Kids of Valor Academy - Houston, TX
“Within the child lies the fate of the future.” - Dr. Maria Montessori
MISSION
Kids of Valor Montessori School nurtures the development of the whole child through quality Montessori education. Our community supports each child’s joyful discovery of self in the journey to becoming a confident lifelong learner and compassionate citizen.
PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT
Maria Montessori believed that children of the present are the world’s hope for the future. It was her belief that it is in the early years that children develop the social, emotional, physical and intellectual foundation on which they build the rest of their lives. The development of concentration, independence, self-discipline and a sense of order and responsibility are prerequisites for success in learning, as well as in becoming a citizen of the world. The Montessori approach is education for life-long love of learning. Kids of Valor Montessori's aim is to encourage the development of responsible, caring, young people who can direct their own lives, in a conscientious and thoughtful manner, and contribute to making the world a better place for future generations.
The Montessori method provides a carefully prepared environment, rich in learning materials and experiences. Students are grouped in mixed-age classes, which allows them to interact with other children on a variety of intellectual, social and interest levels. The three-year age grouping is based on the children’s developmental stages and has been scientifically verified as an effective philosophy.
The Montessori method provides a carefully prepared environment, rich in learning materials and experiences. Students are grouped in mixed-age classes, which allows them to interact with other children on a variety of intellectual, social and interest levels. The three-year age grouping is based on the children’s developmental stages and has been scientifically verified as an effective philosophy.
DIVERSITY STATEMENT
Kids of Valor Montessori honors and values a learning community with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and traditions. Experiencing and understanding diversity in a safe and positive environment enhances and enriches the educational experience for our children and families. Kids of Valor Montessori commits to promote a community that is accepting, inclusive and respectful.
OUR STORY
Kids of Valor Montessori is nestled in Alvin Texas off of 35. Our school opened its doors in August 2023. The building was acquired from the previous Sunshine House Montessori to which we have no affiliation. No one in town could miss the bright lemon-yellow building with green trim. At Kids of Valor Montessori, we celebrate each child’s individuality and help them discover how they can best contribute to our world and culture.
OUR MISSION
All children are naturally curious and love to learn; we support this innate drive by providing environments that meet children’s developmental needs, by having a staff of loving and well-prepared adults, and by building a community of families that actively support our mission.
OUR PROMISE
At Kids of Valor Montessori, we will:
Provide a safe, carefully prepared, mixed-age learning environment that encourages children to become independent, self-sufficient, and self-confident
Expose children to a consistent and predictable routine
Allow children to interact with and learn directly from the Montessori materials and the environment with minimal correction from adults
Encourage children to attempt and complete challenging tasks
Create a community of children who learn from and care for each other and the environment and who appreciate and respect different cultures and points of view
Give children a voice by providing them with the tools to communicate effectively, advocate for themselves and others, and to ask for help
Set children up for success in the classroom and in the community, now and in the future, by encouraging their natural curiosity for learning and nourishing a positive self-image
There are 4 steps for enrollment and joining our KOVM family:
Visit the school by scheduling an appointment for a tour.
Complete and submit your application form and send it to the school along with the registration fee.
If your child is not old enough or we have no space, pay a $100 non-refundable wait list fee.
After acceptance, bring your child to school for a half-day observation.
OUR PROGRAMS
Nido-Infants (6 weeks-17 months)
Nido ("nest" in Italian) is a cozy and loving space intentionally designed for your baby's rapid development. This infant classroom serves children ages 6 weeks up to 17 months. Your child will develop their core and overall gross motor development in an limited apparatus environment.
When the child is ready, we sit together to enjoy family style meals. Infants who are still exclusively bottle fed are held or supported and provided undivided attention during their feedings. Mothers are welcome to come in during the day to bottle or breastfeed their infant on our gliders. When your child begins to meet the milestones of walking independently, self-feeding, drinking from an open cup and down to one nap during the day, he/she will transition into Bambino Piccolo community.
When the child is ready, we sit together to enjoy family style meals. Infants who are still exclusively bottle fed are held or supported and provided undivided attention during their feedings. Mothers are welcome to come in during the day to bottle or breastfeed their infant on our gliders. When your child begins to meet the milestones of walking independently, self-feeding, drinking from an open cup and down to one nap during the day, he/she will transition into Bambino Piccolo community.
Bambino Piccolo-Toddlers (18 months-2 Year old)
Our toddler environment is designed to support the curiosity of your ever-evolving little one. We focus on giving them the independence they desire within a space that is both safe and challenging.
Our toddlers are empowered with daily experiences in which they can authentically engage in preparing food, pouring and measuring, and cleaning up messes. By providing the children intentional lessons as well as tools sized for their hands and bodies, we give your toddlers the chance to have real experiences. Using activities with movement and exploration, the child is integrated into a community where parallel play becomes interactive play and the child develops the ability to communicate his needs and desires.
Your child will find himself immersed in dynamic social and linguistic experiences as he begins his pre-academic learning. First introductions to shapes, colors, letters, and numbers happen within the toddler environment. The toddler age is a stage of rapid development, and our staff is committed to supporting and guiding the children's development with love and respect.
Our toddlers are empowered with daily experiences in which they can authentically engage in preparing food, pouring and measuring, and cleaning up messes. By providing the children intentional lessons as well as tools sized for their hands and bodies, we give your toddlers the chance to have real experiences. Using activities with movement and exploration, the child is integrated into a community where parallel play becomes interactive play and the child develops the ability to communicate his needs and desires.
Your child will find himself immersed in dynamic social and linguistic experiences as he begins his pre-academic learning. First introductions to shapes, colors, letters, and numbers happen within the toddler environment. The toddler age is a stage of rapid development, and our staff is committed to supporting and guiding the children's development with love and respect.
Due Anni - 2 year old
Once a child enters our Due Anni Community the curriculum begins to structure itself around interest areas with continued development of gross and fine motor skills. Self-discipline, impulse control, and concentration are nurtured as the child moves into an increased social awareness. Children in our Due Anni Community also work to further develop their independence and practical life skills through toilet learning and self-care. The intricate balance between the needs of the individual with those of friends provides ample opportunity for children to learn basic grace and courtesy and conflict-management skills. The development of language and the use of it as a tool to communicate needs is a strong component of the Due Anni classroom. In addition to this, the Montessori materials in the practical life, sensorial, art, pre-math and language areas build a foundation necessary for success as the child moves into a more cognitive developmental stage. As always, each child is supported in his/her learning with respectful care and nurturing while also being challenged according to his/her developmental abilities.
Tre Anni - 3 year old
The Primary environment provides children two and a half to six years old a splendid opportunity for work and play independently as well as in group settings. This program is intended to be a three year cycle and is your child's first introduction to an academic learning environment. While continuing to provide daily practical life skills, we also enrich each child with math, language, science, geography, sensory/motor and cultural studies. The academic materials are designed to gently lead your child from concrete operations into a slow evolution of abstraction. Each child is able to learn and progress at an individual pace that honors her unique strengths and abilities.
Quattro Anni - 4 year old
The Montessori Preschool classroom is a carefully prepared environment designed specifically to support the four to Kindergarten child’s natural curiosity and interest in his world. It allows the child to learn in a place of beauty, order and rich opportunity. The Preschool classroom is well organized to allow children the freedom to select from a wide variety of activities that entice the young child to follow his innate drive to learn. The Montessori Preschool Classroom provides a rich curriculum that has both depth and breadth in all subject areas. Children are encouraged to follow their natural desire for repetition and are given lessons on new activities when they are ready.
Daily group times (called “line”) present opportunities to share verbally; explore literature; experience science and cultural lessons; participate in music, movement and rhythm activities. Outdoor time is another part of each day; children develop important social skills and are provided with many opportunities to interact with the natural world in this atmosphere of unstructured play.
Scolari - School Age
As at all Montessori levels, the Elementary program is based on the belief that children learn best through movement and work with their hands, and provides cognitive, social, and emotional support to help them reach their full potential. This includes addressing their needs as they enter a new period of development characterized by:
- A transition from concrete to abstract thinking
- Growing interest in socialization
- Thinking and memory skills are enhanced by creativity and imagination
- An interest in fairness, social justice, and compassion
Please note: We also provide a safe and fun summer camp in the summer.
There are five areas in a Montessori classroom that create the holistic education.
- Practical Life
- Sensorial
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Cultural
Upon first entering the Montessori school children are given the opportunity to develop important life skills which will allow them greater freedom in the classroom. They learn to manage their own clothes using dressing frames to practice buttons, zips and bows. They are also shown how to care for the classroom, using child-sized brushes and dusters. Developing practical skills, such as pouring drinks from a jug and laying tables, and social skills with friends and teacher enable each child to feel that they are capable, self-reliant members of the community.
A child’s first experience with learning is through the senses. Montessori schools use a range of well thought out exercises to help children sort, match and compare objects by shape, size, touch, taste and sound. These early sensorial impressions boost children’s powers of observation and discrimination, broaden their vocabulary and contribute to their later understanding of formal education concepts.
Montessori’s language materials are based on a carefully a structured phonic approach to writing and reading. Recognized for their excellence, they are used widely in many non-Montessori schools and settings where special help is required. First, children learn sensorially by tracing sandpaper letters with their fingers while they are told the sounds. Soon they are writing simple words with movable letters, matching words with objects and reading their first stories in phonic readers. When asked how they learned to read and write Montessori children will often answer, “I did it myself.”
Essentially mathematics is about understanding relationships in the environment and being able to express them in mathematical terms. Montessori materials, like the number rods, golden beads and spindle boxes, are simple and interesting and provide step-by-step learning. They are also self-correcting, which means that children can see at a glance if they have made a mistake and can put it right without a teacher’s help. This enables them to progress at their own rate and understand each stage thoroughly before they move on to the next stage.
In the Montessori classroom children use globes, puzzles maps and flags to underpin activities which build their understanding of other cultures and people. Children are also taught to match, classify and name the elements and species of the natural would by using picture and name cards. Classroom plant growing and caring for pets help to form a bridge between the child’s knowledge of the immediate environment and the wider world.