Curriculum
One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the joy of
learning. Learning is a joyful activity when children are given the
opportunity to progress at their own pace, challenged by lessons and
educational materials designed to meet their inner needs.
In all subject areas, exceptional use of hands-on materials helps the
child to explore and learn concepts in a concrete way. Both indoor and
outdoor environments are rich in social, emotional, cognitive, and
physical experiences.
The curriculum is organized into a spiral of integrated studies, rather
than a traditional model in which the curriculum is divided into
separate subjects, with certain topics studied only once at a specific
grade level. Lessons are introduced in a simple manner with concrete
materials in the early years. Several times over the succeeding years,
they are reintroduced at increasing degrees of abstraction and
complexity.
Practical Life
The Practical Life Curriculum Area in a Montessori classroom defines the
education for the skills required in everyday life. The activities help
the child develop a sense for social relations, discipline, grace and
courtesy, care of the self, and care of the environment. The Practical
Life Curriculum Area develops concentration, coordination, independence,
and self-discipline as the child gets absorbed on a purposeful activity.
The activities are carefully prepared for the use of large and small
muscle movement as well as hand-eye coordination such as spooning,
squeezing, pouring, twisting, rolling and folding, pounding and
stringing, and more. Good working habits are established as the child
finishes each task and puts away all the materials before beginning
another activity.
Sensorial
The Sensorial materials isolate a defining quality, such as color, size,
sound, texture, or shape. They help to develop the child's visual,
auditory, and tactile senses. Some Montessori materials, such as the bi-nomial
cubes, are concrete representations of mathematical concepts that appear
in later schooling. This area begins with simple arithmetic and geometry
in preschool and moves up to pre-algebra in the elementary years.
Language
The language materials include objects and pictures to be named,
matched, labeled, and classified to aid vocabulary development. Textured
letters allow the child to feel and see the alphabet, while the movable
alphabet leads the child towards reading. Once the child begins to blend
sounds to make words, a variety of materials are available, ranging from
simple three-letter, short-vowel words to read, to materials designed to
teach long-vowel sounds, phonograms, and parts of speech. A wide variety
of reading materials are used to gain proficiency and a love of reading.
Math
The Montessori Math materials are designed to allow the child to explore
a concept in the concrete form. The sequence of presentation begins with
simple to more complex and from concrete to abstract. Children progress
through concepts at their own developmental rate. The materials
themselves contain the pattern for presentation as well as
understanding. The perceptual skills already acquired through materials
in the Sensorial Area are now laying the foundations for counting and
arithmetical operations which are to be developed in this area.
Cultural Subjects
This was called by Maria Montessori, "cosmic education", and it is aimed
to bring about in a Montessori classroom a variety of materials in
Botany, Zoology, Geography, History, Art, and Music along with the
respect for different cultures and people. The children gain an
awareness of the world around them by exploring other countries, their
customs, food, music, climate, language, and animals. Their experiences
will include work with globes, maps, flags, and landforms. This helps to
raise their consciousness about other people, to gain an understanding
and tolerance and, therefore, compassion for all the people in the
world.
The sequence of the materials in this area begins with presenting the
real thing (wherever this is possible) before moving to representations
(photographs, pictures, drawings) and abstractions. The child will
continue with these activities as learning parts and functions,
classifying and definitions. The children have opportunities to become
insightful, perceptive, sensitive and, most important, thoughtful
through activities in this area.
Science
Children learn about living and non-living things, parts of plants and
animals and time lines, and they begin to make scientific observations,
experiments, and discoveries.
Music
The focus is to develop an appreciation for music. The children sing and
dance, play musical instruments (rhythm sticks, xylophone, chimes etc.),
and learn the basics of music, as well as develop performance skills.
Art
Art is a natural part of our classroom, which encourages individual
expression. Collage, finger and brush painting, watercolor, and clay
offer opportunities to experiment and create. This area is process
rather than product-oriented.
Extracurricular Activities
This includes classes on Dance, Music, Gymnastics, Tennis, Physical
Education, and After School Activity Clubs depending on the classroom
and age of the children. Inquire about the individual programs for more
information.