SUMMER 2026 PREREGISTRATION
NOW OPEN!!

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Hello Prospective KINDER FINS Families!

We were not anticipating taking students entering kindergarten but once we started getting flooded with inquiries and found out the SACC program is not taking them, we started looking for solutions. Every public school has the prekinder programs but not many options for just summer care. We received permission to add another FINS Classroom to Montana City School for this age group, so we are still developing exactly what it should look like, so please be patient with us, but it will be amazing.

Montana City School has been very good to us. Even though we are a private entity (Like Ms. Betty and Montana City Kids) and not affiliated with the school district, they have always served their community well. The three of us have cooperated and operated for years and Nature Story is so grateful for their generosity and dedication to the community. Tony Kloker (our MCS Superintendent) has been the BEST. He works very hard behind the scenes juggling everything. He is Montana City School’s super hero. (Make sure to check out the tax credit for funding the school district. Ask your CPA about it!!) Ms. Betty has run Montana City Kids for decades. She currently has children where the parents attended her Montana City Kids program decades ago! Her dedication to the community is astounding and she has been so generous to always work with us. We strive to contribute to our beloved community but have big shoes to fill. But we love a challenge.

Montessori is such an amazing philosophy that is so malleable that it can be adjusted to any age and ability with ease. We have plenty of materials to utilize. We are not worried about that – fully stocked. The KINDER FINS will be separated from the rest of the FINS and have their own space set up just for them. They will have age appropriate works and an adjusted curriculum. They will follow the same topics, schedule, and curriculum as the older FINS kids just without the van field trips, but they will instead explore outside and have modified outdoor activities that the older FINS are experiencing, just not in the exact same environment. Montana City School has plenty of places to have outdoor adventures! 

Montessori is sorted by age groups. Early Childhood is 3-6, Lower Elementary Montessori is ages 6-9, and Upper Elementary Montessori is ages 9-12. The materials and developmental philosophy that overlap the ages 3-6 and 6-9 will be the ones we will utilize in the KINDER FINS classroom. The classroom will be set up with shelves and educational works (activities) with some being traditional, some nontraditional. We run a Montessori schedule with a “Great Work Period” in the morning. We have our “Specials” in the afternoon with LOTS of outside time in between. If the weather isn’t cooperating, we use the gym space! Exploration, education, discovery, and movement are all goals for our Nature Story kids! Everything is structured freedom within boundaries. For example, they can use any work they want, as long as they treat it with respect and return it. We don’t MAKE them do anything, unless they are pressing the limits of the expected boundaries. They have choices. They are tiny people with their own personalities and we know that. But Montana Summers HAVE to be fun!

One of the great things about our summer program is that we ALL grow and develop. We find that some students do great outdoors, or seated on the floor, but not in a traditional classroom setting. The teachers take these observations back to their traditional classroom settings and apply Montessori techniques to cater to all children! We have a phenomenal staff that returns year after year (all bios soon to come). They are amazing. Truly. We have college students studying Elementary Education as aides. We have had some that had a different major and SWITCHED it to education because they loved the program so much! (We have even had one change their major away from education because she found it wasn’t the right fit!) While these college students learn traditional classroom setting philosophies, they get to experience and apply Montessori skills within their classrooms to make it that much more successful, like different classroom management techniques or teaching emotional regulation. 

Students learn more autonomy and the self confidence that is attached, success in utilizing and understanding the educational materials that THEY are interested in, the opportunity to explore and discover something they may have never been able to. They may find a new hobby or passion. They will make new friends, be able to hang out with old ones, and consistently socially navigate and engage their minds during the summer. All to transition back into the school year fluidly. Montessori isn’t just about learning, it is about social and emotional development and that is why we are so proud of our program.

With that being said, since this classroom will be younger students, we will need to staff more. We want to make sure that your child has the BEST SUMMER EVER!! For this we need to charge more for this age group. In order to add one extra staff member to the classroom, it should cost each full time family $110 more per month, but given the circumstances, we figured we could make something work for less. We have posted the tuition for the KINDER FINS Program below.

If you know anyone that needs this KINDER FINS age group, tell them to preregister NOW! We expect the classroom to be filled with a waitlist. 

We utilize Brightwheel for everything. For those of you who are new to Brightwheel, it is an incredible app. Once preregistered you will be invited to the app to fill out paperwork. You will be receiving other documents that you can electronically sign! Hooray! You will also use Brightwheel to check your child in and out every day. Each approved pick up has their OWN CODE and must use their own code. All of the teachers have Brightwheel, so they can follow who all is checked in that day. We message on Brightwheel. You can pay your tuition on Brightwheel. It is cheaper to attach a bank account, rather than using a credit card. There is also a calendar in there, shared files like the program handbook, but most importantly a news feed where we show you all what we do and post pictures of the activities and your child! You will receive a newsletter weekly showing the curriculum, pictures of activities, reminders, etc.

Since this program is new, we have a lot of figuring out to do. If you have questions, feel free to ask. We may or may not have an answer yet, but it will help us figure things out because if we can make this successful this year like our older programs, we can offer this much needed service next year to the next generation of students! We will be updating and posting information on the website as we go along and figure out logistics.

Again, we did not expect this but we are happy to serve the community and our families! Thank you for your interest in the Nature Story KINDER FINS Program!