LONDONDERRY — Southern New Hampshire Montessori Academy will add preschool to its curriculum for 3- and 4-year-old children this fall. The school opened just one year ago on Commons Drive and currently offers kindergarten through grade three.
"We received many calls asking if we would offer a preschool program," said Debra Hogan, the school's founder and director.
Hogan said there will be a 3-year-old program offered three times a week, and a 4-year-old program four days a week. Both have the option of full-day attendance.
There are two pieces to the curriculum, Hogan said. One is sensorial: Children learn through hands-on and experiential activities, engaging all of their senses to help them acquire and retain knowledge of abstract concepts such as size and weight. The other piece is helping children with practical life skills like zipping a backpack, pouring water, or washing vegetables and fruit for snack time.
"The goal is to balance the child," Hogan said. "They learn to work independently and as a team, and to build a sense of community."
The current facility is 5,000 square feet and Hogan has plans to expand into an adjacent 2,000-square-foot space in the fall of 2011 to include grades four through six. Two years after that, the school will add middle school.
"By 2015, we should have a full campus with 125 students," Hogan said.
This summer, the school held Camp DaVinci at its facility. The morning sessions focused on science, space and engineering with Legos. The afternoon sessions were art-related; campers participated in theater productions, a circus and a rock star camp.
Southern N.H. Montessori Academy is scheduling appointments for school tours and screenings for prospective preschoolers. For information, visit snhma.org, call 818-8613, or e-mail director@snhma.org.
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