Garden of Joy Montessori International School is a home-based preschool located in East San Jose. We are deeply committed to providing a loving, nurturing, and enriching environment for your beloved children. Our goal is to provide a safe and comfortable space where your little ones can grow, explore, and blossom - just like flowers in a beautiful garden!

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Montessori Education Excellence

Our home-based environment follows the principles and foundations pioneered by Dr. Maria Montessori. We believe in providing a comprehensive and well-rounded educational experience that focuses on the individual needs and interests of each child. We strive for excellence in early childhood education through respecting and acknowledging that every child is different - they each have unique developmental needs and grow at their own individual pace. By utilizing Montessori Compass to track each students' progress, we are able to tailor individualized lesson plans based upon their developmental needs. Our diverse yet balanced curriculum covers the following areas: 

• Practical Life (including Gardening & Cooking)

• Sensorial

• Language 

• Mathematics 

• Music and Movement

• Art and Crafts

• Science

• Character Education (Socio-Emotional Development)

• Field trips (we take our children to a park nearby once a month)

• A variety of Cultural Subjects (e.g. History, Geography, Botany, Zoology & Cultures)​

 

Low Student-Teacher Ratio

Between the ages of two and six, our little ones need - and deserve! - a great deal of 1:1 attention. This dynamic is exactly what our children enjoy while spending their days at Garden of Joy Montessori, since the maximum number of children enrolled in our program at any given time is 12, and there are always 3 experienced teachers who provide them with timely and appropriate guidance.

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Trilingual Exposure

Our children are exposed to the three most commonly used languages in the world - English, Chinese, and Spanish. For Spanish, we use the amazing curricular materials designed by Ms. Susy Dorn, founding director of "Let's Play In Spanish." 

 

Effective Teacher-Parent Communication

We pride ourselves in maintaining excellent communication with our families. When parents have concerns or questions about something, they are encouraged to communicate directly to the school staff in a timely fashion via email, text, or in-person.

 

Additionally, we utilize the Playground app to securely share photos and videos of our students' activities throughout the day. Parents are encouraged to talk with their children about their daily experiences at school; encouraging conversations during mealtimes or while getting ready for the day can help ignite excitement and show your child you’re involved in their day - even when you are not physically there. We find this to be particularly helpful while helping ease anxiety in new students' transitioning into their first days and weeks in our program!

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We host twice-yearly Parent Teacher Conferences to check in with our families and provide valuable information about student progress. Of course, we continue to encourage open communication year-round!

 

Convenience & Peace of Mind

We offer wholesome and well-balanced lunches, as well as two snacks to all of our students, sparing parents the daily hassle of packing and preparing food for their children to take to school. We offer several programs that tailor to all ages to meet our children and their families where they are. We encourage families to join us for fieldtrips and encourage a strong sense of community within our school.  The peace of mind offered by our quality care and education for our little ones is priceless!

 

Teacher Owned and Operated

There is no concern for high staff turnover at Garden of Joy Montessori, which is a common concern within many preschools. By eliminating the fear that your child's teachers may not be there to greet them with warmth and comfort, we ensure consistency which is crucial for the healthy development of young children. Seeing the same friendly faces day after day instills a sense of safety and familiarity, once again providing that added layer of peace of mind to both families and children alike!

 

Healthy Lunch and Snacks

We participate in the California Childcare Food Program through Love Little Children Inc. This program is designed to provide healthy and nutritious food to children, and we make it one of our top priorities to ensure that all of the children enrolled in our program are well-fed with healthy and nutritious food throughout their day.

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In a home-based learning environment, we have the unique ability to offer alternative options if a child decides that they do not care for certain foods offered at meal or snack time. We also have wonderful methods to help encourage our students to try new foods, and provide support to our families struggling with picky eaters!

 

Nurturing Environment

Our school is nestled in a warm and beautiful family environment, with access to a lovely shaded and secure play area located in our charming backyard. We have an organic garden that our children help tend to, a sandbox, and open-ended play area full of enriching toys. We are also within walking distance to Lake Cunningham Park for fieldtrips, and often take our children on walks through the neighborhood to explore the outdoors; we also hold close relationships with our kind neighbors who host a variety of fun things to explore, including a koi pond, which is a favorite amongst our students!

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As a parent myself, I understand that we all want the best school for our children. As such, we take it as a privilege to be part of your child's early life. We want to make sure there is a proper match between your child and our program. To this end, I would like to provide more information about our school as follows. 

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Our program focuses on the nurturing of our little ones to become thoughtful global citizens with focus on the following skills:​

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• Creativity We want our children to maintain their rich imaginations and creative drive, instead of growing out of them or stifling them - as this is so commonly the case in our current society. We give them space to explore, discover, make mistakes, and give them grace, courtesy, and respect; all of which enable them to learn and grow in the safety and encouragement of our care.

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• Independence We want our children to become independent and self-reliant with good habits and manners which are encouraged and built upon from a young age. These habits will help to ensure that they can take good care of themselves, others, and the environment around them.

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• Multilingual We want our children to have a strong competitive edge with a solid foundation laid for the world's three major languages: English, Chinese, and Spanish. To this end, our curriculum includes instruction in all three languages, with weekly lessons in both Chinese and Spanish, and daily materials/lessons taught primarily in English.

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We pride ourselves for having the following three means to achieve the above goals:

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• Strong support from family Our school works together with our families as a team to support the child’s happy and healthy growth. We keep ongoing communication with our families and guardians (through Montessori Compass and LearningGenie) and invite families to participate in school events, and even present their special cultures/traditions in front of our children whenever possible. 

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• Well-designed curriculum (software) Our curriculum is designed with each individual child’s developmental needs in mind. We focus in the areas of gross and fine motor skills, socio-emotional development, music and art, language (including Chinese, English and Spanish) and mathematics. As true Montessorians, we understand that one of our key responsibilities is to observe our children; but more importantly, we want to help them develop into the best human beings they could possibly become.

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• Carefully prepared materials and environment (hardware) We believe that children have an innate desire and willingness to learn with an absorbent mind. Based on their developmental stage, we carefully design and choose our materials to suit their interests and challenge them appropriately. Our orderly, beautiful and inviting environment beckons our children to put their hands on the materials, piques their curiosity, and engages their natural desire to discover. Such materials are ever-changing according to our monthly themes and our children's unique developmental needs. 

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Mission Statement

With the support of the families within our school, Garden of Joy Montessori is dedicated to the nurturance and guidance of our young children; by encouraging them to become independent and intelligent future global citizens, we equip them with the skills necessary to move forward into their lives confidently with intercultural competence, creativity, compassion, and empathy.

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Our Vision

We implement Dr. Maria Montessori’s method to educate young minds and follow in her footsteps. We provide inclusive quality Early Childhood Education within our community and aim to make this world a more peaceful, pleasant, and prosperous place for all.

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Our Values

While we hold many values dear, we strive to develop the following qualities within all of the children who attend Garden of Joy Montessori:

• Independence

• Creativity 

• Intercultural Competence

• Compassion

• Empathy

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