Specials at Alegria

Art, music, movement, foreign language study are incorporated into the daily life of every classroom at Alegria. Some special features include:

Spanish Immersion (Ages 3+)

While not a special, Spanish is important to us.  Spanish is incorporated into the daily life of the classroom. Each 3-6 classroom and higher has at least one native-Spanish speaker on the team. This teacher speaks with the children in Spanish, building vocabulary and conversational skills. The children are exposed to Spanish stories and songs and also receive many cultural and Montessori lessons in Spanish.

Children are singing the ‘Continent Song’ in Spanish as they walk around the extension they created with the long rods and sandpaper globe

French (Ages grade 3 +)

French is offered by our lovely teacher, Madame Michele, to students in grades 3 and higher.  During this time children learn French vocabulary, conversational French and French songs, among many other fun activities.  As they become more advanced, students learn how to translate excerpts from French to English.

Library (Ages 2+)

At Alegria, we love to read! On the main campus, children starting at the age of 2, visit the library weekly to have story time and to check out books. Kindergarteners frequently use our non-fiction books for research and projects. Each classroom has it’s own quiet area with books and we have a separate library room.

At our Upper Campus the library is incorporated into each of the classrooms with thousands of fiction and non-fiction books available for Sustained Silent Reading, research, and general enjoyment.

Art (Ages 3-6)

Art at this level involves the introduction to art materials and techniques, where the creative process is the focus rather than the final product. Students explore art techniques inspired by artists to whom they are introduced in class.

French Crafts (Grade 3+)

Madame Michele also teaches art to our Upper Elementary students.  This is a highly sought after class as she does very unique activities with the children in small groups.  While playing soft French music, the students learn to knit, crochet, emboss paper to make cards and decorate them with dried flowers.  Additionally, students make bracelets, anklets, and beautiful paintings with stencils of outdoor scenes.

Cooperative Coaching (Ages 4 +)

Our cooperative coaching teachers work with the 4-year-olds through elementary aged children to learn how to solve problems collaboratively through working together, listening, being respectful and giving children opportunities to be leaders and to have their voices heard. Eventually this leads to classroom meetings in which students take turns facilitating the meeting.  During the meetings students come up with solutions to class problems then vote on which solutions they think will work best for the class.  Cooperative Coaching also includes team building activities led by the teachers. 

Music Ages (Ages 1 – 6)

Music is everywhere in our Montessori classrooms! In addition to daily group singing and listening appreciation, our students enjoy weekly visits from Ms. Colleen, the director of Music & Me, a licensed Music Together center.

Rhythm Kids (Ages 6-12)

Rhythm Kids® is an exciting music, movement, and drumming class supporting the Music Together® philosophy. Children will sing, dance, move, drum, and play to songs and beats from around the world while they integrate and assimilate rhythm in new ways.

In Rhythm Kids Level 1, children begin to more deeply understand the differentiation between macro beats and micro beats. We experiment with identifying phrases within the structure of a song as well as learning about tempos and dynamics.

Rhythm Kids Level 2 takes these concepts a step further. We begin to teach music literacy by visually identifying and writing beats and rhythm patterns. The children learn to identify standard notations for dynamics and language for tempo all taught through playful, musical interaction, games.