Elementary (Grades 1-6)

OakHaven Montessori Elementary

The New Alternative in Elementary Education

Can you imagine:

A classroom of mixed-ages, working interdependently on lessons of their choosing and interest? A community with open dialogue and mutual respect, and minimal adult intervention? No grading or testing, and the children self-correct and help each other? This option is now available to your children. It is a new alternative to a traditional education. It is a “Cosmic Education,” right here in O’Fallon, Missouri.

Why Montessori Elementary?

Choosing Montessori Elementary: Three Factors to Consider (article by Sra. Anna, OakHaven’s elementary teacher)

Here’s a snap shot into the classroom:

1st year work:

2nd year work:

Read Aloud Books
A special time of every day is Read Aloud, when Miss Anna reads to the children. This is an essential component of language development, both written and spoken. This allows an introduction to all genres, and expands vocabulary and comprehension. Here are some of the recent read aloud books:

Bunnicular by Deborah and James Howe

Nurk by Ursula Vernon

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

Stuart Little by E.B. White

Grizzly Bear Family by Audrey Fraggalosch

The Secret Garden (abridged) by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Velveteen Rabbit by Marguy Williams

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Heartbeat by Sharon Creech

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

Wind and the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan

Granite Iditarod Champion by Susan Butcher and David Monson

Mites to Mastodons: A Book of Animal Poems by Maxine Kumin

The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe

Goings Out
Goings Out are a unique part of the Montessori elementary program. It is the opportunity for the children to experience the world outside the classroom and apply classroom skills to practical life. This is not a class field trip; a typical going out includes 1 to 3 children. The purpose of a going out may include research, to obtain supplies or other useful information.

To learn more about Goings Out, watch the Goings Out Training Video.

We cannot create observers by saying ‘observe,’ but by giving them the power and the means for this observation and these means are procured through education of the senses. ~Maria Montessori

Petland

Busch Wildlife Conservation

Community Supported Agriculture in Defiance

World Bird Sanctuary

Schnucks

St. Charles County Library

Goodwill

Whole Foods

Pigeon Farm

Rita’s Farm

St. Louis Zoo

St. Louis Art Museum

Powder Valley Nature Center

Laumeier Sculpture Park

Butterfly House

Geocaching

RRRM

The Read, Right, & Run Marathon® (RRRM) was launched in 2001 and quickly gained national recognition. The Read, Right & Run Marathon’s goal is to develop reading-proficient, community-minded and physically-fit children by challenging them to READ 26 books, RIGHT the community with 26 good deeds, and RUN 26.2 miles over a six-month period. It is a standards-based, sustainable, enrichment program that endorses and supports existing school curriculum.

All of that hard work culminates each year when the K-5 students run their final 1.2 miles and the middle schoolers run 5 Kilometers (3.1 miles) at our Family Day in Forest Park. More than 30,000 area students have accepted the challenge since the program was established. The Read, Right & Run Marathon is open to schools, organizations and individual students. Read more about the RRRM and all the GO! St. Louis events at: www.gostlouis.org.

The OMS Marathon Club meets every Wednesday 3:30 – 4:15.