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Berkeley, CA
Garden Day Montessori

Parents at this school would recommend this school to other parents.

Review this preschool

neighborhood: Berkeley West ·  Telephone: (510) 649-9110

• Summary
• General Info
• School Philosophy
  & Day-in-the-Life
• Curriculum &
  Teaching Approach
• Quality of
  Teaching
• Home/School
  Connection
• Discipline,
  Health & Safety
• Ages, Schedule
  & Tuition
• Application &
  Admissions
• Kindergarten
  Placement&Tips

General Approach to Learning

	Play-based
	Play-based with some structure
	Predominantly teacher-led instruction
	Montessori
	Waldorf
	Co-op
	Reggio-Emilia

source:

Director's Comments

Garden Day is less 'school' than it is 'home away from home'. This is the children's place and it is infused with their energy, joy, excitement and curiosity.

Social Skills & Work Habits

OVERALL RATING (5.0)
This school has increased my child's:
Ability to listen and follow directions
Ability to sit still for longer periods of time
Ability to be a part of a group of children
Self-sufficiency and independence
Awareness of others’ feelings
Cooperation with other children

source:

Curriculum and Teaching Approach

	PLAY-BASED	PLAY-BASED WITH SOME STRUCTURE	MOSTLY TEACHER LED	NOT FORMALLY IN CURRICULUM	CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT
Language					Yes
Oral language	-		-	-	n/a
Nursery rhymes, poems, songs	-	-		-	n/a
Storybook reading	-			-	n/a
Emerging literacy skills	-			-	n/a
Cognitive Development					n/a
Math and number sense	-			-	Yes
Time & space	-	-		-	Yes
Sci. reasoning/physical world	-			-	Yes
Music	-			-	Yes
Visual arts			-	-	Yes
Physical activity			-	-	Yes
Other subjects taught	The children get yoga instruction once a week. And although we are not a bilingual school, we do teach (mostly at twice weekly circle times) numbers, colors, songs, etc. in Spanish.				n/a

source:

Director's Comments

The classroom is arranged with a variety of activities appropriate to a wide range of developmental readiness. The children spend their mornings choosing their own activities, with the teachers demonstrating and guiding as needed. The teachers also invite children to participate in individual and small group activities and special projects throughout the day.

Parents' Comments

Parent #1
Montessori is child-driven freeplay with exposure to high quality materials in all subjects. Garden Day is a play-centered Montessori school (not strict) and has great extra teachers in music, yoga/movement, Spanish circle time and lots of nature crafts.

Parent #2
I put 'Free play with some structure' for most of my answers. For example, on physical activity, I know there's some teacher-led instruction (a weekly yoga instructor), some free play, and some stations with teacher encouragement.