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Montessori Education
Focus
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Practical
Life
At the beginning practical life forms the core of the
child's work. This area aids the child's development in:
care of the person care of the environment, control of
movement and social relations. This area is the foundation
for subsequent academic learning because it provides:
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A sense of order; a task's beginning, middle and end.
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A sense of independence - "I can do it by myself."
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A sense of coordination - the child brings his/her
muscles under his/her own control. |
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Most important of all, an ability to concentrate,
because learning can only occur when concentration is
present. |
Tasks are broken down into simple steps so that the children
learn to button, tie, zip, buckle, pour, wash tables and
chairs, polish silver, brass and wood, wash and hang
clothes, sweep the floor, prepare and serve food for
themselves and others, all with grace and courtesy. As soon
as the child has the basis for integrity given by the
exercises of practical life, she/he moves on to the
sensorial.
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Sensorial
Life
Between birth and six years, the child has a special
sensitivity to sensorial impressions. Therefore, Dr.
Montessori designed sensorial materials to help the child
develop his/her senses and powers of observation. This
development of children's physical senses enhances their
readiness for greater intellectual work. The child works
with Montessori sensorial materials designed to develop
and train his/her sense of:
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Taste: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, etc. |
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Hearing: pitch, tone, loud and soft, etc.
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Sight: many series of blocks for long and short, broad and
narrow, small and large, and puzzles with geometric
shapes. |
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Touch: smooth and rough, hot and cold, heavy and light,
etc. |
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Smell: spices, herbs, flower scents, etc. |
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are also activities for the development of the sense of
balance, and concepts such as shortest to longest, smallest
to biggest, smooth to rough, and color tints.
Through the use of these materials, children begin to
sharpen their awareness and increase their perception of the
world around them.
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Mathematics
Concepts in Montessori math are always first presented in
concrete, manipulative terms, and only later when the
child has understood the meaning and use of symbols by
using Montessori materials are more abstract forms
introduced. The materials are designed to help child
understand basic mathematical concepts, beginning with
1-10 (sandpaper numbers), associating quantity and
numerals (spindle boxes) and extending to the concepts of
the decimal system and place value, (ten-, teen- and
hundred-board). As the child progresses, materials such as
the bead stair are used for working with addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division.
Children in a Montessori class never sit down to memorize
addition and subtraction facts; they don't simply memorize
multiplication tables. Rather, they learn these facts by
actually performing the operation with physical materials.
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Language
Arts
Although language is one of the four basic learning areas
in a Montessori class, it spans every other area. Language
consists of verbal skills, visual perception, and small
muscle coordination. Therefore, language education begins
with listening games, training the hand with the metal
insets and puzzles, and familiarizing the child with the
symbols of the alphabet using the sandpaper letters. The
period for writing generally occurs between ages 3-1/2 and
4-1/2, and development in this area leads directly into
the period for reading between 4 and 5.
A
complete reading system is available to the children.
Through the use of these materials, children gain an
understanding that separate sounds can be blended together
to make words. Even the learning of reading incorporates
movement, from the tracing of the sandpaper letters to
manipulating the letters of the movable alphabet to form
words.
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Enrichments
The
children are introduced to the three basic elements: land,
air and water. At first, the children use large wooden
continent puzzle maps simply as puzzles. Gradually, they
learn the names of the continents, and then move on to
country maps, studying climate, people and products.
Culture units then cover food, dress and music from
different countries, while typical geography units include
world flags, land formations, the globe, beginning mapping
(exploration of the neighborhood) and even the solar
system. Hands-on projects reinforce geographic concepts,
such as actually making island and peninsula land
formations out of clay.
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Physical
Development
Physical
Development - Attention is placed on a daily emphasis on
fine and gross motor skills, exercises, developing
coordination and outdoor recreation.
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