Children's House

The Children’s House environment is set up intentionally and with care for children ages 3-6 years old who Dr. Maria Montessori found to be in the stage of the absorbent mind and of constructing themselves. Children at this level are absorbing their surroundings, and refining their impressions of the world through conscious interaction and manipulation of their environment.

The Children’s House classroom provides lessons for the children to explore and learn about the world around them along with activities that help develop the child’s concentration, independence, control of movement,  and confidence. In this environment, the physical space and furniture are set up to allow the children to be independent and to support the notion, ‘help me help myself.’  When given a prepared environment of meaningful and developmentally appropriate activities and materials, along with the time to complete those tasks at their own pace, Maria Montessori found that children will choose to engage in purposeful work, creating opportunities for learning in personal and powerful ways.

The prepared learning environment provides opportunities for every child to maximize their potential within the universal domains of development: social, emotional, physical, and cognitive. The prepared environment, with Montessori materials, provides the framework for our experienced Montessori-trained faculty to guide the children to discover language, writing, reading, math, and cultural studies. All children possess an inner drive to learn and develop. Montessori teachers guide this inner drive, understanding their role as facilitators of the learning process with the core belief that each child is naturally interested in learning.

Ruffing's Children’s House classrooms foster joyful engagement of children in a true Montessori learning community. Each Children’s House classroom is multi-aged with children ages 3 – 6 years old (pre-school through kindergarten) working and playing together while learning from one another. Children remain with the same Montessori-trained teacher over the course of three years. This three-year-cycle of a Montessori classroom builds a strong bond between adult and child, resulting in a deep understanding of each child’s educational needs. 

Ruffing offers the following enrollment options at the Children's House level, all Monday – Friday:

Ages 3 & 4 (Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten)
Children’s House Morning Only:  8:30 – 11:45 am
Children’s House School Day:  8:30 am – 3:15 pm
All Day Children’s House:  7:45 am – 6 pm

Ages 5 – 6 (Kindergarten)
Children’s House School Day:  8:30 am – 3:15 pm
All Day Children’s House:  7:45 am – 6 pm

For Kindergarten (ages 5-6) children, Ruffing offers Before-School Care and After-School Care for an additional cost.

to learn more or to schedule a tour, click here to contact the admissions office