Our Facility
Children’s House Montessori School is located in the lower level of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston, 1625 Wiehle Ave., Reston, Virginia. The large classroom windows open onto the playground and a beautiful, wooded lot.
Our fenced playground provides both sun and shade for the children’s comfort. It is equipped with a sandbox, climbing structures, and a garden area, and is certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a School Yard Habitat. Our schedule allows the children to play outside before and after lunch and in the afternoon after the school day is over. Our playground was featured in the February 2007 issue of Northern Virginia Magazine as a natural playspace for children. You can read the article by clicking here.
In his national bestseller Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv presents a case for saving our children from what he calls “nature-deficit disorder” - the lack of nature in the lives of children today. Direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development, but with after-school schedules of sports and other activities, and parents’ well-founded fear of allowing children to roam free in the neighborhood, children have less and less time, if any, to just “be” in nature. Louv cites study after study of the need for children to “be” in green spaces, to jump creeks, pour water into sand to make marvelous concoctions, or just sit in a quiet spot surrounded by rocks and trees.
There is a growing trend in recent years for playgrounds to be transformed into Natural Playscapes where children can do just what Louv advocates. These contain elements such as “water, trees, bushes, flowers, long grasses; a pond and the creatures within it, along with other living things; sand (best if it can be mixed with water), places to sit in, on and under; structures that offer privacy and views.” These open-ended features foster creativity and inventiveness and the possibility of discovery that are not inherent in organized sports, computer games, or even formal play structures. Children's House has recently expanded it's playground to almost 10,000 sq. ft. of play space. We have plans to incorporate some of the natural features that Louv advocates, to include a large sand pit, quiet places to "hide," logs to climb on and under, and an amphitheater for outdoor lessons. We are looking forward to watching the children explore and learn in this new playground environment.
The Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston, in conjunction with Reston Association, has established a nature trail that is an accredited Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. UUCR is the first church in Reston to do this, and they are proud of their commitment to “help promote environmental consciousness and, more specifically, to foster development and maintenance of backyards in ways that help sustain indigenous wildlife.” (UUCR Nature Trail Brochure) Visitors are welcome to explore the Nature Trail; maps are available in the pamphlet rack in the foyer of UUCR.
