Our enriched afternoon program complements the goals of our morning program by providing a variety of co-curricular activities for the children to enjoy. These activities are directly linked to your child’s learning in the Montessori classroom, and allow all of those skills that have been previously introduced in isolation to be implemented and practiced in an authentic and social setting. It is in these afternoon activities that the children learn to pace themselves according to a group rhythm.
Our afternoon program offers a wide and alternating variety of activities that will allow your child to explore new skills and find new passions. The array of activities – offered by specialists both visiting and in-house – focuses on the development of the whole child, with a focus on igniting a sense of balance, perspective, wonder, discovery and imagination.
Click below to discover just some of the learning experiences your child will engage in.
Balance
Promoting social-emotional growth and developing self-regulation.
Rainbow of Emotions
Throughout the course of each day, young children can experience a wide range of feelings! When they are guided to identify and name those emotions, they learn to better regulate them in themselves and to constructively react to them in others. Mirrors, paintbrushes and dress-up are just some of the materials little people might use to explore big feelings.
Little Leagues
Through group-based gross motor gym games, children develop lower body strength (running, kicking, hopping, skipping, jumping), and hand-eye coordination (catching and throwing). This activity incorporates props such as parachutes, balls, bowling pins and baskets, and aims to promote impulse control, teamwork and collaboration.
Mindful Moves
This yoga-inspired class targets mindful breathing, asanas (physical yoga postures) and relaxation activities. In addition to improving mobility and flexibility, this program helps each child to experiment with stillness and self-regulation, and to develop a sense of inner peace, focus and calm.
Imagine That!
Dramatic play is a critical part of any early years program. In this class, themes that include restaurant and supermarket corners, pet clinic and doctor’s office, set the stage for the children to practice their symbolic representation and re-enactment skills. Guided dramatic play opportunities encourage the children to put themselves in others’ shoes, developing creative thought and empathy, and strengthening problem solving and social skills alongside their classmates.
Game Masters
In this class, the children are introduced to the age-old notion of board games, which benefit both social and cognitive development. The variety of board games on hand encourage healthy brain development and executive functioning skills which include planning, organizing and making decisions. Here, the children are guided to detect patterns, exercise critical thinking skills, predict opponents’ moves and strategize planning next steps. Our players are encouraged to cooperate, follow games with rules, and learn how to lose gracefully!
