Why CKM?

"CK Montessori has provided a fabulous educational experience for my son. The teachers are talented and professional and they provide a very safe and caring environment for the students. Here, the students are encouraged to follow their own natural curiosity, work both independently and with others, and be a part of a community. We feel very fortunate to have such a wonderful school in our area."

A Few Things That Make CK Montessori Unique:

* At CK Montessori we teach respect through our cultural curriculum with stories and activities. When we teach about a particular continent, we teach about the various cultures as well as the geography. Our children are accustomed to celebrating diversity as well as sameness. They can often be found doing things like dancing to South American music, eating Australian vegemite, or wearing African hats, to name a few.

* Sign Language (ASL) is an extra area of study that we provide in both of our classrooms. The children are in a "sensitive period" for language studies and can quickly assimilate this useful language. We have a sign language lesson once a week at our circle time and incorporate the signs we learn throughout the classroom all year. We start with important basics such as "please" and "thank you" and by the spring the children are signing complete sentences.

* Our children benefit greatly from a weekly music lesson during circle time. Our music specialist comes in once a week and gives small group lessons throughout class time, teaching them musical concepts using the Montessori method. Our music curriculum was written by none other than our own founder and owner, Diana Zegers. Diana is the author of "Music Education for Young Children", a curriculum that is being taught in over 1,400 Montessori schools across the country.

* At CK Montessori, we hold a high standard for quality works and authentic Montessori materials in our classrooms. We've even earned a bit of a reputation for the quality materials that we create right here! We have a store on Teachers Pay Teachers with over 70 materials created by Diana Zegers and Jillian McClendon. We've actually made over 2,500 sales! TPT is a wonderful website where teachers can share their great ideas with each other and make a bit of money on the side. Take a look at our store to get a sample of our creations and give us a 'like' if you're interested!

* Because of our commitment to getting books into the hands of young children, CK Montessori consistently donates books to local toddler groups, doctor & vet offices, and classrooms in lower income areas. Our Scholastic Book Clubs program enables us to provide opportunities for our school families to purchase books at great prices, while earning points for the school to use for purchasing books. While we periodically purchase new books or replace "well loved" class favorites, we have quite an extensive library of books already. Because of this, we are able to use many of our points to donate books and give back to our community.

* We believe that early education is truly valuable for every child around the world. That's why every year, each class at CK Montessori provides a scholarship for a child to go to preschool for the year through Children of the Nations. Through this program, not only do the children get to attend school with skilled teachers and quality books and learning materials, but they also get clean drinking water and nutritious meals every day. They even have their health monitored! We believe strongly in this program, and we are honored to participate.

* With chickens on our property, (behind the school,) we often will go for a little "walking field trip" to Mrs. McClendon's back yard to visit the chickens. Once in a while, she'll even bring one over to the classroom! (Plus, you can purchase farm fresh eggs right from our drop-off line!)