The Montessori classroom for three, four, and five-year-olds is designed to be a "Children's House." The children are guided to participate fully in the actual life of their community. They help to prepare snacks and meals, clean the environment, and maintain the order of the classroom. In this way, they develop not only muscular control and competency over daily tasks, but a deep sense of self-respect, independence, and interdependence.
The primary child works to form an integrated personality within a nurturing community. The child works with interest and focus, and learns to coexist in a peaceful society. The primary program provides the ideal foundation for this young learner to set the tone for the remainder of his or her academic life. In the Primary classroom, areas of learning are organized to form a child-centered learning environment that promotes independence and uninterrupted periods of work.
The exercises in Practical Life are the very heart
of Montessori education. As young children wash tables, pour liquids,
polish silver, sweep and dust, they are developing the inner aptitudes
of calmness, order, concentration, coordination, and fine motor
skills.
At the same time, through the process of learning
to meet their own needs, learning to take care of the classroom
environment, and through the experience of helping others, children
in Montessori programs begin to develop independence, self-confidence,
and self-respect.
In working with the materials, the children take things apart, put them back together, and think about what they do. This gives them practice in the highest thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. It leads to mature questioning, research and true creativity when they put things back together in new ways. The youngest children in the environment catch the enthusiasm of the older ones as they make their discoveries and reach toward the more sophisticated materials, all the while enjoying their own pursuits and "games."
The Montessori Language Arts curriculum is designed to enhance the students' skills in reading, comprehension, writing and speaking; and to provide connections with history, literature, science, math, and geography.
The Montessori Mathematics program consists of sequential exercises that start with more concrete lessons, and move forward into the highly abstract. The fundamental goal of Montessori education is to stimulate the child's reasoning ability by the developing the mathematical mind. The math presentations require the use of concrete materials conceived to be manipulated and explored until the child's mine spontaneously reaches the "A-Hah!" the point of consciousness where the concrete becomes the abstract and the child understands.
In addition to the core curriculum, your child will be engaged in delightful activities that instill a lifelong love of sciences, history, cultures and the arts. Our school is infused with music of many varieties and peoples. Foreign language curriculum is presented through songs, stories, games and activities that introduce students to other cultures.
Each year, geography is studied in depth. Students learn about physical and political geography, people and flags of distant countries, and the cultural similarities that unite all people. Music, art, architecture, and food are a part of this experience.
