NOW ACCEPTING REGISTRATIONS FOR Summer 2008 and Fall 2008-09 Classes

What makes our program unique?

At Broad Horizons, we have a fully integrated community school accepting children  ages 2-15  including those with developmental delays, learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorders and their siblings. We have small classes with a 1:3 teacher to student ratio and also offer private instruction.

Our classroom is set up as a typical Montessori preschool  and serves both children with ASD and typical peers ages 2-6.  

We are also able to offer elementary programming for children ages 7-12. We will grow this program to include the middle school level when the need presents itself.  We will be the only private  Montessori school in the area to provide education from preschool through middle school under one roof.

Broad Horizons is one of the only private Montessori programs for children with autism in the country.  Our school helps the parents of children with autism already in our program, by offering a facility that can also accommodate their typically developing children.  All children are educated under one roof, receiving all the services they require for cognitive, social and physical development.  We have the advantage of not being hampered by bureaucracy.  We can stay on top of the latest research in Autism, implement innovative strategies faster, and more cost effectively than the local schools. 

We have found that autistic children feel less anxiety in a “home” type learning environment.  The school currently operates one classroom with two sessions and private tutoring in a home setting.  

In our school, we work individually with those children who are neither ready to tolerate others, nor to explore the world independently.  We have a transitional class where self-discipline, social skills, seeking knowledge and following directions are the main objectives. This is an environment where learning in stimulating and creative ways also has outlets for dispelling pent up energy, releasing frustration, finding our bodies in space, and communicating our feelings and needs appropriately. 

The teachers in this school are people who understand the mind/body/spirit connection of all children.  They  provide support, boundaries, love, encouragement and guidance.  The Montessori Method is the principle philosophy in the operation of this school.  It is a community of acceptance, leadership and growth for all. 

Our small class consists of at least two teachers and six to eight children, because there is a need for small teacher to child ratios.  In the traditional Montessori classroom, the materials call to the child and are self-correcting so that as a child experiences success and gains self-confidence, he will need less and less of the adult in the environment and will be self-motivated more and more to seek knowledge.  The majority of our students need help with motivation and receive appropriate stimuli and incentives as we support their growth toward independent choices.

True self-confidence comes from mastery of skills from simple to complex, from pouring water to drawing maps.  The child on the Autistic spectrum lives in a place that makes the very idea of trying something new too painful to bear.  Children with ASD need to be “taught” how to interact with their world, how to tolerate, classify and organize the input they are receiving.  The have to be “taught” how to “play” and learn how to learn.  A system of intrinsic rewards has to be discovered for and opened to them.   They require more effort on the part of the adult educator, but they are not limited in their capability or capacity to learn.  Typical peers will work side by side these children and demonstrate more independent learning skills.

This program works on a one-on-one basis to improve each child’s motor planning, sensory awareness (and tolerance), language development, spatial awareness, mathematical concepts, science, geography, and practical life skills.  We also work in small groups to develop language, play and socialization skills.  We make use of the outdoor environment as well, and include plenty of opportunities for sensory integration as needed.