At Oakland Montessori School, we help young children build a strong foundation for success and creativity in a culturally diverse community.
Skills for Success
Combining current research on children’s developmental needs and Maria Montessori’s proven principles, we guide children to develop the emergent skills for success they will need in the future: participation and leadership, problem-solving, creative thinking, perseverance, and focus.
- Our children always have innovative ideas for how to solve problems, learn new things, and even how to paint—and at Oakland Montessori School (OMS), we respect and support their creativity.
- We offer the children freedom of choice within limits—a long work period and a multi-year program make sure everyone gets a chance to try everything.
- Important work for young children includes dramatic play—practicing all the skills they see adults around them use every day—like ironing, talking on the phone, and planning a birthday party.
- We encourage our children to always be open to new experiences.
- Teachers provide caring role models and children learn math, reading, and problem-solving; they also learn how to care for each other, be good friends, learn from older children, and teach younger children.
Creativity, Confidence, Independence, and Trust
Our OMS environment is specifically designed and prepared to generate creativity, promote confidence and independence, and build trust. We assist our children’s efforts in exploring their diverse world as a group and as individuals.
- Inside and outside, our children explore, discover, learn, and play.
- We offer appropriately sized furniture, cooking supplies, and couches – our entire environment is designed so it fits the children.
- Oakland Montessori School has lots of room to spread out inside and outside: our spacious rooms give everyone enough room to work and explore, and our expansive yard provides hours of creation and exploration.
- All our rooms combine large windows that let the light stream in and let the children look out with cozy corners to keep quiet in; our generous yard welcomes the sun all day long.
- We make sure children have the opportunity to do everything for themselves: make snack and serve it, clean up after themselves and each other–including any accidental spills—and they can even grind wheat for bread.
OMS Community
The qualities developed at this age are a foundation for future learning and living, and come about through modeling, discussion, and support as well as direct and indirect teaching. Oakland Montessori School children learn to build community from their engaged parents and teachers, through conversations and lessons about caring for their surroundings and their friends, and by developing their own ideas.
- We grow flowers in the garden to make our classroom beautiful, grind wheat for making bread for our snack, and eat fruits and vegetables from our garden in the summer.
- Our children work and play together, teaching each other, learning from each other, sharing ideas, discovering how to get along, and solving problems as they arise.
- We prepare food for ourselves and each other.
- Our parents, friends, and families bring their passion and knowledge to school to share with everyone