Sandpiper Montessori (est. 1999) is a home-based, state-licensed educational environment in the Gunbarrel area of Boulder, Colorado.
The school serves up to eight children ages 2 1/2 through 5, 7:45 a.m. - 5:45 p.m., Monday through Friday year-round. Children attend at minimum three days a week from 9 - 4.
Sandpiper Montessori features a thousand-square-foot, first-floor interior with two grassy play yards adjoining. The outside environments include a vegetable garden, sandbox, riding toys, and climbing structures. There is a shaded patio just next to the inside space where children can enjoy additional activities when the weather permits.
Lyn Mead, teacher, holds an M.A. in Education from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., and a preprimary credential from the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies in Boulder. She has over 25 years of experience in early childhood education. Her skills in music and dance contribute to the creative aspect of the program.
Bi-weekly Spanish language classes (conducted only in Spanish) and informal American Sign Language practice throughout the day offer additional opportunities for the children to take advantage of this period of cognitive flexibility.
Curricular themes change throughout the year. Each theme lasts two months so the children can study their interests within it in depth. The morning work period provides up to three hours of uninterrupted time to engage in the various carefully prepared individual and small group activities. At the "meeting time," which takes place at the end of the morning, and other times the group is together (lunchtime, afternoon snack, cooking projects, storytelling times, spontaneous gatherings in the play yard to look at creatures, etc.), the sense of community is enhanced with shared experiences.
Literacy is encouraged throughout the day by means of the regular reading of stories and non-fictional books and many opportunities to practice the prerequisite skills including initial sound games, rhyming songs, the dramatization of stories, and the like. Daily storytelling times when all are invited to participate enhance the children's command of oral language as well.
The fundamental tenet of Montessori is that a child learns best within a social environment that supports each child's unique development. Dr. Maria Montessori based her method on her scientific observations of young children's behavior. She established a "children's house" in the San Lorenzo slums of Rome in 1907. She had observed that children learn best in a home-like setting, filled with developmentally appropriate materials that provide experiences that contribute to the growth of self-motivated, independent learners.
Dr. Montessori watched children create themselves through purposeful activity and encouraged educators to understand that the most important years for learning are from birth to age six. Her belief was that the Montessori teacher is to function as the designer of the "prepared environment" and to serve as the facilitator of the children's experiences therein. Many activities are self-correcting, thus fostering the child's confidence in his or her vital part in the learning process.
Sandpiper Montessori is a small, personalized educational setting that offers just such opportunities for the child whose family has opted for a consistent school experience. Please contact Lyn Mead to schedule a visit: (303)516-1786, Sandpiper.Montessori@gmail.com