Course Offerings
Outdoor Classroom
To extend learning beyond the classroom walls, students will take day field trips and experience overnight camps. Activities will be relevant to the curriculum and offer real life problem solving opportunities. This educational experience inspires teamwork, leadership and self-confidence.
STEAM
The STEAM approach at Hudson Montessori School integrates learning across various disciplines; making connections between the sciences, engineering, math, technology and art.
Children will continue to engage in hands-on, inquiry based activities that allow them to build on the concepts and skills they learn.
To further our Engineering Curriculum, we will continue to work with engineers in the community who will mentor our students.
Computer Science, Robotics, and Technology Education
We now have a dedicated lab for technology. Students can use this room to undertake web based research, 3D printing, programming and robotics. Computer Science will continue to be part of the Science Curriculum. This year our 3rd to 5thgraders will train for the computer Science section of the Continental Math League. Apart from learning how to use technology and its applications students learn about internet security, parts of the computer, the history and how it has revolutionized the world today. Children will also be introduced to coding and will have an opportunity to showcase their work during Computer Science Week (December 5 – December 11)
Music and Chorus
Our music teacher, has assembled and conducted our Hudson Montessori Children’s Choir. The choir will continue our outreach to Jersey City, New York City and other neighboring communities through music and songs.
Music Appreciation
This year, our Lower Elementary students will be taking Music Appreciation. The class is a culmination of the basics of music theory, a survey of different musical styles, and music history. We will ”explore” what music is, how it began, and how it evolved throughout the ages into what we hear today.
Jazz Band (For 3rd Grade Only)
This program engages young minds in the harmonious realm of the musical arts. Students will freely choose to play a wide variety of instruments, ranging from the piano, guitar, drums, ukulele, violin, triangle, and even the trumpet! Individual or small group lessons will be given weekly for intensive learning. Ultimately, our goal is to have students express their musical talents seeking their highest potential and, most importantly, to produce the brightest and most creative minds of the future.
Character Development
Our students will be participating in an interactive program linked to Common Core Standards and extending Maria Montessori’s grace and courtesy guidelines. The objectives for this program is to bring lessons in character development and conflict resolution through real and creative experiences found within various narratives and through discussion based dialogues.
Physical Education and Tennis
Physical Education twice each week and Tennis once a week continues to be provided by Coach James Alfalla who has been involved in the tennis world for well over 20 years. Tennis Approach believes strongly in starting kids early with proper movement drills and games as well as teaching them correct modern stroke technique. Tennis Approach had developed its own eclectic approach for teaching kids. Their approach not only helps a naturally coordinated athletic child but really helps that child that is struggling with motor skill and hand-eye coordination.
Spanish
Spanish is the language we study as our foreign language. The goal is for our students to acquire conversational skills by the end of the school year. Our approach to Spanish is immersive. Through the communicative approach, our students will be immersed in different contexts and situations where they will be required to use the target language to communicate their thoughts and ideas.
Library
The mission of the Library Program is to encourage students to become lifelong learners who are excited to read and research. Elementary students enjoy weekly visits to the school library for stories, educational and entertaining library programming, and book exchange.
Students also have access to electronic resources, via laptops and DVD’s, so they can access the most up-to-date information on any given topic.
Art
Creative expression is essential to a Montessori education. Elementary students study various artists and their work to help nurture creativity. They explore different techniques and mediums through direct instruction and hands-on practice. Some of the artists we explore might include Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Keith Haring, Henri Rousseau, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe, Marc Chagall, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
Assembly
Elementary students meet together once a week for an assembly to foster our community of learners. The assembly begins by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance/Pledge to the Earth, sing ‘You’re a Grand Old Flag’ and discuss a current topic of global interest.
Maker Monday
Every Monday students are encouraged to share their “Maker” projects, points of view, and express their opinions in front of the group. We encourage an entrepreneurial spirit and want children to have an opportunity to talk about their ideas.
Community Outreach
To foster compassion, students participate in outreach events such as concerts, plays and fundraisers. This creates awareness of social issues and of challenges faced by members in the community. Causes chosen will reflect immediate neighborhood as well as global needs.
Social Studies Fair
The Social Studies Fair showcases the students’ yearlong project and the work they have done as a result of their studies. As Elementary students present their work to the community, they develop a sense of accountability and self-confidence.
Performing Arts and Year End Celebration
The Performing Arts are infused in the classroom and other school activities through informal and formal presentations and performances which may be literary, musical and/or informative. Students become the primary storytellers in the Year End Celebration, experientially reinforcing the theme or projects studied during the year.
