Peace Education
Peace making and conflict resolution are a daily part of the Montessori
curriculum. The Peace shelf is full of lovely, interesting and calming
objects from around the world, like music boxes, smooth stones, or tiny
flowers, for children to touch and hold. There may be a mirror, so children
can see how they look when they experience different emotions, and books
with peaceful messages. At the Peace Table teachers help children to be good
listeners and forge mutually agreeable solutions to conflicts through a
peace bear and peace rose. It is also a place where children can choose to
go to enjoy a peaceful moment alone.
Grace and Courtesy
In our classrooms, children and adults take care to be gracious toward and
courteous of one another. This area of the curriculum encourages respect for
oneself, for other members of the community, for the living things in the
classroom, and for the environment. Carrying things carefully, returning
them to their place so others may use them, moving gracefully and carefully,
using polite and respectful language, showing consideration to others, good
table manners, properly introducing oneself, and interrupting politely are
all part of the lessons in Grace and Courtesy.
Everyday Living
Everyday living activities are central to the Montessori classroom and
prepare the child for all other areas. Every day living exercises give
children the opportunity to refine their fine motor skills, hand-eye
coordination, hand strength, balance, concentration and ability to do things
for themselves. Through the repetition of Everyday living activities,
children develop practical skills that will serve them all their lives. Some
of the Primary Everyday Living exercises include Pouring, Lacing, Scooping,
Flower Arranging, Food Preparation and Serving, and Table Washing.
Sensorial
Sensorial materials are designed to help children learn about qualities like
color, size, shape, length, texture, and sound. 3-6 year olds are
increasingly able to make finer and finer discriminations of the many
stimuli all around them. Sensorial activities assist children in refining
this skill and becoming good observers of the world. Montessori saw the
importance of the manipulation of objects to aid the child in better
understanding his environment. Through the child’s work with Sensorial
material, the child is helped to make abstractions, he is helped in making
distinctions in his environment, and the child is given the knowledge not
through word of mouth, but through his own experiences. Sensorial materials
in the Primary classroom include Knobbed Cylinders for practice with
dimension, Color Tablets, Rough and Smooth Boards, Geometric Solids, the
Pink Tower, and the Binomial Cube and many more.
Language
Language establishes its significance almost everywhere in the Montessori
classroom and crosses all curriculum areas. The young child is introduced to
the names of things, and phonics/sounds and letters, while the older child
may be beginning to read. Language materials are often tactile, taking
advantage of the 3 and 4 year olds sensitivity to learning through touch.
Writing often comes early to the Montessori child through the use of
concrete materials, like the pre-cut letters of the Moveable Alphabet, that
allow the child to express his/her knowledge without needing precise control
of a pencil. Language Materials include Sandpaper Letters, Language Objects
for initial sounds practice, word and picture Matching Cards, vocabulary
building activities and Early Reader books.Children are provided with
possibilities to read much advanced readers as well.
Math
Math curriculum uses concrete materials to introduce mathematical concepts
in the Montessori classroom. Children build their abstract mathematical
reasoning skills on these early concrete experiences. They learn how a
numeral represents an amount. They manipulate objects to see concretely
operations like addition and subtraction. These exercises cater to
children’s developing sense of order, sequence, one-to-one correspondence
and directionality. Primary Math activities include Sandpaper Numerals, the
Spindle Box for counting, Numerals and Counters, the Hundred Board, Bead
Chains, and Golden Beads to introduce the decimal system. Children get
familiar and even work on fractions, squaring and cubing with appropriate
Montessori Math Materials.
Geography and Cultural studies
Geography and cultural studies is an important part of the Montessori
curriculum. The curriculum begins with the two hemispheres of Earth and
becomes more and more detailed as children learn about continents, and then
countries. The very young child will use the wooden puzzle maps as puzzles,
but the older child can use the pieces as a guide as he makes his own maps,
labeled with his own handwriting when he/she is ready.this curriculum
introduces each continent/country each month and children get to explore the
cultural importance (food / clothing etc) of each geographical area.
Science and Nature
Children are introduced to many science and nature topics and learn to make
predictions in their Science and Nature activities. The land and water work,
introducing the concepts of Lake and Island, is closely connected to the
Geography curriculum. Children learn about volcanoes, the layers of the
Earth and the solar system. They go on nature walks and then research the
leaves, seed or flowers they have found. They learn to classify things,
predict the results of experiments and test their predictions. The Science
and Nature curriculum is designed not only to help children discover facts,
but to honor the sense of wonder they have about the world. Activities
include Sink or Float, Living or Non-Living, Magnetic or Non-Magnetic, Land
and Water Forms, the Structure of the Earth and Botany.
Spanish
Toddler, Pre- Primary and Kindergarten children are exposed to the sounds
and rhythms of the Spanish language through games, songs, and activities.
Lessons initially include counting, colors, and basic vocabulary.
Music
Toddlers, Pre-Primary and Kindergarten children enjoy Music classes.
Concepts such as beat, meter, rhythm, tempo, and pitch recognition become
internalized as children develop the ability to listen to, discover, and
understand rhythmic and harmonic elements. 2nd year primary students and
Kindergarteners also participate in Eurhythmics classes, with a
concentration on movement, encourage children to feel and enjoy music
through physical activities. Students regularly demonstrate their
performance skills for the entire school community in performances.
Physical Education
Toddlers, Pre-Primary and Kindergarten children benefit from movement,
cooperative games, teamwork, and athletic skills. Each child has an
opportunity to grow and excel as an individual and as a member of a group
through a variety of games and athletic activities.
Community Service
Children learn about our responsibility to the community at large and learn
from their experiences with others. As a school with parent involvement and
child awareness we raise funds to support any needed child during the
holiday season, and children help to buy and gift wrap gifts. The school
also supports Cancer fund raisers where students sell books, lemonade etc to
raise funds. We conduct fund raisers to help educate underprivileged
children.
Montessori is an approach to
working with children that
is carefully based on what
we've learned about
children's cognitive,
neurological and emotional
development from several
decades of research. The
Montessori approach has been
acclaimed as the most
developmentally appropriate
model currently available by
some of America's top
experts on Pre-primary
through elementary
education. 