About Kids Montessori Academy

Kids Montessori Academy was founded in October of 2011. Mila Jajoo, owner and Director, is a certified Montessori teacher who has 30 years of experience working in early childhood education. She and her dedicated team of teachers and administrators provide a caring, loving environment where your child will be encouraged to flourish socially, emotionally, and academically.

KMA is a private, nonsectarian school serving an international clientele. We believe all children deserve an early childhood education.

We are located on Grand Mission Blvd in Richmond, adjacent to Juan Seguin Elementary.

We are committed to building a strong home/school partnership for the benefit of your family and your child. Our students experience a secure environment where they are given opportunities to explore, discover, and understand, with the ultimate goal of giving them a strong foundation for success in their lifelong learning journey.

Jajoo Family
Owners of KMA

What is Montessori Education?

Developed by Maria Montessori, the first female Italian medical doctor, in the early 1900's, the Montessori method of education is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning, and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms, children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the teacher offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process. Children work in groups and individually to discover and explore their maximum potential.

There are 5 primary principles of Montessori philosophy:
1.) Respect for the Child : The cornerstone of Maria Montessori's beliefs is the respect for the child as an individual and as a learner. We value their ideas, work at their pace, and allow them the autonomy to make choices in their daily education.

2,) The Absorbent Mind: Prior to age 6, a child's mind goes through explosive periods of growth where they make connections between their environment, the languages around them, and the world around them. What they experience and learn before age 6 sets the tone for the rest of their lives.

3.) The Prepared Environment: The classroom space is sized for the students. The materials are available to them to explore and work with. The classroom invites exploration and independence.

4.) Sensitive Periods: There are windows when children are most receptive to learning new concepts and skills and there are periods where the student will master these concepts and skills through repetition and intense focus.

5.) Self-Education: Children learn through their active engagement with their environment and their peers. Teachers serve as guides who create the opportunities for learning and demonstrate the use of materials. Teachers observe and intervene as necessary, they monitor students successes and development.

Montessori Education or Public School?

The first years of childhood education are the foundation for future learning. Montessori students have an understanding of teamwork, self-direction, intrinsic motivation, and confidence. Independent, self-paced education and exploration are often denied or limited in a public school setting where classes must ensure that every child is learning the same material at the same time. The following is a list of skills and traits developed in a Montessori education:

Mental concentration
Freedom of Choice/Self-discovery
Enjoyment of writing
Self-discipline
Longer one-on-one instructional times
Natural materials
More focus on understanding rather than memorization
Discovery of the joy reading
Emphasis on life skills, including self-care, care for the environment, courtesy towards others, respectfulness, control of movement, social awareness

KMA is the best Montessori for your child!

Every material in our Montessori classrooms support an aspect of child development, creating a match between the child's natural interests and the available activities. Children can learn through their own experience and at their own pace. Likewise, they can respond at any moment to the natural curiosities that exist in all humans and build a solid foundation for lifelong learning.

10 Foundational Principles of Montessori Education

1. Experiential Learning

Students in Montessori schools learn by working with specially designed materials.

Rather than memorizing facts, they begin by counting and adding more concrete materials to develop math skills.

By using smaller objects and a set of wooden letters known as movable alphabet, students learn to read and write by interacting with tangible objects leading to the abstract skills.

Dr. Montessori observed that children need to move and learn through experiences rather than sitting and listening to a teacher lecture.

4. Academics

In addition to mathematics, language arts, and science, Montessori schools include two other academic areas: practical life and sensorial.

Practical life involves care of self, care of environment, grace and courtesy, and control of movement.

Sensorial work involves the senses and allows the student to explore in concrete ways the world around them. This lays the groundwork for higher level, abstract thinking.

7. Educating the Whole Child

Montessori focused on educating the whole child, including physical, spiritual, social, mental and emotional education.

10. Peace Education

2. Mixed-age Classrooms

Our Montessori classrooms include mixed ages, mixed skill-levels, and mixed abilities.

Generally, our classrooms are divided into 2 year to 3 year age groupings.

Peer learning is encouraged as our youngest students learn from observing their older friends and the older students solidify their knowledge and gain valuable leadership skills through helping their younger friends.

3. Uninterrupted Work Period

All authentic Montessori schools have long, uninterrupted work periods (generally 2-3 hours depending on age).

Rather than having short, timed blocks for academic topics, our students have a long morning work period and shorter afternoon work period in their respective classrooms that includes all of their subjects.

This longer period allows children to engage with the materials deeply and reach intense concentration.

5. Role of the Teacher

A Montessori teacher is sometimes referred to as a guide, rather than a teacher, and this reflects their non-traditional role.

A Montessori teacher’s job is to observe the children and introduce them to the academic materials at just the right time.

Our teachers may be hard to spot in their classroom as they are generally working one-on-one with a student rather than standing at the front of the room teaching the whole group.

8. Individualized Curriculum

In a Montessori classroom, each student will be at a different academic level. This is monitored and tracked by the teacher. The teacher then uses this data to create individualized lessons for each student.

In place of traditional group lessons, Montessori provides one-on-one lessons catered to the specific level and needs of each child.

6. Freedom within Limits

The work in a Montessori school is child-directed.

A teacher gives a student a lesson on new material that hasn't used before. The student can then independently choose to work at their own pace.

Students are allowed the freedom to sit and do their work in a location of their choosing, with the guidance and supervision of the teacher.

Students are not allowed to interrupt their peers during work time, though they may be invited to collaborate, and they are required to do work within the curriculum's scope and sequence.

9. Prepared Environment

Montessori classrooms are referred to as a “prepared environment”.

This means that they are designed with everything the students need to explore and learn independently.

Teachers observe the children in their class and decide the necessary work to place on the shelves to meet children’s interests and academic needs.

Montessori classrooms are far more minimalist than traditional classrooms. They are full of muted colors and natural light to foster concentration. Likewise, materials in the classroom have a specific location on shelves carefully organized to help children develop a sense of order.

Dr. Montessori lived during a time of world wars and global upheaval. Perhaps for this reason, she placed great emphasis on peace education.

She believed that the future of the world depended on us teaching our children the importance of peace and this belief is still reflected in Montessori schools today. '

There is a greater emphasis on community. both within the classroom and as a global citizen.

Students learn about the world they live in and the many different communities found across it.

Students also learn techniques for calming themselves and how to conduct peaceful conflict resolution.

Mission Statement

Kids Montessori Academy exists to provide a safe, developmentally appropriate environment for preschool and school-age children. We aim to develop curious, knowledgeable, and caring young people who will help create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. Our goal is to create an environment where young children develop a strong sense of self and belonging and to support a child's desire to be a lifelong learner.

Language

From initial introduction of speaking, developing into a phonetic reading, expanding their vocabulary through listening, speaking, and reading, until finally culminating in writing, Montessori language curriculum enhances a students communication skills and builds a template for lifelong language acquisition.

Mathematics

Through the use of Montessori materials, students devlop the abstract concept of numbers first and the the ability to solve mathematical problems follows.

Practical Life

Focuses on taking care of one's self, one's space, and one's community in a rapidly changing environment through the use of coordination, concentration, and social responsibilities.

Sensorial

Introduces the five senses (seeing, smelling, touching, tasting and listening) via manipulation of several different objects and expands on how our senses inform my knowledge of the world.

Culture

Focuses on geography,

natural sciences, history, music, and art. These subjects round out our student's education by having them learn about the world they are in as well as an appreciation for other cultures.