PRACTICAL LIFE

The very young child begins 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 himself with grace and courtesy. These exercises are the chief means by which the child is brought to the particular decorum and activity which are characteristic of Montessori classrooms. The purposes of practical life exercises are 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. He is taught to perform these tasks in specific ways, and there is a general order of presentation of the various pieces of apparatus. The child begins to learn concentration and takes great pleasure in mastering the various steps in correct sequence of each practical life exercise.

SENSORIAL

Concurrently with the practical exercises, the child works with sensorial exercises. These include apparatus for visual discrimination, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory, thermic, baric, and stereognostic discrimination. Dr. 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 Aristole did, that nothing is learned which is not first learned through the senses.

The selection of the sensorial apparatus is not random. All of Montessori equipment builds on what has gone before and leads to what will come later. For example, part of the stereognostic apparatus consists of geometric plane figures. As the child becomes familiar with all of these, he is taught the appropriate language to accompany them. 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 stereognostic exercise, as are blocks which the child learns to build in a certain order to form a cube but which later in the Elementary will be shown to represent the principles of the binomial and trinomial theorems.

LANGUAGE

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, learning at the same time the sound and shape of each letter. Reading is begun through the use of a movable alphabet with which, as he learns phonics, the child can build words. 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 may progress independently. Language training begins immediately upon entrance to school. The child is taught the name of every object in the classroom and the apparatus. Many stories are told in the class. These are always realistic, varying from familiar subjects of home, school, etc., to historical and geographical subject matter. The interest in communication is heightened by the emphasis placed upon stories of man's development of spoken language and written communication. Poems and plays are an important part of the program.

The approach to language is two-fold: to develop the content of the mind and the organization of the mind. The child is given something to express and 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.

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.

Language study in the Elementary grades includes exercises which enable the child to understand grammar. Through interesting exercises with manipulative materials, the child will experience just how and why the various parts of speech function. Emphasis is placed on knowing how to write both factually and imaginatively. The environment is carefully arranged and lessons thoughtfully prepared to entice the child to read and write. A very diverse collection of manipulative materials, reference books, and pictures encourage the child to research and write in the areas of biology, botany, zoology, music, art, history, geography, and anthropology.

MATHEMATICS

Once the Primary child (3 to 6 years) 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 real understanding of mathematical concepts. The abundant mathematical material includes gold 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 this also forms 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.

At the Elementary level, the mathematical activities become much more abstract. More work is done on paper or in the mind than with the concrete materials. The child begins working in the millions. Although he is working in the abstract, there is still enough concrete material available to enable in-depth understanding of mathematical concepts of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, carrying, borrowing, squaring, cubing, finding square roots, and fractions. Work is also done in geometry and algebra.

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 child is able to see how events and occurrences in various parts of the world have affected one another.

SCIENCE

The child conducts and observes various experiments with simple equipment. He learns to identify and classify. The Primary curriculum includes work in zoology, biology, and botany. The child learns about earth, space, gravity, magnetism, light, evaporation, weather, etc. Each child is encouraged in his particular interests. In the Elementary, science is studied much more in depth. Scientific concepts are integrated throughout the curriculum and the student can experience the inter-relatedness of knowledge in many academic areas.

COMPUTER

The computer is used in our Elementary classroom to help the child develop confidence with it as a tool. He learns how to operate and program the computer rather than to use it merely as a game machine. He also uses it to reinforce concepts taught in class, to write, research, edit reports, and to store individual work files.

MUSIC AND ART

Through the use of special apparatus, the child learns the notes of the scale and to match and grade them by ear. From this point, he may progress to the composition of simple melodies. He is taught the corresponding written symbols after he is familiar with the notes themselves. He is introduced to famous composers and themes, to the various classifications of musical instruments, and to folk dancing. In the Elementary, music is also integrated into various aspects of the curriculum, such as history and drama. In addition, the Elementary student has the option to take chorus and recorder.

Art is a part of all life. It is the expression of the spirit of man. Indirect preparation for art is necessary. Movement exercises are needed to gain body control. Sensorial work with colors, shapes, and textures help prepare the child. Materials which develop the pincer muscles aid the child in using pencil, crayon, and brush. Work with shape and dimension helps the child with composition, arrangement, and form. Children decorate their math and writing work. The room is decorated with copies of well-known art works. The child learns to cut, glue, and color, and moves on to sewing, knitting, weaving, and more complicated projects.

The Elementary classes have more formal lessons in art--learning about art history, composition, technique, and how to use a variety of art media. Their projects are natural extensions of classwork, such as making the set for a class drama, illustrating a report, or making a model of housing of a particular place or time in history.

CLASSROOM COMPOSITION

The Toddler Program is composed of children two to three years of age. There are twelve children in the classroom on any given day. Parents have the option of enrolling their children for two days, three days, or five days per week.

The Primary Program is composed of children three to six years of age. A new Primary class begins with approximately 15 children. Additional children may be added to this enrollment number if they have previous Montessori experience. An established Montessori class should have 25 to 30 children of varied cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The Elementary Program is made up of two levels. The first level consists of children six to nine years of age, and the second level consists of children nine to twelve years of age. In general, our Elementary students have had Primary Montessori experience.