Squamish Montessori School will offer a morning/afternoon and full day 4 or 5 day programs
The Montessori Curriculum for children 2.5 to 6 years is based on the following 6 areas of learning:
1. Personal Independence and Care of the Environment
2. Education of the Senses
3. Language
4. Math
5. Cultural Studies
6. Music
Children are of mixed age - 3,4,an 5 year olds work together, and the full curriculum is designed to be completed over a three year period.
1. Personal Independence and Care of the Environment (Practical Life Exercises)
Children have an innate desire to become independent and take care of their own personal needs. The Montessori curriculum supports this drive by providing an environment and the necessary materials to support the path to independence. Exercises include taking care of self through proper hygiene, dressing, care of clothing, care of the classroom. These are all part of the early childhood Montessori classroom. Activities to support the many skills young children need to accomplish on the way to independence are all taught as specific lessons, with their own set of materials e.g. dressing frames and hand-washing exercises. Many of these exercises are used as a bridge from home to classroom, they are familiar to the child.
In order to work independently in a mixed age group, children are taught the rules of the classroom and how to work successfully within it. We present how to carry and use floor mats, how to tidy up ones work, looking after pets and plants, taking care of books and preparing snacks. These skills are all taught as separate exercises which are designed to give children the freedom and confidence they need in order to work at their own individual pace in the classroom.
We schedule exercises in grace and courtesy. The children learn how to behave in certain situations and acquire the social skills essential for everyday living in society. The children develop a sense of personal dignity, an understanding of their own culture and awareness and respect for people of all ages and traditions. Having the appropriate social skills enables a child to engage positively in the classroom community and beyond.
Exercises are designed to teach the child how to:
Ask for something Welcome visitors Wait one's turn Work cooperatively Offer refreshments
Introduce oneself Offer help to others Table manners Making eye contact Behave in public places
Shaking hands Excusing oneself
Through social interaction involved in carrying out these exercises the children develop the ability to work harmoniously in a carefully prepared environment.
Exercises for the development of fine and gross motor skills are carefuly developed as part of the practical life curriculum.
Rolling mats Pouring liquids Threading Cutting Spooning Sweeping Carrying chairs
Walking the Line Carrying objects on a tray
The practical life component of the Montessori early childhod curriculum is the underlying foundation for the success in the other areas of curriculum. Each task allows the child to gain independence, and to develop a sense of order, concentration, responsibility and coordination of movement. Children gain enormous freedom and confidence to work successfully both independently and cooperatively.
2. Education of the Senses (Sensorial Materials)
The Montessori sensorial curriculum allows the child to discriminate and order the impressions that have entered through each of his senses.
Scientifically designed materials that isolate each sense facilitate the development of the intellect through hands-on exploration.
The child learns to separate and classify forms, colours, textures, tastes and smells.
Exercises in this area refine the senses and develop skills in thinking, judging, concentrating, comparing and sequencing.
The materials offer unlimited opportunities for the development of vocabulary and the essentail development of dexterity that will lead to writing and reading.
The Sensorial Curriculum is divided into the following areas:
Visual Sense
Children learn to discriminate by size, length, dimension, colour, similarity, difference.
Tactile
Children learn to discriminate by touch. They match sandpaper and fabric of varying textures according to their similarities. They order material from rough to smooth and learn to contrast and compare.
Auditory Sense
Children continue the process of matching, ordering, contrasting and comparing, this time using various sounds, musical bells, instruments.
Complex Senses (weight, heat, shape, taste).
Children explore all the above qualities by using carefully designed materials and exercises which sharpen their senses at a time when they have a particular, developmental interest in this work (sensitive period).
The sensorial exercises are designed to prepare the child for more complex learning in Language, Math and Cultural Studies.
3. Language
Language in the Montessori early childhood curriculum focuses on the following areas:
a. Oral Language: Listening and Speaking
Designed to meet the young child's innate need to acquire language. Significant emphasis is placed on building vocabulary and oral compentency. Through the use of the Montessori materials, children acqurie a rich vocabulary for labeling, describing, comparing and contrasting thier environment and the people in it. Prescise terminology is always used. Discussion is encouraged, and the children are given appropriate language to engage in a meaningful exchange as they get on with their work. Small group or circle activities are organised on a daily basis. These are opportunites for the children to enjoy a wide variety of language activities that are carefully designed to enrich their oral expression and strengthen their listening skills. Some of the areas include:
Rhyming words Puzzle words Opposites Animal families Nursery rhymes Story telling Singing games Poetry Role playing
In essense, language enrichment is embedded in the Montessori curriculum and is a central point of focus when the teacher is giving a lesson in any of the other curriculum areas.
b. Written Language: Reading and Writing
Written language is introduced to children at about 4 years of age. Skills are taught separately by care use of specifically designed materials.
The exercises of:
Pencil control Letter formation Sound/letter recognition Phonetic blending Word/object matching Sentence constructionwhen presented in sequence, lead the child to initial levels of competence in reading and writing skills.
Children are encouraged to write their own "books" and so experience the joy of communicating their thoughts to others.
Literacy skills develop rapidly as the child's own inner drive to learn is supported by a carefully prepared program designed to meet this stage of activity.
4. Math
The Montessori math curriculum is firmly based on learning through experience. Children use a wide variety of carefully constructed materials to lead to an understanding of the value and sequence of the numbers 0 to 10. From there they are introduced to larger amounts and learn the concept of making groups tens, hundreds, thousands (the decimal system). Number notation and place value are taught as the child develops an understanding of number concepts.
Four and five year olds are introduced to the basic operations: addition, multiplication, subtraction and division at a concrete level so they experience what these activities really mean. Gradually they move towards an abstract understanding of the concepts. Geometry is introduced in the early childhood program through the use of materials which are classified according to qualities e.g. :these shapes have three sides, they are called triangles","the four sides on these shapes are all the same size, they are called squares." The child learns to discriminate, classify and name circles, squares, rectangles and polygons, always using materials as guidance.
Fractions are introduced, again in concrete form, and an introduction to the concept of equal parts of a whole lay the foundation for further work with math. Always, the child builds on what they already know and systematically progresses from concrete to abstract. The child idscovers number patterns, sequences and rules by handling the materials.
On completion of the early childhood curriculum the child will demonstrate through the use of materials, an understanding of the following:
- Number value, sequence, and symbol of 1 to 100
- The four basic operations
- Odd and even numbers
- Skip counting (early preparation for memorization of number facts)
- Reading and recording numbers for all of the above activities
The program has the advantage of being able to meet each child's individual learning style.
5. Cultural Studies
Our Montessori program is based on an integrated study of science, the social sciences and the arts. Children are exposed to a rich, stimulating variety of activities based on hands on learning.
In keeping with the Montessori philosophy of education, the children first experience general rules of the world around them e.g. the division of land and water. These are gradually broken down into smaller parts: continents/oceans, provinces and territories of Canada. Cultural differences and similarities are explored through music, dance, costume, and food.. Festivals and traditions e.g. Hanukkah, Chinese New Year, Divali, St. Patrick's Day are celebrated through the arts, stories, geography. Work with the cultural materials helps the children to become aware of the fact that they are a part of the large family of humanity. Weather observations and experiements help them to appreciate the variety of clothing, homes, food that exist to meet people's needs.
Materials are available to help the children to label, compare and classify the parts of plants and animals. There is particular emphasis placed on having plants and pets in the classroom. The school will have flower and vegatable gardens. The children learn how to take care of these so that they thrive.
6. Music
Music will be a daily part of our program. We will learn new songs and practice for Holiday and Spring concerts. Singing is encouraged and spontaneous outbreaks of song is not an unusual.
Music instruction will be presented directly through work with the Bells. The children will learn musical scales. They will be exposed to reading and writing music. They may learn to compose their own music. We will have fun with rhythm and beat games. Classical music, dance and fingerplays will be incorporated into daily activities.
| 
