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Children's House (preprimary)

  • Math: Our 3-6 program takes children from numeral recognition to complex number formation over the span of three years.  Children are exposed to materials that build the foundation for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions and Geometry.

  • Reading: Students in the 3-6 program are taught using a phonetic method developed by the founder of our school, Mrs. Effi Weinberg.  It allows children to begin to blend sounds into words soon after all the sounds are mastered.  The love of reading has all children reading books prior to entering the elementary program.

  • Science: Children's House children learn about the world around them through hands-on investigation.  They learn about physical and natural laws, while investigating water, rocks, magnets, plants and animals.  The correct scientific terms are introduced as they learn.

  • Penmanship:  Through the use of traceable sandpaper letters, children learn how to move their hand to form letters correctly.  When they master this step, they move on to writing in sand, writing with chalk, and finally writing on paper.  Since the child is only presented with one small difficulty to master with each step, frustration is low and success is high.

  • Composition: As children learn to form letters through the penmanship program, they move on to write words, phrases and finally sentences.  Children in a Montessori program often write full compositions before they are able to hold a pencil, through the use of a moveable alphabet.  They have the ability to create and later when they master the pencil they will copy their creations.

  • Geography, History, and Grammar are also introduced.
Elementary
  • Math: Children in the elementary math program begin their studies with the Montessori math materials.  This gives the student a strong foundation in math concepts.  Any child can learn to manipulate numbers.  Our goal is to help the children to understand what is happening within the problem.  When a child can teach the math concept to another, he/she is ready to move on.  The children work with fact memorization simultaneously with their work in operations. Once children have mastered a certain level, they test into the Saxon Math series and continue their progress in a text.

  • Geometry:  Montessori Geometry materials lay the foundation for many of the concepts that will be learned in middle school and high school.  Children learn the shape name and then learn their properties.  They study area, volume, angles, similarity and congruence. 

  • Reading: Reading at Brookfield is a combination of Open Court basal readers, novels, Barnel Loft reading skills series and Wordly Wise vocabulary drills. Initially comprehension is the main focus, blossoming into a taxonomy of reading skills.  We want children to analyze, compare, apply and critique.

  • Grammar:  Children study all the parts of speech.  They learn how to analyze sentences and clauses with the objective of improving their written compositions.

  • Composition:  Children write daily for research, for specific assignments and for enjoyment.  Many pieces of writing are taken from rough draft to finished product. Composition is one of the most important subjects as it pinpoints for the teacher areas of necessary growth for the child in grammar and spelling.

  • Spelling:  Children move through the SanMateo Spelling Program at their own pace.  This is one of the few programs that group words according to word families and also allow students to work all the way up to high school level if they are capable.

  • Science:  Children perform experiments in all the areas of Science in order to learn about their world first hand.  Research materials, trade books and texts support their study by providing background information and extending their knowledge beyond the classroom.  Children learn how the world is classified and how interdependent all our systems really are.

  • Geography:  Students explore the world as a globe first, seeing the big picture before they explore the parts.  As they begin to study states and countries, they are taught mapping skills and research skills so that they may work independently.  Much of the topics in Geography are introduced in a way that tempt the child to study more on his/her own.  Most of the outcomes are projects that the children produce according to outlines given to them by their teacher.

  • History:  Beginning with the concept of time on a global scale and ending with U.S. History, our students cover the history of the calendar and of the great civilizations.  Once they have the larger view, they go back to study the sequence of events on earth from planetary development to man's history.  The focus is on cause and effect, how each part of history prepared the way for the next.

 
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