At Ridgemont, we provide a happy and enrichinglearning environment for your child. Here, he will knowthe joys of academic exploration and also have a chancefor social interaction with other young children. Yourchild is constantly absorbing the world around him, andat Ridgemont, we want his first learning experiences to bepositive. We invite you to come and see for yourself whata delightful place a child’s world is.

For further information, you may visit our website atwww.RidgemontMontessori.com

The Ridgemont Montessori School is licensed by theVirginia Department of Social Services and does not

discriminate on the basis of race, creed, or national origin.Enrollment is based on application and interview.

6519 Georgetown Pike • McLean, Virginia(703) 356-1970

symbol, or number, for that quantity. When thechild is ready for mathematical operations likeaddition, he can actually perform the operationswith the concrete materials. There are a variety ofmaterials the child can use for the same operation.This variety not only maintains the child’s interest,but allows for much repetition. In this way, thetables are memorized and the child gains a trueunderstanding of the operation.

LANGUAGE

From birth, your child absorbs the language fromthe family unit in which he lives. Whenintroducing language in the Montessori classroom,we are not presenting something new, butcontinuing to build upon that which the child hasalready acquired. Language work begins on thefirst day your child enters the class and continues

throughout his stay. Wehelp your child classifyhis world by broadeninghis vocabulary. Throughpictures and real objectswe materialize thevocabulary words withwhich he is working.Reading instructionbegins when your childlearns to orally breakdown known words intoindividual sounds. Next,

he learns to associate these sounds with lettersand finally, he is shown how to put the letterstogether to form words. In later work, the child isshown exercises which help him realize how wordsrelate to each other in expressing thought. Insteadof teaching reading and writing directly we arehelping your child become aware of the languageskills developed naturally.

RIDGEMONTMONTESSORI

SCHOOL

SENSORIAL

Stop and think about ourbusy world. Imagine allthe impressions your childis absorbing. Wherever hegoes, he sees colors andshapes, feels textures,hears sounds and smells odors. It is natural forthe young child to be curious and observantabout these impressions. The sensorial materialshelp him to classify and understand all that hetakes in through the senses. Each of the sensorialmaterials isolates one quality such as texture, size,shape, color or sound. Thus, the child’s fullattention is focused on that quality. It is not theaim of Montessori to give the child moreimpressions, but instead, to help him understandthose things that he is exposed to everyday.

MATH

As young children, most of us were forced to learnmath by rote. We never knew the reasons for rulesthat were taught us. A dislike for mathematicsarises because the mind is made to abstractbefore dealing with the concrete. A verbalexplanation is not enough for the young child.Montessori gives the child concrete objects for thehand in order to help the understanding. As withthe other Montessori materials, the mathequipment isolates one concept for the child to

absorb. The materials areconcrete and represent alltypes of quantities whichthe child is free tomanipulate as he counts.He not only sees thequantities for 1, 10, 100,etc., but he can hold themin his hand. Later, he isshown the written

APPLICATION PROCESS

1. Parents should observe the school in operationbefore beginning the enrollment process. Anappointment can be made to visit by calling theschool office.

2. Submit application with the non-refundable$75 application fee.

3. We will call to arrange a mutually convenienttime for you to bring your child in for a visit.

4. After the school interview, we will notify youby mail as to whether we will be able to admityour child.

5. The letter of acceptance will contain a TuitionPayment Agreement, which will describe theterms of annual enrollment. This agreementmust be completed, accompanied by a deposit,and returned within 10 days.

LOCATIONRidgemont is located in the Iglesia Palabra VivaChurch across from Langley High School in McLean, VA.

CLASS COMPOSITION& ELIGIBILITYRidgemont is open to children between the ages of18 months and six years. A child may be enrolledin the Toddler class at the age of 18 months. ThePrimary classes are relatively small and arecomprised of children between the ages of threeand six. When applying it is best to keep in mindthat the Primary Montessori program takes three tofour years to complete.

CLASS SCHEDULEThe Toddler class meets between the hours of9:00 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Thursday,Friday. The Primary classes meet between thehours of 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., Monday throughFriday. Children over five are eligible to remain until3:00 p.m., four days a week. The academic year isfrom September to early June.

TUITIONTuition for the school year may be paid in annual,bi-annual, quarterly or 10 monthly payments.A fee of $75 dollars, payable when application issubmitted, is non-refundable. Upon acceptance, adeposit of one-tenth (1/10) of the tuition isrequired. This deposit is non-refundable butguarantees your child a place in the school and isapplied to the total tuition.

Tuition for the ______________ Academic Year:

Toddler Students $ ____________

Half-Day Primary Students $ ____________

Full-Day Primary Students $ ____________

EST. 1965

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FACULTY

Ridgemont, which has served the McLean area since1965, follows the philosophy and principles of theAssociation Montessori Internationale (AMI). AMIwas founded in 1929 by Dr. Maria Montessori. Inaddition to their Bachelor’s degrees, all ofRidgemont’s teachers hold the AMI Primarydiploma, having completed their year of study at anAMI teacher training center. Several of our teachersalso hold a Master of Education degree.

THE MONTESSORIGUIDE ANDCLASSROOM

Montessori discoveredthat young children gothrough several “sensitiveperiods” during whichthey display an all-encompassing interest ina particular facet of theenvironment. This interest

produces in the child an immense amount ofintellectually-directed activity. The activity bringsabout the acquisition of that particular knowledgeor skill which the child then masters with ease. Forexample, when the child reaches his second year, hebegins to become very interested in the order ofthings in the world around him. The child expectsfamiliar objects to be in their own specific place andcraves consistency in the way every routine is carriedout. If anything is disorderly or out of the ordinary,the child will probably protest or correct the change.

In the Montessori classroom, the trained adult actsas a guide for your child. With knowledge of thesensitive periods in mind, the guide is able to gentlylead the child to the activities which will serve hisneeds to the fullest.

HISTORY

The Montessori Method,which is based on the workof Dr. Maria Montessori, can

be thought of as an “aid to life” —a means of helping the childachieve his fullest potential.

Dr. Montessori was born in 1870, and in 1896 shebecame the first woman to graduate from theUniversity of Rome with a medical degree. Whileworking at the University’s Psychiatric Clinic, Dr.Montessori focused her attention on children withspecial needs.

Through her years of work and observation withmany children throughout the world, she found thatthe environment had tremendous influence on thedevelopment of the child. Dr. Montessori discoveredthe unique way that young children acquireknowledge and culture and prepared a learningenvironment that greatly benefited all children.

On January 6, 1907, Maria Montessori opened her first“Casa dei Bambini”, or Children’s House, which was aschool for children below six years of age. Dr.Montessori had so much success with her newundertaking, that schools worldwide began adopting

her methods. The success hascontinued to the present day, withover 4,000 certifiedMontessori schools inthe United States

alone.

THE PRIMARYMONTESSORIENVIRONMENT

When your child stepsinto a Montessoriclassroom, a whole newworld of activities andmaterials is madeavailable to him. TheMontessori classroom is achild-sized environmentwhich offers your child ameans for exploration,continuing developmentof movement,independent functioning,language developmentand positive socialinteraction.

Dr. Montessori called theclassroom a ”preparedenvironment”. TheMontessori materials are

kept on low shelves that are easy for a young child toreach. Children are free to choose the materials theywant to use as well as select the place in theclassroom where they want to work as long as theydon’t interfere with the work of others. Our onlyrequirement is that the classroom materials be usedwith purpose and that everything be returned to itsoriginal place when finished.

PRACTICAL LIFE

The Practical Life exercisesare everyday life activitieswhich form a linkbetween home andschool. They include suchexercises as washingtables, polishing shoes,metal and wood, anddressing frames forpracticing such everydayroutines as buttoning andtying. These activitiesassist development ofcontrolled andcoordinated movements,concentration, self-discipline, and independence. The children learnto become responsible for the set up, execution,and cleanup of their own work, which forms thefoundation for all later experiences in theMontessori classroom.

Within this framework, The Ridgemont MontessoriSchool is dedicated to offering a joyful andsupportive learning environment. We realize thateach child is a unique individual with differentneeds. We are sensitive to this diversity andprovide a classroom environment where childrendevelop a love of learning and a curiosity aboutthe world in which they live.

Our students learn at their own pace in acooperative atmosphere. They are encouraged tomake choices in order to develop a sense ofindependence and self-worth. The Montessorimaterials provide concrete learning experiencesand the joy of discovery. We believe that theimpressions formed today have a lasting impact ona child’s attitude towards learning and life itself.

Students are encouraged to make choices in order to developa sense of independence and self-worth. Our classroommaterials provide concretelearning experiences and the joy of discovery.

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