Now Enrolling!
Our approach
Montessori and Reggio, bilingual, nature-based, and rooted in love. At Montessori & Me, we've woven together the very best of several beautiful traditions into one warm, coherent way of caring for young children. Here's what that means for your child's day, and why we do it this way.
Montessori at the Heart
Everything begins with the Montessori method: Dr. Maria Montessori's century-tested understanding that children learn best through hands-on discovery, at their own pace, in a carefully prepared environment.
​
In our classroom, that means authentic Montessori materials on low, open shelves; long, unhurried work periods where a child can concentrate deeply; and teachers who observe closely and guide gently rather than direct. Children practice real, purposeful work, like pouring, sorting, counting, writing, and caring for their space, and build genuine independence, focus, and a love of learning that lasts.
​
Our children are 18 months through 6 years, in a mixed-age setting where the little ones learn from the big ones, and the big ones grow tall by helping.
Reggio-inspired wonder
Alongside our Montessori foundation, we draw on the Reggio Emilia philosophy: the idea that children have a hundred languages, and that wonder is the truest starting point for learning.
​
We don't just hand children crafts to copy. We offer provocations, such as a beautiful arrangement of natural materials, a real question, or an invitation to explore, and then we watch what unfolds. We follow the children's own curiosity. We treat the environment as a third teacher, arranging our space to invite discovery. And we document children's ideas and words, making their thinking visible, so learning becomes a story we tell together.
​
Montessori gives structure and independence; Reggio adds open-ended creativity and child-led wonder. Together, they're a beautiful balance.
Joyful learning: where play and academics meet
Parents often ask us whether a school so full of gardens, mud, and music takes academics seriously. The answer is a heartfelt yes, and the beautiful secret of Montessori is that children don't have to choose between the two.
For young children, play is not a break from learning. It is how they learn best. So our classroom is designed so that serious learning feels like joyful work.
Reading and writing
Children trace sandpaper letters with their fingertips as they say each sound, then build words with the moveable alphabet, often before they can hold a pencil. Step by step, sounds become words, words become sentences, and many children discover the thrill of reading their very first word.
Math they can hold
Golden beads, number rods, and counters turn abstract numbers into something children can touch, count, and see. They explore quantity, place value, and early addition with their hands, building true understanding rather than memorizing.
Learning everywhere
Academics don't stop at the shelf. Children measure and count as they cook, predict and experiment at the water wall, observe life cycles in the garden, and learn geography, science, and art through our monthly country studies.
At each child's own pace
With just six children per teacher, we can see exactly where each child is ready to grow. Children move forward when they're ready, never pushed ahead or held back, and without worksheets, drills, or pressure. Confidence grows alongside every new skill.
Ready for kindergarten, and for life
Our children leave us with strong early skills in reading, writing, and math, along with something just as important: focus, independence, curiosity, and a love of learning that carries them into kindergarten and far beyond.
​
Our families see it too. One family shared that their daughter "recently read her first word and was so proud of herself." Another parent told us their son "developed a love of numbers, began to read," and built a self-confidence that "aided him greatly in his transition to kindergarten."
Truly bilingual: Spanish and English
Our classroom is genuinely bilingual. We use the "one person, one language" approach that language researchers consider ideal for young children. One of our teachers speaks only Spanish; the other speaks only English, all day, every day.
​
There are no flashcards and no drills. Instead, children live inside two languages the natural way, through play, songs, meals, and real conversation, and absorb both the way young children are wonderfully wired to do. This is very different from a 30-minute Spanish class once a week.
​
For a child, this is the easiest time in their whole life to become bilingual. We simply give them the environment to do it.
​
Once a week, children also learn Chinese with visiting teachers from the Tzu Chi Foundation, through songs, stories, and play.
Nature-based and outdoors
Our days happen largely outdoors, under the open sky. Children tend to their beautiful garden, from seed to harvest to table. They care for our animals, learning gentle responsibility and deep empathy. They explore natural science with their hands, and make art from the earth: petals, leaves, clay, and light rather than plastic and glitter.
​
We believe the years from birth to six should be spent close to the earth, in fresh air, moving real bodies through a real world, not in front of screens. It's calmer, healthier, and simply how children are meant to grow.
Our mud kitchen and water wall
Some of the happiest learning happens with muddy hands and wet sleeves.
The mud kitchen
In our outdoor mud kitchen, children stir, scoop, pour, and serve up soups, pies, and potions made from soil, water, leaves, and petals. It's pretend play at its most wonderful: little chefs take orders, share ingredients, and invent recipes together.
​
Along the way, they strengthen the small muscles in their hands, explore early math and science as they measure, mix, and notice how mud changes, and grow their language and friendships through imaginative play. The deep, calming joy of squishing mud between their fingers is part of it too.
The water wall
Our water wall invites children to pour water into funnels, tubes, and channels and watch where it flows. They wonder, test, and try again: what happens if I move this tube? How can we make the water go faster, or reach the bottom?
​
It's hands-on science and engineering for the youngest learners, full of cause and effect, problem solving, and teamwork as friends work together to guide the water. And like all water play, it's wonderfully soothing, a peaceful place to slow down and focus.
A love of real food
More than anything, we want children to love fruits and vegetables: to pull a carrot from the soil, wash it, and eat it with delight. Food is part of the curriculum here. We lovingly prepare and serve fresh, organic, plant-based meals and snacks, much of it harvested from our own garden. Children help grow it, help prepare it, and learn where food comes from.
​
It's not about rules. It's about helping every child build a joyful, lifelong relationship with nourishing, whole foods.
The world, one month at a time
Every month, our little explorers journey to a new country, from Mexico's monarch butterflies to Japan's moon-viewing. Once a week, children cook the country's food together. They hear its music, make its art, learn about its animals and landscapes, and discover its stories and traditions. Families join field trips connected to the country we're studying.
​
That's how big empathy and a truly global heart grow in small children: not by being told the world is wide and wonderful, but by tasting it, hearing it, and making it with their own hands.
Cooking together: tasting the world
Once a week, our kitchen becomes a little window onto the country we're exploring. Aprons on and sleeves rolled up, children wash, peel, mash, stir, and knead as they prepare a dish from that month's country, often with vegetables and herbs they've grown in our garden. Then comes the best part: sitting down together to share what they've made.
​
Every recipe is plant-based and made with fresh, whole ingredients, and every child has a real job to do.
​
Some of our most treasured cooking days come from our own families. During our study of Mexico, a grandparent joined us to make tortillas and guacamole with the children, patting out the dough and mashing avocados side by side. For Japan, a parent from Japan taught the children to shape rice balls and shared a traditional tea ceremony, showing them how much care and grace can go into a simple cup of tea.
​
We warmly welcome families to share the foods and traditions of their own heritage. Children learn most deeply from those who carry a culture's traditions, and the world feels wonderfully close when shared by someone who calls it home.
What cooking gives young children
A curious palate
Children who help make a dish are far more willing to taste it. New flavors, spices, fruits, and vegetables become an adventure instead of something to avoid.
Math and science in action
Measuring, counting, pouring, and watching ingredients change as they mix, rise, or cook bring early math and science to life.
All five senses
Smelling spices, feeling dough, hearing the sizzle, and seeing colors blend make every recipe a rich sensory experience.
Independence and confidence
Real tools and real tasks, from washing to spreading to serving, tell children, "You are capable, and your work matters."
Patience and teamwork
Taking turns, following steps in order, and waiting for something good to finish cooking are lessons in cooperation and self-control.
Respect for other cultures
Food is one of the warmest ways to understand another culture. Sharing a country's traditional dishes helps children feel connected to people all around the world.
The heart of it all: learning to be
Before children can go out and do great things, we believe they must first learn how to be kind, loving, thoughtful people. So woven through every single day is our character practice: gentle, daily invitations to be love, be kind, be thoughtful, be grateful, and be compassionate.
​
We don't just teach these as rules; we model them, live them, and let children grow up inside them. We talk about each child's "love light": when your own light shines, it helps everyone else's shine too. In a room of just six children per teacher, there's time to truly nurture this, to sit beside a child through a big feeling, to notice the quiet kindnesses, and to help each little one become their most loving self.
​
This is the part you can't quite put in a brochure, but it's the part you'll feel the moment you walk in.