Our Philosophy
The vision that inspires this school is embodied in the following quote - "The greatest gifts we can give our children are the roots of Responsibility and the wings of Independence."
The "roots of Responsibility" symbolize children building confidence, creating peace and building a strong foundation for a lifetime of learning. Butterflies emerge from their chrysalis with "wings of Independence," just like our children develop into independent thinkers.
Children join us as "caterpillars" and emerge as "butterflies"... confident and independent ambassadors of peace.
Our Programs
LHMS offers 4 and 5-day options for the following programs for children between the ages of 2+ and 6:
Extended Day 8:30 am - 5:30 pm
Full Day 8:30 am - 2:45 pm
Half Day AM with Grace & Courtesy Lunch 8:30 am - 12:00 pm
Half Day AM 8:30 am - 11:15 am
Click the "Learn" buttons to learn about the experience we deliver within each program area.
Age 2+ to 3+
Children age 2+ by October 1
Ages 3+ to 5+
Children age 3+ by October 1
Ages 5+ to 6
Children aged 5+ by October 1
EXTENDED DAY
Families may contract for an extended day until 5:30pm.
This "all-day" offering provides a nurturing and stimulating environment that continues to honor the child's social, emotional, and cognitive selves. The expanded use of the settings gives children an excellent range of choices, fewer pressures of time, greater exploration of Montessori activities, and the opportunity to evolve naturally into an afternoon work cycle. The Extended Day Program takes advantage of the longer school hours by allowing the child to experience a natural pace, similar to the home environment. Attending school all day enables a child to customize their possibilities and potential and supports the developmental outcomes that an authentic Montessori education promises.
The "All Day" Montessori Program returns to how the original Casa de Bambini operated under Dr. Montessori's direction. In those days, children would spend all day at the Casa while their parents worked long hours in the factories. The Casa became the home away from home, where the children could work, eat, play, and rest.
Our Extended Day differs from aftercare because it is not restricted to a before- and after-school general-purpose room. Instead, it is a community of friends who remain part of that community in the Montessori classroom. The continuity of teachers is maintained so that the children receive constant understanding and care from those who know them and bond with their needs.
In addition, there is no general dismissal. Instead, children leave the school individually and subtly; the students staying longer are not exposed to a mass exodus of their friends and don't experience the feeling of being left behind.
Our Team
Meet the teachers your children will remember for a lifetime.
Areas of Learning
The environment surrounding a child plays an important part in their learning experience. At Long Hill Montessori School we stimulate learning through environments that offer the following:
Developmentally appropriate physical activities
Opportunities for concrete, hands-on activities
Change and variety
Explore our various areas of learning, as well as, special activities that work together to help our children uncover their own passion for learning.
Practical Life: Children find comfort and learn independence in activities that resemble home. They learn lessons on personal hygiene and self help that they will incorporate into their lives at school and outside. These works boost fine motor control and hand and eye coordination, which are important prerequisites for writing. Multi step, purposeful activities train children to concentrate on the task at hand and work with mindfulness. This will be essential for them while working on advanced academic subjects, like Math and language.
Sensorial: Children learn best through sensory experiences. They have a natural tendency to touch, manipulate and respond to stimuli around them. The Sensorial area of our classroom helps children modulate their muscles and focus each of their senses in order to form relationships between the various concepts of shape, size, length, color, etc.. This refined perception of sensory stimuli through concrete materials allows them to form connections between more complex and abstract concepts. Sensorial lessons involving sequencing and categorizing help develop a mathematical mind.
Language: Children between 3 to 6 years of age are naturally predisposed to learn languages. Our lessons guide them through the various stages of language development. Sandpaper letters are used to help children develop a muscular memory of letter formations while attaching corresponding sounds to them. Subsequent lessons help them in composing words by connecting these sounds, decoding words, composing sentences and writing on paper! Parts of speech, like noun, verb, conjunction etc., and their functions, are introduced using ancient grammarsymoblism and practical exercises.
Math: Our math area is a constant source of joyful explorations for our children! Children at this age cannot grasp the existence of any concept or idea outside of what they can feel or perceive through their senses. Hence their mathematical training starts by putting objects representing solid quantities into their hands... a single bead for 1 unit, a 10 bead bar, a square made of 100 beads, and 1000 beads connected together to make a cube. All mathematical operations addition through division are experienced sensorially, first. They progress from these concrete materials through increasingly abstract lessons, finally leading to math problems on paper.
Culture: This rich curriculum refreshes the children's minds and keeps them motivated with enticing lessons from science, nature, geography and culture. Puzzle maps, flags of different countries and models of landforms are introduced. Hands on science experiments satisfy their natural curiosity and encourage critical thinking. Children are made aware of the composition of the entire universe, the world we live in and their own special place in it. They rise above political boundaries and learn to accept and appreciate the differences between on another.
Tuition
What is the true value of a Montessori education? Yes, it is a fact that Montessori alumni have gone on to achieve great things in life and enjoy life as only one can when they are self-aware and have developed a true passion for learning. For example, you likely found our website using a search engine developed by Montessori graduates.
To look downstream at the later years of life for the "why we should do this" around a Montessori decision would be missing the daily gifts your family, your children, and the communities they will be a part of will experience. We invite you to witness Montessori in action and to learn about us by experiencing us.
We understand that tuition is an important part of your decision-making journey, so we've presented our tuition structure below. Tuition is an annual fee for the school year and is pro-rated by month (10), with each month having equal value regardless of the school days in the month or the days in the month attended for the children entering or withdrawing during the school year.
Plan A: Total paid upon enrollment
Plan B: $2,000 non-refundable tuition deposit and 10 monthly payments due the 1st of each month 8/1 through 5/1
Payment Options: We accept cash, check and credit card
What to Expect When You're ready to enroll
1. Get to know us by taking a tour of the school
We offer tours every weekday between 8:30 and 2:45pm. Tours run about 30 minutes long and you can step into Fiona and Kelly's office afterwards to chat.
2. Review the parent contract
If you are interested in becoming part of our family, you'll want to familiarize yourself with our Parent Contract to learn what you'll be agreeing to and what you have to look forward to as a Long Hill Montessori School family. If you have questions, you can speak with Kelly, Fiona or a Parent Ambassador.
3. Submit an application
Still interested? Great! To officially apply, submit an application and one-time registration fee. Because we usually have a wait list, priority registration is given to current families then we use the order that you applied to decide who enrolls. Once you've submitted your application, send a check or money order made out to Long Hill Montessori School, for the total application amount. Please write checks or money orders to Long Hill Montessori School.
Parents who prefer to apply online may do so by clicking on the button below.
4. Submit your parent contract & tuition deposit
We'll let you know as soon as we have a space / spot for you, which may be right away, when a new space opens up, or when enrollment starts in January.
Once you have a space and you are ready to make the commitment, you'll make an appointment with Kelly to bring in your completed Parent Contract and non-refundable tuition deposit to secure your space / spot. Kelly will go through the Welcome Packet with you and answer any questions you have.
“We love Long Hill Montessori. Our son has thrived and our daughter is excited to join next year.”