Practical Life:
Activities are the foundation of the Montessori classroom experience. Montessori emphasizes the process over the product, the journey over the destination. Through repetition, children develop and master skills that prepare them for activities of daily living. Practical Life includes pouring, scooping, holding a spoon, squeezing a sponge, balancing a tray, cleaning up any spills, and manners. Older children will learn how to pour measured amounts, and learn precise small movements that develop their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills such as tying a shoelace, buttoning, using a pair of scissors, lacing and sewing. These tasks help children learn concentration, patience, sense of order, and above all, a sense of independence.
Sensorial:
Children learn skills and concepts through the use of their senses, and develop their cognitive skills. They learn to explore their physical environment through their senses. There are different activities for smelling, hearing, feeling different textures and identifying different shapes and colors using Texture Boards and Color Boxes. At the Elementary school level, children learn to label different shades and identify three dimensional shapes.
Mathematics:
Children learn counting by repetition. They learn to identify the numeral, its name, and the quantity to which it’s associated and have a strong foundation of the numbers between 0 and 10. By manipulating concrete materials, children learn the concepts of quantity and shapes, which allows them to develop problem-solving skills. This allows the older children to start adding and subtracting into the thousands, and to learn multiplication and division.
Language:
The child develops an extensive vocabulary through story telling, conversations, creative dramatics, matching and the exposure to additional curriculum material throughout the year. The child learns the sound along with the name of the letter, allowing them to learn to read more quickly. Older children learn grammar, to read through phonics and to write left to right using Sandpaper Letters and the Movable Alphabet.
Cultural Studies:
Children learn Biology, Botany, Zoology, History, Geography and Science as part of their Cultural Studies curriculum. Using books, maps, globes, music and art, flags, calendars and other materials, children interactively learn about their environment and history, plant and animal kingdoms, the solar system, bodies of water and continents.