Charleston Montessori’s primary program offers preschool and kindergarten education to children ages 3-6.

In a prepared environment of specifically designed materials, children learn through curiosity, exploration, and discovery. Our students benefit from an adult-to-child ratio of 1:8 within the classroom.

All students participate in Kindermusik once a week and all full-day students participate in physical education class twice a week.

Our primary program schedule is as follows:

• Half-day preschool: Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
• Full-day preschool and kindergarten: Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Afternoon and after-school care available until 5:30 p.m.

Our primary curriculum focuses on the following main areas:

• Practical Life exercises guide children to fulfill their own needs, such as care of self, the environment, and concern for others. Lessons in pouring, sweeping, dishwashing, and snack preparation give children pride and allow them to take ownership of their classroom and ultimately their own learning.
• Through the use of manipulative materials and exercises, activities that appeal and refine the senses are the focus of Sensorial Lessons. Children gain the ability to categorize and organize by learning about size, shape, texture, composition, temperature, weight, and volume.
• Designed to engage the child’s senses, our Language Program begins with phonetic sound recognition and continues through a specific progression of lessons in reading and writing.
• In Mathematics, the children explore addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication through the use of concrete materials that they can touch and manipulate.
• Cultural Studies in geography, history, music, art, physical science, and biology are conducted through lessons such as globes, puzzle maps, simple experiments, artist studies, and animal nomenclatures. In the spirit of inspiring peace in the world, these cultural activities help children respect differences by showing the basic similarities of human beings and other living things.

Charleston Montessori’s elementary program offers an extensive curriculum for children in 1st - 6th grade. This full-day program runs from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Classroom Community

Our multi-age classroom is designed to foster each child’s curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, and character growth. Student learning is individualized, yet the classroom environment lends itself to collaborative teamwork. The children learn to work as part of a group, creating a strong classroom community. Students choose from a variety of materials across a vast curriculum as they move from concrete to abstract thinking. Along with core language and math skills, students research, write reports, give presentations, and creatively explore subjects such as geography, zoology, botany, and anatomy. 

Enrichment Opportunities

Charleston Montessori students enjoy a wide range of special educational programming in the afternoons. All students participate in physical education classes twice a week in the Bream Memorial gym, which is part of our school campus. We also work with the City of Charleston Parks and Recreation Department to provide opportunities for our students to explore nearby Cato Park, including hikes, geocaching, fishing, and archery. Elementary students also enjoy art, music, and Spanish classes once a week.