Montessori primary classes, ages 3 to 5
Quince House School runs its primary classes in the front rooms of a historic house in Versailles. A room is set before the children arrive, with a table, small chairs and low shelves. Children choose their work from those shelves, stay with the same guide as they grow, and can walk through to the elementary when the time comes.
How we work
At Quince House, Montessori describes how the rooms are arranged and how the guides teach. The shelves are low and the work is set out in trays. A child picks something and works at it for as long as it holds them, and a guide shows the next step when the child is ready for it.
The morning is long and unhurried. Children of three, four and five share a room, so the youngest watch what the oldest do and the oldest show them.
Work chosen from low shelves, not assigned
A long morning that is not broken into short lessons
Three ages in one room, with the same guide
Through the house
The house has two parts: the primary rooms at the front and the elementary behind. This is the path some children take through it, one step at a time.
A child joins a room of mixed ages with a guide and an assistant, and settles into a long morning of chosen work.
As the oldest in the room, a child takes on jobs for others, and starts longer projects. In winter the guide and the family talk about what comes next.
Children who may move on spend a morning or two in the elementary, with the primary guide close by, so the back rooms are not a surprise.
Families who choose it join the elementary in the same house. Others choose another school, and the guide writes a note about the child's work for the next teacher.
Moving into the elementary is a choice a family makes with the school. It is an option, not a step that happens on its own.
Programs
3-year-olds
Mixed in age with the older children in the room
4-year-olds
The same room and the same guide as the year before
5-year-olds
The oldest children in the room, before the elementary
Sample programs.
Our rooms
Learns the rhythm of a morning: arrive, choose work, put it back, join a small circle
Pours, carries a tray and wipes a table after snack
Works beside older children and watches what they do
Takes a short lesson from the guide, one on one, and then tries it alone
A child stays in the same room with the same guide. In spring the guide and the family talk about the year ahead.
Chooses longer pieces of work and comes back to them over several days
Sets out snack for friends and clears the table afterward
Traces sandpaper letters and counts with wooden bead chains
Shows a younger child where a piece of work lives on the shelf
Nothing changes on a birthday. The guide moves a child on to new work when the child is drawn to it.
Writes short sentences with a moveable alphabet and a pencil
Works on a project of their own across several mornings
Gives a lesson to the room on something they have learned
Takes a job for the whole room, such as the plants or the library shelf
In winter the guide and the family talk about what comes next, whether that is the elementary here or another school. The guide writes a note about the child's work for the next teacher.
Sample levels.
Every child moves at their own pace. Nothing here promises a place in the elementary.
Dates
Visits run from fall to spring, the open house is in November, and families hear from us in March.
Early November
A Saturday morning when the whole house is open, the primary rooms in front and the elementary behind.
January
The form takes a few minutes, and nothing on it is about your child's health.
March
By email and a phone call, with a place or a spot on the waitlist.
Late August
New children start with a short morning, and a parent stays nearby.
Late December and one week in spring
The full list of closures goes to families when the year starts.
Sample dates.
Safety and school notice
Part of Quince House School, which runs the primary classes under state rule.
1 adult to 12 children
3-year-olds
Group size: 24
1 adult to 14 children
4-year-olds
Group size: 24
1 adult to 14 children
5-year-olds
Group size: 24
Group size
Up to 24 children
with 2 adults
Ages 3 to 5
A guide greets every child at the front door and checks them in. At pickup a child goes only with the people on your list, and we ask for ID at the door until we know you.
The primary classes use the ground floor. The stairs are closed with a gate, the street door and the porch door stay latched, and we practice leaving the house with the children.
Tell us about allergies at the tour; we ask privately once you enroll. We ask families not to send nuts, and children set out and clear snack with a guide close by.
A child with a fever or a contagious illness stays home. If a child becomes ill at school, we call you right away and a guide stays close until you arrive.
On the few spring outings, we count children on and off the vehicle, and a guide carries the list of families' phone numbers.
We practice fire and severe-weather drills, and we count heads each time children move between the rooms, the garden and the porch.
Ask us about child care assistance
Sample details.
Questions
The primary classes are for children aged 3 to 5. Mornings run from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and the school day ends at 3:15 p.m.
A tour is a quiet weekday morning. You sit at the edge of a working room, then talk with the guide and the head of school, and walk through to see the elementary. Children are welcome to come along.
Tuition depends on the schedule a family chooses and the child's year in the room. We go through the figures at a tour.
The primary classes are part of the school, which runs them under state rule rather than a child care center license. The school's notice is at the foot of every page, and each age has a set number of adults to children.
Some children move into the elementary in the same house, and others choose another school. The guide and the family talk it through in winter, and the guide writes a note about the child's work either way.
Tours run from fall to spring. Book one, or call the school and we will find a morning that suits you.