Our curriculum is designed for your active learner in mind. Our primary goal is to help each child reach his/her full potential in all areas of life. In a carefully prepared environment we create a comprehensive developmental programme to meet the needs of each child.
We also foster a healthy and loving introduction to cultures of the world by providing exposure to a variety of music, food, songs, clothing and languages.
Our prepared environment is characterised by order, simplicity and beauty which meet the needs of the child.
These are only some of the activities available to the children in our prepared environment (additional activities, not listed here are brought in as part of our weekly projects)
PRACTICAL LIFE (Personal, Social & Emotional Development)
Practical life exercises are designed to teach children life skills. The basic principle behind these exercises is that they are real, not make believe. By acquiring these new skills the child learns manual dexterity, improves his/her eye hand co-ordination and spatial awareness. The child also satisfies his/her inner need for order and builds up his/her concentration skills.
Examples of Practical Life material
| pouring | sweeping | folding cloths | ||
| sorting | magnets | food preparation | ||
| polishing | pairing | grace and courtesies | ||
| sewing | dressing frames | |||
| hand washing | watering plants | |||
| fruit slicing | arranging flowers | |||
| vegetable slicing | germination of seeds |
SENSORIAL (Refinement of the senses: visual, tactile, auditory, gustatory, thermic, baric, stereognostic, and chromatic).
The Sensorial material enables the child to see details of the environment with greater clarity, therefore refining his/her field of perception. According to Dr Montessori children live in a world of senses. In order to continue their creative task, children need to highlight impressions they have already received through sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. Since there is nothing extraneous or superfluous in the material there is only the essence of the concept waiting to reveal itself to the child.
Examples of Sensorial material
| cylinder blocks | decanomial square | touch boards | ||
| pink tower | binomial cube | tactile tablets | ||
| brown stair | trinomial cube | fabric boxes | ||
| colour tablets | constructive triangles | thermic tablets | ||
| geometry cabinet | knobless cylinders | sound boxes |
MATHEMATICS (Problem solving, reasoning & numeracy)
Montessori mathematics materials enable even a very young child to achieve a natural appreciation of mathematical concepts through his or her own efforts. This avoids the mental blocks which so often occur in children faced with purely abstract concepts. Specially designed equipment helps children to grasp concrete ideas along with sensory experience of numbers, quantities and mathematical operations. These young children work with the maths operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division using the Montessori Golden bead material. Gradually children can move confidently to complete abstract mathematical problems. Many Montessori educated children leave the class with a genuine love of numbers and mathematics
Examples of Mathematical material
| number rods & cards | numbers & counters | decimal system | ||
| spindle boxes | golden bead materials | quantity games | ||
| sand paper numbers | various exercises for addition, substraction, multiplication |
short bead stairs | ||
| seguin boards |
LANGUAGE
In the Montessori Class room children learn to express themselves. The freedom offered to the children creates many opportunities for them to communicate with their peers and the adults. We emphasise the development of vocabulary based on real experiences and the early preparation required for reading and writing. Children are introduced to language through our phonetic approach and begin the process of word building and then blending sounds into meaningful reading. Further advanced activities take the child well beyond the basic skills into reading and writing for interpretation, creativity and pleasure.
Examples of Language Curriculum
| Enrichment of vocabulary | Reading & writing activities | |||
| classified cards | sand paper letters | reading booklets | ||
| stories & poems | object boxes | reading folders | ||
| news periods | metal insets | word study | ||
| I spy games | movable alphabet | grammar study | ||
| question games |
CULTURE
The Montessori approach covers a wide range of subjects which reflect the broad interests of young children. The Montessori environment stimulates these interests and extends knowledge and understanding of art and crafts, geography, history, music, food, science and the natural world. Cultures from around the world are explored and celebrated. Our Montessori promotes an international view that embraces the need to understand different peoples, ethnic groups and religions. Books, resources and displays reflect positive images and opportunities are created to celebrate other cultures such as Eid, Diwali, Hannukah, Chinese New Year and Christmas.
Examples of Cultural Curriculum
| Geography | Botany | Zoology | Science | |||
| puzzle maps | world of plants | world of animals | magnets | |||
| globes | leaf cabinet | mammals | sinking & floating | |||
| models of land & water | reptiles | weighing | ||||
| flags of the world | amphibians | gravity | ||||
| peoples of the world | fish | magnifying glass | ||||
| electricity |
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
We have a stretch of garden in front of both Montessori’s. Children are taken for regular excercise to the garden and for exploration in the extensive church grounds. Our children are supported in developing an understanding of the importance of physical activity and making healthy choices in relation to food. Children in our Mill Hill branch also do Yoga sessions and spend lots of time learning how to move in a range of ways.
CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT
Dr Montessori viewed creativity within the context of total development – intellectual, artistic, emotional and physical. The child’s creative integration is an integration of self, which comes from participation in the real from a young age. In our classrooms our children are provided with opportunities to explore and share their thoughts, ideas and feelings, for example through a variety of art, music, movement, dance, imaginative and role-play activities, cooking and design and technology.