What is Montessori?...

Montessori is child-centred education designed to help all children reach their fullest potential while doing it at their own pace. Children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the highly trained teacher offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process. Different areas in the classroom are set up to encourage creativity and curiosity, leading children to ask questions, explore, investigate and think for themselves as they acquire new skills. 

Practical Life:

The prepared environment in a Montessori classroom offers a Practical life shelf containing activities that enhance everyday life skills. These activities assist in developing a child’s social skills, self-care, confidence, responsibility, concentration, hand-eye coordination as well as gross and fine motor movement. Real materials, such as glass containers and jars, are used whenever possible. Children understand that these real materials are fragile and therefore, taking extra care is important. Practical life activities/materials are switched up throughout the school year to offer variety. They are set up for children to accomplish real life skills in a purposeful way, and to provide a foundation for success in years to come.

Sensorial:

The purpose of Sensorial activities in a Montessori inspired classroom is to aid in the development of a child’s five senses. Many of the Sensorial Exercises are available to children inside the classroom and are extended to the outdoors when appropriate. Practicing these exercises will enhance the child’s ability to observe and compare with precision.

Mathematics:

The Math area of the Montessori classroom encompasses the use of concrete materials for the recognition of numbers and the recognition of quantity as well.

Language:

A successful Language Arts Program is dynamic and enriched with a broad range of activities such as active listening, public speaking, rhyming, singing, reading and writing. In the Montessori method, language development is supported by a number of activities that stimulate communication skills and vocabulary development. There is a broad range of materials in the classroom to aid in reading readiness, phonetic analysis as well as fine motor control.