HUDSON COUNTRY MONTESSORI SCHOOL

Music

The year starts with a BANG, with the exploration of rhythm, and how it is the starting point and basis for most music. We will listen to music, take beats apart, and create beats.

We will refer to the music / math relationship thru out the year, although the mark will always point to an emotional connection to music and how the most amazing pieces of music have come from this place.

Every child will be introduced to, and will partake in the songwriting process. This does NOT require a child be "musical" or play an instrument. As a matter of Montessori philosophy, this process may naturally inspire certain children to choose being "musical" and perhaps take up an instrument.

Mark Meyer, on many occasions has brought forth the idea that our child's future will focus on "choosing from information," rather than the "gathering of information." The days of data entry are behind us, and your child's ability to "choose powerfully" may very well be their greatest gift. In this light, when your child is partaking in the songwriting process, it is the act of choosing one chord over another, that has them embrace the essence of choosing powerfully, as well as making music.

Art

For example, students sculpt dinosaurs in science, create dioramas for history, construct geometric designs and solids for math, and express their feelings about a musical composition through painting.

Art history and appreciation are woven throughout our history and geography curriculums. Traditional folk-arts are used to extend the curriculum as well. A few examples of popular art projects include painting, sculpture, pottery, weaving, photography and woodworking.

Primary and Lower School classrooms include their own art center in which students can work on projects during the day.

Spanish

We introduce conversational Spanish to our toddlers and continue through all the grades. At the elementary level, our primary goal in our foreign language program is to develop conversational skills along with the deepening appreciation for our cultures.

Our programs are designed to bring students in contact with local people in their everyday lives. They make history and cultural geography come alive, promote international understanding, and promote a sense of world citizenship.

Lucy Caulkins

According to a joint position statement by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the International Reading Association, “Learning to read and write is critical to a child’s success in school and later in life.” We, at Hudson, support this statement and believe that children benefit when they are introduced to these concepts at an early age.

Once a week, the kindergarten children attend a creative writing class (based on Lucy Calkins’ Primary Writing Program), during which they are introduced to techniques that help them build creative writing skills. During the first few weeks of the class, the children learn to think of ideas and put their ideas on paper. As the weeks progress, children begin writing one, two, and three page stories. As their skills develop, they learn some of the rules of conventional writing, such as spacing, capitalization, and punctuation, and they begin to write books with beginnings, middles, and ends. The children learn how to write drafts and edit and revise their work. In addition to small moment non-fiction books, the children learn how to write many moments books, how-to books, and poetry.

At the end of the school year, the children’s efforts are acknowledged with an authors’ celebration, during which they have the opportunity to read their last book of the year to their friends and families.

Gym / Health

Our effort to promote physical activity among students is a part of a coordinated, comprehensive school health program that is an integrated set of planned and sequential activities and services designed to promote physical, emotional, social and educational development of our students. Our physical education program emphasizes enjoyable participation in physical activity. This program helps students develop the knowledge, attitudes, motor skills, behavior skills and confidence needed to adopt and maintain physically active and healthy lifestyles.
Health education emphasizing proper nutrition and eating habits begins as early as three years’ old and continues through all grades. While younger children focus mainly on the basic concepts of balance between “fun foods” and “growing foods”, older children study healthy eating in the context of human physiology. Older children also learn to respect “drugs” as medications and know they have no place in recreation.
Esteem building and character building is an integral part of the Montessori curriculum and a key factor in helping children adapt and maintain positive and healthy lifestyles.
Sex education is presented to our oldest students in a clinical fashion with an emphasis on the biological and reproductive process. The topic of healthy human emotional and physical relationships may be covered during our in-class character building workshops. Our approach is to help students form healthy common-interest based relationships. We expect all students to act “professionally” and with respect toward one another.