About Live Oak Learning
Live Oak Learning Montessori provides a new and exciting nature-based option in education for Parker County families where children's natural interests are fostered, freedom of movement is encouraged, and each child is met where they're at with a tailored learning plan as individual as they are.
Our main goal is to instill in your child a lifelong love of learning.
Plain and simple….we want your child to love learning about themselves and the natural environment around them.
Whether you are a traditional education family looking for a challenging individual curriculum for your child or a homeschooling family looking to expose your child to traditional Montessori program with other children, we provide a individualized learning plan for your child.
Live Oak Montessori utilizes the traditional Montessori curriculum for the 3-6 and the 6-9 classroom. We utilize the beautiful Waseca Biomes program as the foundation of our curriculum.
Live Oak Learning’s school year begins in August and runs through May. Activities start at 8:30 a.m. each day with time outside. Montessori work cycle ends at noon with options for extended day lunch bunch and afternoon enrichment classes until 3:00 p.m.
Live Oak Learning is an authentic Montessori academic program that does not offer daycare and/or babysitting services. If your family requires a program that provides childcare, we are happy to make recommendations based on your family’s needs.
subjects include
SENSORIAL
GEOGRAPHY & CULTURE
PRACTICAL LIFE
MATHEMATICS
PHONICS BASED LANGUAGE ARTS
FOREIGN LANGUAGES INCLUDING SPANISH, SOME MANDARIN, & ASL
MUSIC
NATURE STUDIES
MOVEMENT INCLUDING DANCE & YOGA
the lower elementary classroom
The Montessori Lower Elementary environment includes some Kindergarten students to 3rd grade. The teacher-student ratio is 2:18; this allows teachers the opportunity to provide individualized attention and to facilitate the children's self-paced learning. Our Lower Elementary classroom is called the Sun room and Eren Hays is the lead guide in this room.
Children during 1st to 3rd grade are actively social and begin to demonstrate an ability to think abstractly. Montessori education, at the lower elementary level, is designed to spark the imagination and to address the child's need to interact with others.
Through observation, teachers outline individual plans for each child's developmental level. Children are encouraged to learn both in cooperation with each other and independently. A multi-age group, 6-9 years of age, provides a community of support. An elementary class typically of 15-18 children, is child-directed with a certified Montessori teacher acting as a guide.
"Movement of the hand is essential. Little children revealed that the development of the mind is stimulated by the movement of the hands. The hand is the instrument of the intelligence. The child needs to manipulate objects and gain experience by touching and handling."
MARIA MONTESSORI
about our director
Eren Hays is the director and lead teacher of Live Oak Learning Montessori. She is an educator specializing in Montessori for exceptional learners. After staying home and educating her own children for several years, she made the switch to traditional teaching. She taught in the public school system for several years before obtaining her 3-6 Montessori certification. Eren designed dynamic, out-of-the-box learning programs for many years for other schools. In 2020, she opened Live Oak Learning Montessori.
Eren's training in Trauma Informed Classrooms and her Montessori credentials inspire her educational philosophies and practices. She graduated with a degree in Biology from Oklahoma State University. She is currently pursuing her Master's Degree in Montessori Education with Xavier University. Eren is partner to Matt and mother to 21 year old twins, Zane and Ian and 18 year old Wyatt. Yes...all boys. Zane is currently serving in the US Air Force and Ian attends the University of Oklahoma's medical program. Wyatt, the youngest, is traveling the world for the next year while trying to decides how to blaze his own path. Eren and her family live on a farm where they have a large garden and raise cattle, chickens, bees, and cats with Hazel the farm dog.