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In the fall of 2008, children at Lakewood Montessori enjoyed the opening of the new school library.  The event was highly anticipated and would not have come to pass were it not for the tireless efforts of the Lakewood Montessori PTO.

 The library is named for Gwen Smith, a former teacher at the school.  When Gwen retired after 38 years of teaching, she donated her vast collection of books to the children of Lakewood Montessori.  Her donation was the beginning of a compilation that now boasts nearly 4,000 books.  
 
The library has a unique organization system that is specially designed to complement the Montessori curriculum.  This makes it easy for teachers and children to check out books that support classroom learning.  Consequently, the library and classroom work to support one another.  Besides curriculum areas, other sections include picture and board books, beginning readers, foreign language, and a sizable fiction section.  Additionally, there are extensive teacher resources, and a parent resource section.  
 
The library is always growing!  Teachers can request that certain books be purchased, and many families have donated good quality used books.  PTO Volunteers are on hand to check in and re-shelve books, as well as do book repair.  All children at Lakewood Montessori visit the library once a week during morning class time.  Each child is invited to choose a book to check out for a week at a time.  

Mary Clements
Lakewood Montessori, Boise, ID
 
 
"We can honestly say that having our daughters experience what Lakewood Montessori has to offer is one of the best parenting decisions we have made so far. 

We want to thank the entire team at Lakewood for taking such good care of our girls, ingraining a life-long love of learning into who they are, showing them love and acceptance, and making two parents feel that they did the best thing possible for their children.  There has not been a day where my girls have not anxiously wanted to go to school. 

Thank you for what you do, and we hope you do it forever as we believe those who are lucky enough to experience what Lakewood has to offer will be better people for it."

-Scott and Heather Davis
"I am eternally grateful for your school and the safety and routine it provides my son.  I am trying to raise a man while maintaining a career and keeping a home – and I can’t do that without help – thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I go to work everyday with piece of mind for my son – and that is most important to me."

-Brooke Lacey
 
 
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Elizabeth,

Thank you so much for everything you have done with the kids this year.  Our girls raved about doing your art projects and have what I believe is a start to a life-long love of art.  It amazes me that while at home, both can sit for more than an hour, completely happy and absorbed in making something creative.  So, thanks again and I think you are incredible at what you do.  

-Scott and Heather Davis
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Thank you very much Ms. Elizabeth!

We really appreciate the time and energy you have spent with kids throughout this year.

I can see the eagerness and happiness in my daughter when she was given a paper and color pencil at home. I am really happy to see the difference at what she can do now from where she has been at art at the beginning of the year.
Thanks once again for your hard work and cannot appreciate enough for the opportunity you and Lakewood Montessori school has given these kids to be creative.

-Sarvani Naidu
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Thank you so much Elizabeth, for everything you have done for my son.  He loves you so much.

-Jenny Larsen
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Thanks Lakewood Montessori for providing the art opportunity and Thanks to Ms. Scoggin for all of the informative information. It will make a significant difference in how we respond to art that comes home today and future days.
 
 -Angie Parekh
 
 
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School history: founded in 2004, by Karen Dugmore and Mary Clements. The school has grown in response to community interest in Montessori education.

Programs available:  Pre-Primary classroom serves children ages 24-36 months.  Primary classrooms are multiaged, serving children ages 3-Kindergarten.  Classrooms are balanced by age and gender.  Summer Camp is available for elementary aged children, grades 1-3.

Teachers: Certified Montessori teachers in every classroom participate in continuing education classes yearly.  Assistant teachers are trained in Montessori philosophy and positive discipline techniques.

Classroom makeup:  Primary classrooms are multi-aged, ages 3-6.  Classes are balanced by age and gender.

Hours of operation:  
Morning Program        8:30-12:30
School Day Program        8:30-3:00    
Extended Day Childcare    (before school 7-8:30, after school 3-6)

Regular events/ traditions: 
Holiday Party - details >>
Global Picnic - details >>
Spring Party and Egg Hunt - details >>
Mother's Day Brunch - details >>
Breakfast with Dad - details >>


Enrichment classes:  Art, Kindermusic, and Spanish are offered weekly by qualified teachers to all Primary students.

Afterschool programs:  Electives are offered by private companies during extended day hours; see information in the entrance hall for more information.
School year:  September 1 through May 31

Summer programs:  June through August- Fun-filled summer days!  

Licensing:  Lakewood Montessori adheres to all requirements and codes of the City of Boise.

Field trips:  Kindergarteners benefit from monthly field trips. Occasionally on-site field trips are enjoyed by all students.

Lunch: Tuition is kept low by requiring all children to bring their own lunch.

Snacks:  Children take turns bringing morning snack to share with the group, afternoon snack is provided by Lakewood Montessori.

Nut policy:  Due to several severe peanut allergies, Lakewood Montessori is a peanut free school.

Parent involvement:  An active PTO provides classroom volunteers, art parents, reading parents, and help with school functions.  Participation is not mandatory, but can be very fulfilling and fun!

Tours and observations:  The optimum time to tour is in the morning, Monday-Thursday.  Call the office to schedule, 331-3888.

Enrollment:  approximately 112 students

Karen Dugmore and Mary Clements
Lakewood Montessori, Boise, Idaho
 
 

If you were to name a few of the most precious things in your life, would at least one of those things be a child? Most assuredly, because you’re researching to find quality childcare for your infant! It may feel like a daunting task to find the best childcare environment for your child. However, as you contemplate the different possibilities, if you follow a few simple guidelines, you’ll feel more confident in the infant childcare you choose.
    
A wonderful way to find quality infant childcare is to ask around and get some recommendations from close friends. Of course the first, and best, recommended environment for an infant would be a quality in-home childcare setting with a very limited enrollment. All in-home childcare facilities should be licensed by the City of Boise.  The licensing office can direct you to in-home childcare in your area.  
    
As you interview and observe these various infant childcare options, be sure to make notations of some important points:

•    What is the overall personality of the attending caregiver?
•    Does the caregiver show patience, kindness and nurturing when handling an infant?
•    Is the environment safe, clean and comfortable for a child?
•    Ask how much quality one-on-one time you can expect them to spend with your child on a daily basis?
•    What is their policy on drop-in visits from a parent? (Note: It should be an open door policy.)

As you go through the process of finding the best childcare for your infant, trust your feeling and follow your heart. Your parental instincts can tell you a lot!!

Don’t forget to put your child’s name on the waiting list for Lakewood Montessori School as soon as possible. This will ensure enrollment of your in our pre-primary (begins at age 2) or Primary (begins at age 3) classrooms. Lakewood Montessori is proud to have Montessori certified lead teachers in each class and quality on-site childcare before and after school hours.

Anita Murnighan
Lakewood Montessori, Boise, Idaho

 
 
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Studies have shown that the most proliferate learning period for a human is from age 0 through 6.  And we know that the mind of a child processes things differently than the mind of an adult.        

Montessori educators believe that education is child centered rather than teacher centered and that each child is truly an individual with individual needs, differences and gifts.  One child will learn things at a different pace and at a different time than another child of the same age.   

The Montessori teacher knows that a child needs to be nurtured and taught in many different areas in order to be all that he/she is capable of being.  This includes the intellectual, physical, social and spiritual soul inside each and every child.  A child in a Montessori environment, then, receives guidance in more than just academic areas. Your child’s teacher believes that education should respond to meet the specific need and sensitivities of each age and each individual child.  This is why you do not see all of the children doing the exact same work at the exact same time.

A normal Montessori classroom will be filled with students who are working at their own pace, within their own interests, gently guided by their directress/teacher in an open and free flowing environment.  The structure and discipline can’t easily be seen for it is a discipline that has been internalized by each individual child.  It is a peaceful freedom within learned and disciplined limits.  

The environment in a Montessori classroom is specially prepared for your child to develop and grow to become capable, successful, independent thinkers.  The classrooms, and work within, are intended to be beautiful and peaceful.  The furniture and the materials are more child-sized and made for the child’s comfort and benefit.  The shelves are set up for the children to easily access materials and put them back with ease.  The layout of the classroom is such that a student can flow from one area of learning to another with ease and purpose.  You may have noticed that it is set up in specific and different subject areas: practical life, sensorial, mathematics, language, cultural, biology and botany. Everything in the Montessori classroom environment has a purpose.  It is an environment of whole learning and order.
 
Anita Murnighan
Lakewood Montessori, Boise, Idaho
 
 
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At Lakewood Montessori, we feel that pets are an important element of the prepared environment. There are many documented pieces of research which would indicate that including live animals in a child’s daily life experiences greatly enhance their ability to learn responsibility, sympathy for others, kindness, respect for life, and the natural processes of living things.

These virtues help develop a more well rounded and caring individual who can make a positive contribution to society. The classroom is a great place to study the needs and life cycles of our classroom pets so we can bring these and other benefits into the lives of our students.

Anita Murnighan
Lakewood Montessori, Boise, Idaho
 
 

Parents know the reality of dealing with children who are picky eaters and helping them make healthy choices everyday.  It may be surprising to realize that helping a picky eater is often more about the way you structure eating, than putting the “right” foods on the table. Here are some things that may help:

Children, especially toddlers, need a consistent schedule. Maintain a schedule of three meals and two snacks a day without allowing snacking in between. Children who are allowed food or caloric beverages whenever they want are less likely to be hungry for the meals you want them to eat.

Know that you the parent ultimately have control of what your child eats.  A child cannot eat food that you do not buy.  A child will not starve himself; given the opportunity he will make healthy food choices if they are offered.  You do not need to coerce, bribe, force or reward your child with food to get him to eat.

Serve your child the same meal as the rest of the family and expect your child to sit and eat with your family.  Making special food or exceptions in place of the regular meal takes away your child’s opportunity to learn.  It also hinders him from feeling like part of your family group.   You can always include one or two foods in each meal that you know your child will eat, as long as they are part of a healthy meal.

It may take children 15 tries to accept or like a food. Continue to offer rejected healthy foods.

Juices and sweet drinks should be limited to 4-6 ounces per day.  Milk should be limited if it is causing your child to not eat at meals.

Remember that it is normal for children to go through “food jags” or phases of wanting one or two certain foods all of the time.  In time, it will pass.  Drawing too much attention to it can actually cause children to hang on to these food jags longer.

Strive to make a diet that includes 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily and is rich in whole grains a part of your family’s life.  A child models behavior; he cannot learn to eat healthy unless healthy eating is a part of family life.

Serena Arave
Lakewood Montessori, Boise, Idaho

 
 

“I knew from the moment that I met the staff at Lakewood that this school was a very special place. It became very clear to me how special when I began to teach yoga to the children there. I noticed that all of them were so polite and well mannered. They were all so respectful, independent, creative and fun to be around. And that's when I knew that these were the people that I wanted my kids to be around. I wanted them to experience the leadership of the awesome teachers there and I wanted them to become friends with these amazing children.”

Gloria Perdaems
Lakewood Montessori, Boise, Idaho

 
 
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I am looking forward to being able to share art with your child at Lakewood Montessori this year! Art is something that I love and believe is an important part of our lives.

My experience teaching art to children (and my research) has revealed some important philosophies that I want to share with you.

* We are all artists! An artist is a person who freely expresses him or herself originally with different materials and motivations.

* There is no "right way" to express an idea or feeling through art, this means that each artist can feel satisfied and successful.

* The process of creating art is more important than the final product.  Their "scribbles" are important because they express something now, for the child, then evolve into more.   So, sometimes "quantity" art is appropriate. Remember your child at age 2 - 5 is developing fine motor skills and needs to go through some   motions with repetition.  Drawing lines and circles, etc. over and over is really practice and experimentation and thus, very valuable.

* Real creativity extends into other aspects of life and aids a person with problem solving and invention.

* Originality and uniqueness are to be valued.  Models and outlines will inhibit a child's creativity, and limit their ability to innovate.

* Your positive response to your child's art can encourage creativity.  Listen to your child's description of his or her artwork. Ask questions about the process, and how they were feeling when they did it,   then quietly and genuinely praise his or her efforts, without making any judgments. No false praise or criticism, remember that their work is an extension of themselves.

If we all understand the value of creative experiences, we will have more success in freeing these amazing children to express themselves through art.   
                            
Elizabeth Scoggin
Lakewood Montessori, Boise, Idaho