
Alaina Benner's home-based Montessori preschool in El Cerrito, CA
Children's Garden Montessori School
Daily School Schedule

Children's Garden Montessori School offers a Morning Montessori Program from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM. It also offers an Extended Care Program ending at 4:00 PM, four days a week.
The Morning Montessori Program begins with indoor play period for about an hour and a half when the children first arrive. During this time the children have free-choice to work with different materials, do art activities, look at books, etc. They may work individually or in small groups. The children are also free to play in an adjacent room with dolls, doll furniture, sink, stove, and other toys. After this work time the children clean up any materials they had been playing with, and join Alaina or another teacher for circle time in our main room, where we begin by reading a book together or alone.
At 10:30 we have circle time where we sing songs, have fingerplays, introduce new materials on the shelf, dance, and the children are able to verbally express themselves. After circle time, we go to the outside play area to have a nutritious snack. After children are done with their snack, we have an outdoor play period for about an hour (weather permitting), where children ride bikes, play on climbing structures, in the sandbox, or with balls. They also do different art, sand, and water play activities (e.g. painting, washing tires, washing dolls, water table, sand table, etc.).
Several days a week, between circle time and lunch, the children are offered other enrichment activities, including yoga, music, and gymnastics.
At 12:00 PM we clean up and wash hands to prepare for lunch. The children eat lunch together at our outdoor picnic tables, and then return to outdoor playtime.
At 1:00 PM, some children are picked up and those remaining for the Extended Care Program transition into rest time. The older children lie on mats to rest or read, and the younger ones nap at this time. After the quiet period of rest time, the older children play with toys until writing time, where our teachers help them learn and practice their letters and numbers. After finishing their writing, children enjoy art projects, playing outside, or other activities.
At 3:30 the children have snack and then play outdoors until they are picked up by their parents by 4:00 PM.