The Montessori philosophy is based on the concept that children are motivated from within by a natural curiosity and love of knowledge. The goal of early childhood education is to cultivate the child's own natural desire to learn.
The Primary program offers a variety of experiences. This is the period that Dr. Maria Montessori calls the "Absorbent Mind" from which the child absorbs concepts and clarifies impressions. This period is strongest from birth to six years old. The overriding goal of this period is the development of the self as an individual being.
The task of the teacher is to carefully prepare the classroom and, following the interests of the child, present activities that focus the child's energies and support his/her development. The four major areas of the Primary Program are: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, and Mathematics. In addition, music, art, Spanish, Physical Education, Science, and Social Studies are included in this program.
Practical Life | Sensorial | Language | Math | History and Geography | Science | Full-Day Kindergarten Primary Program
Practical Life
The very young children begin with exercises of Practical Life. These include scrubbing tables, polishing, pouring, washing dishes, caring for plants, buttoning, etc. The child also learns to move quietly and with care and to conduct him/herself with grace and courtesy. These exercises are the chief means by which the child is brought to the particular decorum and self-motivated activity which are characteristic of Montessori classrooms.
The purpose of Practical Life exercises is to enable the child to care for himself and his surroundings, thus leading to independence. This is accomplished through manual work which is both satisfying and productive.
The children are taught to perform these tasks in specific ways, and there is a general order of presentation to the various pieces of materials. The child begins to experience concentration and takes great pleasure in mastering various skills.
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Sensorial
Concurrently with the Practical Life exercises, children work with Sensorial materials. These include materials for visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory, thermic, baric, and stereognostic discrimination. Dr. Maria Montessori believed that to the extent that the perception of any of our senses is diminished, so correspondingly is our perception of the world as a whole. She felt, as Aristotle did, that nothing is learned which is not first learned through the senses.
The selection of the sensorial material is purposeful. All Montessori equipment builds on what has gone before and leads to what will come later. For example, part of the visual material consists of geometric plane figures. As the child becomes familiar with all of these, he/she is taught the appropriate language to supplement his/her learning. The child learns to classify the shapes encountered in daily life and also absorbs ideas that will be used later in the formal study of geometry. Shapes of leaves are also introduced as a visual matching exercise. Blocks, which the Primary child learns to build in a certain order, form a cube. Later, in the Elementary Program, these cubes will be shown to represent the principles of the binomial and trinomial theorems.
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Language
Language training begins immediately upon entrance to school. The child is taught the name of every object in the classroom. Many stories are told in class. These are always realistic. They vary from the familiar subjects of home and school, etc. to historical and geographical subject matter.
The child's heightened tactile sense at three and four is utilized to teach writing. Through the use of sandpaper letters, which he traces with the fingers, he learns the shape of each letter. At the same time, the sound of each letter is introduced. Spelling begins through the use of a movable alphabet. As he learns phonics, the child begins to build words. Reading quickly follows.
Interest in communication is heightened by the emphasis placed upon stories of humanity's development of language and written communication. Poems and plays are an important part of the program.
The approach to language is two-fold: to develop both the content of the mind and the organization of the mind. The child is given something to express as well as the technique with which to express it. Reading and writing are not considered ends in themselves but rather thresholds through which the child comes upon the wonder of the universe, past and present. There is always an abundance of informative books within the class which the children may use freely as soon as they are able.
Because children of this young age are in a sensitive period for language, it is an ideal time to introduce foreign languages. Phrases and vocabulary are taught using much of the regular classroom material. All primary children are included in foreign language lessons. It is an elective subject in the elementary.
Here, as in all other areas of school, the aim is to awaken
the interest of the child and to give guidance so
that he or she may progress independently.
Mathematics
Once the child has experienced the concrete material in order to learn numbers 1 - 10, he can move on to abstract work. As in the other academic areas of the classroom, mathematics has a good deal of concrete apparatus for the hand to manipulate. This leads to a solid understanding of mathematical concepts.
The abundant mathematical material includes golden beads in a variety of combinations from one to one thousand. Using bars of ten beads, the child can see that ten of these make a hundred and that they also form a square. The child can also see that ten such squares atop one another form a cube. The mathematical activity for this group progresses through long division and work with fractions.
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History and Geography
The study of geography includes the use of globes, puzzle maps, flags, picture folders,
books, and stories. History is taught from a cosmic approach.
The children are able to see how events and occurrences in various parts of the world affect one another.
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Science
The children conduct and observe various experiments with simple equipment.
They learn to identify and classify. The Primary curriculum includes work in zoology, biology, and botany.
We learn about earth, space, gravity, magnetism, light, evaporation, weather, etc.
Each child is encouraged in his or her particular interests.
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Full-Day Kindergarten Primary Program
A full-day Kindergarten Primary program is available and recommended for children of kindergarten age of the current school year. The state of Maryland stipulates that the child is to be five by September 1st to be elligible for the kindergarten program. However, there may be instances when the school and parents together determine a child, whose birthday is after September 1st and before December 31st, is ready for Lone Oak kindergarten. If a parent elects to take this option, it does not mean that when this child eventually leaves our program, they will automatically enter the public school a year ahead of their required starting date.
The afternoon is a very special time for five year olds. Not only are they given advanced academic instruction, but they have special field trips and art and music projects that enhance these classroom lessons.
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