Our Programs

Nautilus Montessori School is a twelve month academic environment offering you the following options in early childhood education:
 

Preschool

Children as young as 20 months may be enrolled at Nautilus Montessori School provided they are self-sufficient in the bathroom. Young two and three year old children who require an afternoon nap are welcome to spend all-day at Nautilus Montessori School on Mondays and Fridays.

Pre-Kindergarten (Transitional) & Kindergarten

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons are reserved for Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten children who do not require an afternoon nap. Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten children have additional class focus on Language Arts, Math, Sciences, Arts/Music, World Historical Figures and Peace Education in the afternoons.

Afternoon Kindergarten

Kindergarten at Nautilus Montessori may be accomplished by taking advantage of one of four options.
   ---half day attendance, five days per week, (providing five class sessions per week)
   ---full day attendance five days per week, (providing up to ten class sessions each week)
   ---three full days of attendance, T/W/TH, (providing six class sessions per week)
   ---supplementing the public Kindergarten experience by attending Nautilus T/W/TH afternoons


Kindergarten age children who attend public Kindergarten in the mornings, also attend Nautilus Montessori School in the afternoons. Enrollment in our Afternoon Kindergarten program ensures your child's continued academic growth within our intimate and comfortable family style environment. Our Reading, Math and Cultural Subjects curriculums allow each child to progress at his/her own pace  while nurturing social skills, independent thinking, community involvement, and creativity. The Kindergarten program offered at Nautilus Montessori School is similar to a standard first-second grade curriculum.

A combination of Public Kindergarten in the morning and Nautilus Montessori Kindergarten in the afternoon will satisfy both the desire to participate in a larger social group and allow the academic momentum to continue learning. You may consider requesting a morning public Kindergarten class  which would allow your child to attend Nautilus Montessori's academic Kindergarten in the afternoon. 

Afternoon Kindergarten is offered Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Children requiring care while parents work may attend Nautilus all five afternoons.  Friday afternoons are devoted to a low ratio, (1:3 or 1:4), tutoring hour, art, classroom work and playtime.

Transportation from the public site to Nautilus Montessori School is the responsibility of the parent.  Car pools may be arranged.

As you explore Kindergarten options for your child, consider the following :

Our academic Kindergarten provides your child with one to one focused attention, and a curriculum not offered in the public sector.

By the time our 4.5-5 year old children have completed their second year at Nautilus, they have often successfully completed most of, if not all, *California State and Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District Standards for Kindergarten. Academic challenge in public kindergarten often does not exist for Nautilus children. The large social group, 1:20 ratio, is certainly delightful for our children, but the academic work is what they accomplished one or two years ago.

The CA State and Dry Creek JESD standards are the skills and academic accomplishments each child is expected to successfully complete at the end of the school year.  An outline of each school district's standards for each grade should be available at your local public schools school office. Our school Director helped write the Kindergarten through third grade district standards for the Dry Creek School District.  

Summer School

During the Summer months (June-August), our children continue to work on their academics but at a more relaxed pace. They enjoy a variety of fun summertime activities like water play, outdoor science experiments and Pirates & Princesses dress-up fun.