The Primary Program
“Bring the child to the consciousness of his own dignity and he will feel free.”
– Maria Montessori
From the ages of three to six years old, children move from an unconscious absorbent mind to a conscious absorbent mind. The Primary program at TMS responds to the rapid physical, intellectual, and social development that hallmark this period in a child’s life.
The TMS Primary program enlightens and encourages self-sufficiency through our curriculum of practical life, sensory work, language, and mathematics. Our highly-trained teachers offer students personalized lessons on new materials, emphasizing the steps involved so children have a complete understanding of the work’s process. Once students have received a lesson on a particular work, they are free to select that work for themselves.
“Nowhere will you find a school more dedicated to their students. The love these teachers have for our children is limitless.”
Lauren P., Primary Parent
Curricular Areas
Language
Language is crucial to all human development. Our carefully structured primary classrooms take a phonic approach to writing and reading. Students first learn letter sounds and then link them to symbols as they trace and engage in meaningful repetition. Soon, students match words with objects, spell words with the movable alphabet, and begin early writing and grammar practices. TMS primary classrooms are rich in opportunities to develop vital oral language skills, including conversation, poetry, and storytelling.
Math
In the TMS Primary Program, students learn to recognize shapes, angles, sizes, and positions. Montessori Math has a beautiful process of working with materials, from concrete forms to the more abstract. The concepts covered in the Primary class are numeration, the decimal system, computation, arithmetic tables, whole numbers, fractions, and positive numbers.
Geography
In the TMS Primary program, students begin geographical studies with a focus on the foundations of our earth: land, water, and air. As they progress and conceptualize the globe, they move to studying the names of landforms and continents. The large wooden puzzle maps are among the most popular activities in the classroom. At first the children use the maps simply as puzzles. Gradually, they learn the names of many countries as well as information about culture and climate.
Sensorial
Maria Montessori said, “What the hand does, the mind remembers.” Sensorial materials help children to distinguish, categorize, and relate new information. Each material isolates one defining quality by eliminating or minimizing other differences. The order, precision, and relationships of these concrete experiences provide the child with a robust frame of reference for mathematics, science, and language.
Practical Life
Through practical life activities such as cleaning, cooking, gardening, among others, Primary students take on an active role in caring for their environment. Each TMS classroom is beautiful, orderly, and organized with growth as the guiding principle. The materials and furnishings at TMS are all proportioned to the students, and the arrangement of the work allows children access to developmentally appropriate activities with minimal intervention from teachers.
Mixed Age Groupings
A particular highlight of the TMS Primary program is the way younger students and older students interact. Younger Primary students view older Primary students as mentors and leaders, both academically and socially. Older students gain confidence and increased self-esteem by giving lessons, reading aloud to younger students, and offering comfort, compassion, and moral support. Together, TMS Primary children build a warm, team-centric community all their own.
A Note About Our Schedule
We educate our Primary students on a half-day and full–day schedule.
The following program options are available for your child.
Morning
8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The heart of the Primary program is the morning work cycle of our two and a half to six-year-old students. This cycle involves playground time, snack time, meaningful interactions with the Montessori materials, grace and courtesy, group time, and more! During the morning, students are given group lessons as well as individual lessons as they progress along their educational journey in line with their developmental pathway.
Afternoon/
Kindergarten
8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Primary children who turn five during the school year are invited to join our afternoon program. For many students, this equates to kindergarten. The students in this program have the opportunity to return to the classroom for an afternoon work cycle with a smaller group of peers. Their works get longer and larger as they move deeper into their studies on the unmatched Montessori materials.
Lunch Bunch
8:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
For families who need a bit longer of a day, lunch bunch is a wonderful option! Students pack a lunch and extend their day to include lunch, playground time, nap time, Vendor activities, and other engaging experiences provided by our exceptional staff.
Full Day
8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Families who need a schedule that matches a traditional school day can register for our full-day Primary option. This encompasses our morning work cycle, multiple playground times, lunch and the opportunity for activities with our vendors. Children who still nap have the opportunity to have a good rest, while those transitioning out of their nap are given another opportunity to engage with the Montessori materials after a quiet reflection time.
Ready to learn more?
Primary Enrichment
At TMS, we honor the classroom framework while providing seamless enhancements through specialized teachers. These enhancements allow the children to closely investigate a course of study. In the morning for Primary students, this involves music experience, a targeted group lesson on art history, as well as the Spanish language.
For our afternoon Primary students, these areas are given more concentration through time outside of the classroom during their afternoon work cycle. Students are given the opportunity to have private piano lessons, art exploration with a deeper dive into more mediums, and a small group study of the Spanish language.
Enrichment Options
In addition to regular artwork and art exposure in their classrooms, TMS offers Kindergarden students a weekly Art Immersion class. For students under the age of five, TMS schedules regular access to the Art Studio. An art specialist joins to guide students on unique projects.
Music surrounds us here at TMS. We celebrate music of all genres and incorporate a music intensive program once a week in our Primary classrooms. Students experiment with body-movement that correlates with ongoing cultural studies.
TMS is committed to early exposure of world languages. Currently we provide Spanish instruction to our Primary students. The classes are taught with a hands-on approach, integrating movement, pictures, songs, and matching cards. The teacher instructs predominantly in Spanish and uses English only when necessary.
Vendor Activities
For our three to four-year-old Primary students who stay for lunch bunch, we provide the opportunity for parents to get their child’s extracurriculars done before they leave school. Along with lunch, you can enroll your child in one or all of the four activities provided by Vendors: Soccer Shots, Art, Richmond Ballet, and Pop, Hop & Rock. Our vendors vary each year, but are always selected to be developmentally appropriate. Your child can join Vendor Activities in Fall, Winter, and/or Spring.
Activities marked with the $ indicate that they are available for an additional fee outside of our normal tuition.
Vendor Options
Soccer Shots is an engaging children’s soccer program with a focus on character development.
Children express themselves creatively and learn about artists and art history.
Children go behind the scenes of a Ballet with “Invitation to the Dance”– a preschool program that shows what it takes to make a ballet.
Private piano lessons are available on site during school hours for our Primary children.
A movement-based special guaranteed to help develop the coordination and motor skills your child needs to succeed inside and outside of the classroom.