Montessori Children’s Learning Center Opens at Brookdale

LINCROFT, NJ (Sept. 6, 2016) – Local parents and Brookdale Community College students will have a new, competitively priced option for child care this year at the Montessori Children’s Learning Center (MCLC), which opened Sept. 6 on the college’s Lincroft campus.

Open to children from 12 months to six years old, the MCLC offers a 10-month educational program from September through June, with three-hour cycles offered in the morning and afternoon. The center will offer additional care in the mornings from 7 to 8:30 a.m. and in the evenings from 3 to 6 p.m., along with enrichment programs in art, Spanish, Suzuki music, yoga and tutoring.

The center also offers exclusive discounts for current Brookdale students and flexible schedules designed to accommodate student-parents attending classes in Lincroft.

The MCLC will take over for Brookdale’s former Children’s Learning Center, which was closed in 2015 as part of a college-wide reorganization. The remodeled center features new classrooms and state-of-the-art learning materials, including a dedicated library, art and music studio, outdoor gardens, musical instruments and a collection of dinosaur fossils dating back to the Cretaceous era.

Operating under the Monstessori method – a 100-year-old, child-centered model of early childhood education – the MCLC will seek to provide “an education for life,” said center director Pamela Wang.

“As Plutarch said, the mind is not a vessel to be filled; it is a fire to be ignited,” said Wang, a former physics instructor. “Our curriculum will be focused on mindfulness – on teaching empathy, resilience, resourcefulness, self-control and confidence. Studies have shown that the earlier students develop these skills, the better prepared they are for academic success throughout their lives.”

MCLC rates begin at $10 per hour. Current Brookdale students are eligible for a 10 percent discount. For more information or to inquire about availability contact Pamela Wang at 732-224-2963 or email pamela.wang@montessoriclc.com.