Montessori Learning Areas
The five key areas of learning in the Montessori environment include, Practical life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics and Culture.
Our method of education is based on self-directed activity, hands on learning and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the highly trained teachers (directresses) offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process.
Children work in groups and individually to discover and explore knowledge of the world and to develop their maximum potential. Every material in a Montessori classroom supports an aspect of child development, creating a match between the child’s natural interest and the available activities. Children can learn through their own experience and at their own pace. They can respond to any moment to the natural curiosities that exist in all humans and build a solid foundation for life-long learning.
Practical Life:
This curriculum area is dedicated to the familiar Activities of Everyday Living, activities that bridge home life and the school life, indirectly assists the ease of transition for the child. Practical life activities are some of the first activities to be introduced to the child as they develop the child’s independence, assist the child to gain physical and mental action control, foster concentration, and equip the child with skills for later learning. In addition, the child’s need for order, social cohesion, and movement is met. You may see jugs for pouring, kitchen utensils, pad locks, and keys to be locked and unlocked, bowls and spoons, dusters, small brooms, and dustpans. These activities aim to develop and refine skills for muscle manipulation/coordination skills, care of self, care of environment and Grace and Courtesy. We adapt these activities to reflect the interests and the needs of the children and the range of cultural diversity. Some of our daily life activities are not available for us to put on the shelf, therefore we rely on opportunities for teachable moments.
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Sensorial:
Senses being the explorers of the world, Education of the senses is one of the most vital curriculums in a child’s developmental sensitive period and for later learning in the child’s education period. The curriculum area is filled with carefully crafted materials that isolate one sense for maximum refining of the sense. The Montessori material see to it that the five basic senses are developed and refined which are visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile senses. Through the exploration of the sensorial materials the child enhances perception skills for baric, thermic, chromatic, kinaesthetic and stereognosis experiences, as the child develops the ability to classify, interpret, grade, and organise his sensorial experiences. The child is then able to apply his understanding to the real world around him creating in him abstract thinking and creativity.
.Numeracy/Mathematics:
Montessori numeracy curriculum requires firm following of the sequence, as each lesson depends on the mastery of the previous activity. Mathematics experiences are presented to the child from concrete to abstract for the child to establish an understanding to the meaning of number symbols and their relationship to quantities. The child is taken through early math (counting, recognizing, sequencing, and combining quantity and symbol), the decimal system (naming concrete operation, abstract operations and combining them), teens and tens, early addition, subtraction and multiplication, with arithmetic tables and geometry. The lessons are presented from easy to complex. The child’s readiness is an important factor in this curriculum.
.Language:
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As always in Montessori education, each step is a preparation for the next, the child’s sensitive period for language need is met throughout the Montessori classroom curriculum. In the classroom the child is constantly introduced to appropriate terminology of concepts and objects around the environment. The child needs to be an effective communicator, to be able to listen, speak, read, write, label, and interact with the environment. The child works through the curriculum at his/her own pace. Writing skills generally come before reading, the approach to reading is phonetic, but other methods such as sight reading, and language experience are not left out. Materials used in this curriculum are reading books, handwriting tools, and storytelling. Activities include conversations, discussions, and fun grammar games.
.Cultural Studies:
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This is the exploration of the world around us, an expansion of a wide general knowledge, a way to foster a love, respect, and understanding of the world around us. This Montessori curriculum area is filled with a collection of fascinating materials that allow the young child to gain an overview of Biology, Geography, Science, and History. The main principles that underpin the Cultural studies are,sowing a seed of knowledge and create a sense of wonder in children. To develop an understanding to the child of his or her cosmic task, that nothing exists in isolation, and to bridge social and cultural prejudices so as to foster a desire to live with consideration and integrity towards others and the planet through peace education in Knowledge and understanding of the world.
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Creativity:
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In our Montessori classroom we like to view creativity as not only art, but innovation and invention. We understand that children have tremendous potential for creativity. We design our environment to meet the needs of the child to be creative, to explore and invent and allow freedom to move and interact with the environment. The forms of creativity covered by the curriculum include, but not limited to, art, music and movement and drama and role play. We look to meet all areas of the child’s development needs, such as cognitive, physical, language, social, and emotional needs.
Gross Motor Skills:
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Our method of education indirectly meets the child’s need for movement as there is free will to move and interact with the environment. The child’s physic is strengthened from hand and eye coordination, hand muscle, core strength and balance. In addition, our playground is well equipped with safe apparatus for physical activities and play. We offer structured gross motor activities to fully engage every child in our environment to improve muscle memory and motor development. We value the positive influence gross motor activities have on a child’s health, confidence, and self-assurance.
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