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San Jose, CA
Ballard Montessori

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

Review this preschool

neighborhood: Rose Garden ·  Telephone: (408) 977-1772

• Summary
• General Info
• School Philosophy
  & Day-in-the-Life
• Curriculum &
  Teaching Approach
• Quality of
  Teaching
• Home/School
  Connection
• Discipline,
  Health & Safety
• 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

In Montessori method we emphasize on small group and large group work time where older children get an opportunity to help young children in their work.

Social Skills & Work Habits

OVERALL RATING (4.2)
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	There are five major curriculum areas in our program. These include Practical Life Skills, Sensorial Discrimination, Mathematics, Language Arts, and Cultural, which consists of Geography, History and Sciences.				n/a

source:

Director's Comments

Our goal is to aide in the development of the child physically, emotionally, socially and academically. We not only want each child to feel a strong sense of belonging, but we want each parent to feel confident and proud that his or her child is a student at Ballard Montessori School.

Parents' Comments

Parent #1
I feel the teacher approaches all of the above development skills based on the needs of the class and this seems to allow the teacher flexibility on how to approach the various skills with the children.

Parent #2
Ballard has a modified Montessori curriculum, meaning it is Montessori-based, yet still has teacher-led activities and active dialogue between teacher and student.

Parent #3
Ballard had a modified Montessori approach, which was more structured and teacher-led than traditional Montessori. There were still 'jobs' and unstructured time, however.