A new weekly class for parents of young children offered to the community by Santa Barbara Montessori School will begin its second session of classes at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday.

“Montessori Beginnings,” unlike the school’s other classes, is for parents and their younger children to share together in a unique hands-on program for young children and a parent.

Santa Barbara Montessori School is now accepting registrations for the four-week session. The fee for all four of the classes is $120 for one child and one adult (mom or dad).

For more information or to register, call Admissions Director Aran Klingensmith at 805.685.7600, email admissions@sbmontesori.com or click here.

Classes will be held at Santa Barbara Montessori School, located at 7421 Mirano Drive in Goleta on a nine-acre campus in the neighborhood of Dos Pueblos High School.

“This is really a great opportunity for parents with young children,” SBMS Head of School Jim Fitzpatrick said. “The first series of classes began earlier in October. The class filled up with families and children, so we’ve now added a second session of four classes. Two of our ‘Toddler’ teachers are right there with the children alongside the parent, actively doing and explaining the variety of different on hand, and then how to follow through at home. That’s been the greatest value so far, what the parents have been able to take away from the classroom and then apply at home.

“Each afternoon class features different aspects of childhood development based upon the children and parents attending the class. So, not only have the discussions focused on the insights and discoveries of Montessori’s theory, but each young child has the opportunity to engage with their parents while they’re busy with activities right in the setting of the classroom.

“This next session will include a ‘home setting’ with attention to eating with a young child at the table, and setting up the child’s sleep environment — on the floor. Parents will experience how to ‘Montessori-ize’ their homes.”

The trained Montessori teachers leading the “Montessori Beginnings” classes, Cindi Kessel and Bridget Cathie, have years of experience of working with young children.

“Cindi has worked with SBMS for years,” Fitzpatrick said. “This is Bridget’s first year at SBMS. She’s worked in the community with young children for more than a dozen years, and she’s also hosted vacation camps and other opportunities for young children. They both bring years and years of experience to these classes.”

Each “Montessori Beginnings” class will be based on Dr. Maria Montessori’s guidelines for raising infants, with comprehensive exploration of the first three years of the child’s life. As one mom said, “You’ve made being a mom fun instead of being scary.”

From the design of a baby’s room to the child-sized kitchen table, from diet and food preparation to clothing and movement, the Montessori Beginnings classes provide guidance for creating a beautiful home for babies and very young children.

“Today, Montessori education is internationally acclaimed, but it’s oftentimes misconstrued as only a preschool program when, in fact, her discoveries and her program actually begins prenatal — before the child’s birth, and continues all the way through high school,” Fitzpatrick said. “These classes are helping families better understand the importance of their child’s first three years for their development — and they’re crazy fun, too, because there’s nothing quite like a room filled with babies and young children along with child-sized furniture and activities all around them. These first classes have been fun times, for sure!”

— Jim Fitzpatrick is the head of school for Santa Barbara Montessori School.