Pre School and Kindergarten Program
Pre School and Kindergarten children work with very special Montessori equipment in classes filled with activity and discovery which includes both the development of one's own individuality and group participation in the following areas:
PRACTICAL LIFE EXERCISES
Children learn freely with adult help how to button their shirt, tie their shoes, clean house and other activities. Good manners are also emphasized and children learn to say "please" and "thank you."
SENSORAL EXERCISES
Building imaginations with real Montessori Sensorial Materials teach children to use their sense of touch, feeling, taste and smell as a key to the basic understanding of reality.
MATH
Children learn to perform counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division exercises by using and handling Montessori mathematical materials such as rods, beads, spindles, cubes, cards and counters, etc. which also teaches them to visualize the whole structure of our numerical system.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Children trace letter shapes, listen to the sounds, play word games and learn to read by matching up words and pictures through phonetics and word building. Reading and writing are keys to help synthesize their knowledge of our English language.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
The children are taught basic words in Spanish and French.
GEOGRAPHY
Montessori teachers focus the child's attention on maps and globes. Hands on experiences are emphasized in order for them to experience a study of the earth and its natural phenomena.
SOCIAL STUDIES
An awareness of other cultures is presented through photographs, maps and stories to illustrate the problems and needs of people in the world and to help the child appreciate talents, joy and beauty of different world cultures.
MUSIC/ART
Poems, nursery rhymes and songs give the child a beautiful experience. It connects language with the movements of the body. The children use crayons, paper and art supplies.
EDUCATIONAL COMPARISONS
|
CONVENTIONAL |
MONTESSORI |
Pervasive emphasis on grades,
merits, social conformity |
Self humanization as root motivation |
Children grouped chronologically
only on age per class |
Non graded, 2 or 3 year age span |
Class seated at desk most of the
time for group lessons |
Students work at tables, on floor
freedom of movement |
Class as a group studies one
subject at a time |
Children pursue their own self-paced
curriculum, individually or in small groups |
Children are taught by teachers,
society's conforming values |
Children in direct contact with development,
i.e. natural, sensory and cultural experiences |
Class schedules limit child's
involvement |
Long blocks of time permit
invaluable concentration |
Relatively frequent interruptions;
bells, adult interventions |
Relatively few interruptions |
Postponement of cognitive
development until first grade |
Critical cognitive skills developed
before age 6 |
|
Teacher society "corrects"
pupils' "errors" |
Children learn from peers, self-correcting
materials. Teacher's role as guide. |
