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“Today's Learners, Tomorrow's Leaders”
CALL US: (253) 750-0699
Enrolling children ages 3-6
Our Approach
Individualized Lesson Plans
At Sunshine Montessori Academy, we believe that every child is unique and their learning journey should be too. This is why we create individualized lesson plans tailored to each student's strengths, interests, and developmental needs.
Building Independence
Promoting independence is a core value in Montessori Education because it empowers children to become active participants in their own learning. By giving children the freedom to make choices, try things on their own, and take pride in their accomplishments, we help them build self-confidence, responsibility, and a strong sense of self.
Mixed-Age Classroom
At Sunshine Montessori Academy, we serve children ages 3–6, a sensitive period in development when children are naturally driven to explore, absorb, and master new skills. This stage is ideal for fostering independence, language, movement, and social-emotional growth. Our mixed-age classroom supports this beautifully—allowing younger children to learn by observing older peers, while older students reinforce their knowledge and build leadership skills by guiding and helping the younger ones.
Curriculum
Practical Life
At SMA, our practical life center is one of the most well-loved areas in our classroom. Practical life is made up of hands-on activities that mirror everyday tasks—like pouring, sweeping, buttoning, and spooning—and are carefully designed to help children build independence, hand-eye coordination, focus, and confidence. We regularly rotate and refresh these activities each month to keep them engaging, purposeful, and aligned with the children’s developmental needs and interests.
Sensorial
Sensorial activities at SMA are carefully designed to help children refine and strengthen each of their five senses while also fostering their ability to observe, analyze, and interpret the world around them. These interactive experiences encourage children to explore differences in texture, color, shape, size, sound, and weight, helping them develop not only sensory awareness but also cognitive skills like classification, comparison, and critical thinking.
Mathematics
Our carefully prepared math environment includes a wide range of tactile, sequential materials that meet each child exactly where they are in their learning journey—whether they are just beginning to explore numbers or already diving into more advanced concepts like multiplication, division, fractions, and place value. Our math curriculum is designed to progress naturally with the child, offering a broad spectrum of materials that grow in complexity. Our individualized approach allows children to move at their own pace, often resulting in students working well above typical grade level expectations. Many of our graduates leave Sunshine Montessori Academy with a strong mathematical foundation, confidence in problem-solving, and skills that place them ahead of their peers in traditional educational settings.
Language
SMA's approach to language centers around interactive, child-led learning. Students explore reading, writing, and grammar through sensory-rich materials—beginning with phonetic awareness and letter formation, and gradually progressing to reading, sentence structure and grammar concepts. This immersive and engaging approach fosters a deep understanding and love for language. As a result, our students consistently achieve advanced language skills, often surpassing the expectations for their age. They leave our program as confident readers, thoughtful writers, and articulate communicators, equipped with a strong foundation for lifelong learning.
Geography
Geography is a meaningful part of our curriculum, helping children build an early understanding of the world around them. Through our extensive geography materials like maps, globes, puzzles, and landform models, students explore continents, countries, cultures, and natural features in a way that’s engaging and meaningful. These lessons not only spark curiosity but also foster a sense of global awareness, appreciation for diversity, and a deeper connection to the planet we share.
Science Units
At our school, the curriculum comes to life through engaging monthly units in zoology, botany, and general science. Each month, we explore a new topic that connects to the season or other classroom themes. Students dive deep into each subject’s life cycle, parts, types, and unique characteristics through interactive experiences and activities. The work is thoughtfully crafted by our talented staff, tailored specifically to our school, and beautifully handmade to enrich each child’s learning. This thoughtful and immersive approach nurtures curiosity while building scientific knowledge.
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