Kindlers
Age 3 – 6 years
Flame Builders
At this age, children are beginning to take ownership of their learning. They’re building the focus, coordination, and curiosity needed to tend their own fire and they’re ready for real work that matters.
The Kindlers Program blends Montessori structure with the creativity and collaboration of project-based learning. It’s hands-on, child-led, and intentionally balanced. It’s designed to support independence, deepen learning, and build the habits that will carry them into the next stage of life.
FAQs
Children in this stage are refining:
- Fine motor coordination and executive functioning
- Emotional regulation and social interaction
- Early literacy, numeracy, and sensory foundations
- Independence in caring for themselves and their environment
- Curiosity-driven thinking and real-world awareness
Kindlers are just beginning to feed and shape their own flame. They’re discovering what they love, building discipline through choice, and gaining pride in the small acts of care, effort, and perseverance that fuel learning.
We start with Montessori’s proven foundations- mixed-age classrooms, hands-on materials, freedom within structure- and enrich it with meaningful project work. Children explore big questions through real experiences: gardening, baking, building, creating, and collaborating.
Project time is balanced with uninterrupted work cycles and nature-rich outdoor play. We guide students to work independently, but also as part of a group, developing the skills to share ideas, solve problems, and build something together.
A gentle start outdoors — Children arrive and ease into the day through open-ended play, movement, and connection with nature.
Morning gathering — Circle time outdoors brings songs, stories, and conversation that build community.
Independent work cycle — In a calm, Montessori-inspired environment, children choose hands-on activities in literacy, math, sensorial, and practical life. Teachers guide individually, nurturing focus and independence.
Movement and play — After focused work, children move their bodies freely through outdoor play, yoga, or nature exploration, etc.
Shared meals and rest — Meals are unhurried and social, followed by quiet reading or rest.
Expeditions (project time) — Small-group projects invite discovery and creation through the Kindling Learning Cycle - Discover, Design, Build, Share, Reflect. Topics might include science, community, technology, etc.
Reflection and contribution — Children tidy their spaces, care for plants and materials, and reflect on what they created or learned.
Joyful closure — The day ends outside with storytelling, gratitude, and outdoor connection, leaving children grounded and proud of their day.
The rhythm is designed to feel calm, alive, and joyful balancing freedom and structure, curiosity and care, imagination and real-world purpose.
By the end of Kindlers, children know how to focus, follow through, take initiative, and contribute to a community. They leave this stage not just ready for academics but ready to glow brighter as Embers.