Spanish bilingual preschool and kindergarten
Bamboo Montessori is a Bilingual (English/Spanish) year round preschool in Vancouver Washington.
Our class can welcome a maximum of 12 children with one teacher to every six children.
We offer an enriched environment where we respond to each child’s uniqueness with love, compassion and respect. Our everyday activities, which integrate Spanish, are based on Dr. Montessori’s philosophy. We encourage the children to develop their maximum potential so that they can be agents for positive change in the world.
We strongly encourage parents to start their child’s Montessori education as early as two and a half years old. Learning a language comes naturally to children. By giving our children the opportunity to learn another language at this age, we are offering them a future with more possibilities
The classroom environment is composed of five academic areas: Practical life, Sensory perception, Language, Geography, and Science/Math. Cooking, gardening, music and yoga are also a part of our daily life.
A typical Montessori classroom offers opportunities for independence and natural spontaneous exploration while fostering social, emotional, and academic development. The classroom becomes a place of harmony where children are treated with respect and courtesy while they learn to solve problems on their own.
For children, there is a “window of opportunity” that occurs between birth and 10 years old. During this period the likelihood of developing higher levels of language proficiency in a second language is far greater. Bamboo Montessori recognizes and fosters this sensitive period.
Bamboo does not discriminate against race, color, nationality, ethnicity, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, class, age, or religion.
Practical life exercises teach children to care for themselves, others, and for the environment.
These activities include some of the daily routines the child has already observed at home: watering the plants, preparing food, taking care of the animals, washing dishes etc.
Practical life activities, will also develop and refine social skills. These skills build self-esteem, determination and independence.
Sensorial materials are designed to develop cognitive skills and allow the child to identify differences, specific qualities, similarities and contrasts.
The child then must think, organize, compare, classify and draw conclusions. These exercises are also the foundation for learning math.
The Montessori classroom is rich in oral language opportunities, allowing the child to experience conversation, music, and stories.
Children effortlessly associate sound to symbol while tracing sandpaper letters with their fingers. This fosters a natural progression to written expression and reading skills. There are several games we play that enhance sound awareness and language development, which makes the process enjoyable.
Our students will learn Spanish the same way they learned English by listening and watching and adult. Our bilingual native Spanish speaker teacher will will only talk in English for safety reasons.
Mathematical activities help children learn and understand the concepts of math by experimenting with concrete materials. This method helps children acquire a solid understanding of basic mathematical principles, and prepares them for future abstract reasoning.
In the classroom we use hands-on learning materials that make abstract concepts clear and concrete. Every operation (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) is explored in the classroom gradually, and always at the pace of each child.
The Montessori curriculum is rich in opportunities to connect the child to his/her world, and make them feel an important part of it.
In this area the children will learn something different about botany, zoology and geography every month; for example, the parts of an ant, the life cycle of a frog or the continents of the world.
In our classroom art and music are always present, giving the children the opportunity to enjoy creative activities, and to unfold their imagination.
Gardening provides different forms of engagement for children, including designing, planting, and maintaining gardens.
They will also be able to harvest, prepare and share their food; Working cooperatively in groups and creating art and stories inspired by their gardens, they will be learning about science and nutrition.
Cooking helps children feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves. By trusting them with this important task, they feel responsible. Also cooking is one of the best ways to show kids that reading offers tangible results.
Math and chemistry are applied at the same time. Another benefit is that it makes them more willing to try new foods.
Yoga at an early age encourages self-esteem and body awareness with a physical activity that’s noncompetitive.
Children derive enormous benefits from yoga. Physically, it enhances their flexibility, strength, coordination, and body awareness. In addition, their concentration and sense of calmness and relaxation improves.
Alejandra Paz was born and raised in Mexico. She got her Master’s degree in finance and worked in the banking industry until she became a full time mom in 2004. She moved to Vancouver in 2005 and fell in love with the area. She learned about Montessori while looking for a Preschool for her oldest son and got so passionate about it that she earned her teaching degree from AMS and started working in a preschool classroom.
At Bamboo Montessori we offer more than a day care.
We would love to show you our classrooms and learn about your child’s needs.
Bamboo Montessori strives to become a school where all children and families are welcome, feel welcome, and see themselves reflected here. We work intentionally to nourish a child’s development.
Generally, Bamboo Montessori is not equipped outright nor licensed to care for children with disabilities requiring specialized equipment or one-on-one aides; therefore any such care is conditional upon the family and staff properly arranging for the child’s needs to be met. It is the goal for each child to be able to participate in and substantially benefit from this Montessori program without risk to themselves or other children. Bamboo Montessori reserves the right to limit entrance to the program or ask that a child be unenrolled from the program after a trial period, based on whether or not we have or can successfully access and implement the tools and strategies to best support a child’s needs, or whether we’ve been able to successfully collaborate with a family and/or a child’s outside support professionals to get the child’s needs met.
