math concepts.
Afternoon Break
A brief transition time for members to move actively, play, and share conversations.
Work-Cycle
Children may continue to work on tasks from the lesson or project, or use our Menus to select and plan for self-selected Content and Choice works. They record their plans in their journals and share with an adult before launching into their tasks. This allows adults to both help prepare materials as well as provide support for selections. Journals are used throughout the work cycle to keep notes and record information. Educators observe, interact, and provide guidance throughout the cycle.
Closing
The entire group gathers to share, record notes, and/or make plans for future learning. All members work on their own to pack up their belongings and complete a Practical Life task to clean and prepare our space for the next day.
See Saw Journals
Throughout each session, educators also work to take notes and compile photographic records. These photos, along with a narrative recounting what occurred, what materials were used, and what we created, are shared with families in our See Saw App, a closed Classroom Journal, after each meeting.
The Classroom Environment
Our Classroom Environment is designed for access, comfort, and active use by children. Unlike a traditional classroom with one chalkboard as the central place for learning to happen – our Schoolhouse is set for learning all over the room. You will see clearly organized shelves with materials and tasks for Science, Arts, Mathematics, Literacy, Phonics, Nature, and Social Studies explorations available to all children. You’ll also notice a variety of workspaces – child-size tables and chairs, standing work tables, floormats, pillows, a tent, a quiet room, a few hammock chairs, and clipboards to boot.
We curate and offer rich storybooks and informational texts to match our studies – use many Montessori Materials including the iconic Pink Tower, Decanomial Beads, Map Puzzles, Globe, and Moveable Alphabet – and share experiments, games, art, and projects too! You’ll notice all of these alongside printed lists for each subject area – as well as an abundance of art supplies, building blocks, puppets and other open-ended learning materials for choice work and learning through play.
We expect that all members participate in at least two sessions during the week. This promotes connections and consistency – but we don’t have strict requirements for which sessions.
For those registering for two sessions or two full-days of Montessori Schoolhouse, we recommend selecting Monday-Wednesday. For those registering for 4 half-day sessions, all morning, Monday through Thursday sessions are available. This ensures that children will also experience sessions with common teachers and classmates, further enriching their experience.
We believe that all children should have access to the self-determination and celebration of childhood that Montessori spaces create. Our educators have experience working not only in Montessori settings but also in traditional and public and private schools. Our approach is highly personalized, and all children, regardless of previous school settings, are supported in learning at their own pace and comfort.
In writing our Spiral Curriculum, preparing Menus and Works for children, and evaluating levels, we consult both Montessori Progressions and the Standards developed by the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics – both describe math progression in multi-age bands and refer to common tools and concepts repeatedly.
To ensure that students have bridges to conventional schools, should they choose to, we also consult the NCDPI and Common Core State Standards to ensure that all topics are appropriately addressed. With all of this in mind, we prepare our room with multiple tasks at different entry points, provide support and guidance for all students, and create open-ended tasks that are adaptable to all learners.
When preparing for language and literacy, we consult both Montessori Progression, as well as the NC DCPI and Common Core State Standards. We find that there is tremendous overlap between the “how to teach” that Dr. Montessori presents with the “what to teach” outlined in the NCDPI and Common Core Standards. In our experience and research, we also understand that grade-level progressions as described by State Standards are flexible and can be adjusted to match each child’s unique mastery of skills. With this in mind, we prepare our room and instruction with materials, tools, and texts for listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar, and phonics for kindergarten to eighth grade learning as defined by the state – but give all students access to best-match learning experiences, regardless of age or grade level.
We do not give grades, but we do create a lot of evidence of progress, and we do give feedback. Children record plans and reflections in their journals each day and teacher prepare photo decks and narrative tell the story of each session in our daily SeeSaw posts.
It is our belief that, by providing elementary age children with a learning environment that is a match for elementary age development- as observed by numerous theorists, sociologists, and medical professionals, including Dr. Maria Montessori, we are also providing them with a solid foundation of confidence, planning, problem solving, and communication that cannot be achieved in traditional public and private settings.
In our classrooms, childhood movement, curiosity, wonder, bravery, and mistakes are not only allowed but also noticed and fostered. Unlike traditional settings where many of these gifts have been over-written by adult control and decision making on their behalf; at Dandelion Learning, children learn not only to plan and problem-solve on their own (and with our support) but also to trust themselves, communicate clearly, and participate effectively in groups.
These skills, along with a solid foundation of academic knowledge, equip teens not only to successfully engage in conventional academic settings but also to celebrate self-confidence, personal responsibility, and active engagement in their work and learning.
