THE MONTESSORI CURRICULUM
The Three Year Cycle
Dr. Montessori observed children and defined four stages of development (0-6, 6-12, 12-18, and 18-24); each stage is approximately 6 years and has its own developmental characteristics and challenges. The Montessori approach was developed in response to the needs and characteristics of the evolving individuals at each plane. In a Montessori environment, children are grouped in mixed ages and abilities in three to six spans: 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 (sometimes 6-9 and 9-12).
The three year cycle is an essential element to Montessori education. Allowing children to stay in the same Montessori environment with the same group of children and teachers through the full three year cycle is critical for teachers and children to build a very strong,
stable and consistent community. Children can concentrate on the learning process without worrying about the transition and spending time to adjust to new teachers and new environment. Our teachers are able to make strong connections with children during these several years and give them better support based on their individual needs.
During these three years, children experience different roles, responsibilities and expectations. The first year children are the beginners. They not only get lessons from teachers, but also learn from the older ones by observing and listening to their work. With the help of the older ones, younger children usually learn quickly and enthusiastically. The second year children are more independent and comfortable in the classroom. They learn how to interact with both older ones and younger ones, while developing their knowledge and skills in all different areas. The third year children have the unique opportunity to be role models and community leaders. Their knowledge is reinforced and their skills are strengthened by practicing and sharing with the younger ones.
A mixed age group environment also contributes to the moral development of children as they learn and practice to respect others, be sensitive to their needs, and to collaborate and build a community spirit.
The third year children excel in our classrooms, and experience the full benefit of Montessori education. As an authentic Montessori school, we are committed to offer the best possible Montessori education to each child. During the admission process, all prospective parents are asked to commit to the three year cycle in the Montessori environment in order to reach the optimum results in our classrooms.
A Guide to the Pre-Primary (Toddler) Classroom
Program Description
Maria Montessori described The Secret of Childhood as the existence of powers and potentialities within the child that previously were not known or were ignored by her contemporaries. The task of the teacher, or guide, according to Montessori, is to observe the child’s pattern of development and to provide what is necessary for the secret to be revealed. Montessori proposed the idea of the absorbent mind, meaning that a child’s mind is like sponge, busily soaking in everything from the environment.
Thus the Pre-Primary Community is a prepared environment for children 1 year to 3 years old. It is designed to assist the child toward independence, social awareness, respect, and the development of motor skills and language. The beginning of the school year brings the parent and child together until the child feels trust to positively separate from the parent. Only then may the child independently attend an environment especially set up for his/her developmental needs.
Dr. Montessori asserted that human beings develop with the greatest intensity during the first three years of life; therefore, the pre-primary (toddler) classroom is prepared to provide nurturance, security and challenge in an orderly environment.
The Pre-primary school day begins with independent work and play in both the indoor and outdoor (when applicable) environments. Pre-primary children choose to work independently, in small groups, or with a teacher who guides as necessary.
The children gather in small or large groups for snack time. They assist in the preparation of the snack and table setting. They serve themselves and clean up after themselves. Grace, courtesy, and table manners are modeled and encouraged by teachers. Parents take turns providing a healthy snack each day for the entire class. A pitcher of fresh water and cups are available to the children throughout the school day.
Music and circle time are an important part of the curriculum. At circle time we engage in musical activities, often using tapes, CDs, and various musical instruments. Circle time activities also include phonemic activities, movement and dance, stories, and songs.
For the last twenty minutes of the day, the class moves outside, weather permitting, for play and outdoor gross motor activities. Those children who stay for lunch return to the classroom to eat a meal brought from home, followed by toileting/diapering and additional independent work.
Pre-Primary Curriculum
1. Social Development – Montessori School of Aberdeen, Inc. uses a process called “Separation Environment” to slowly acclimate the child to the classroom, teachers and peers. The Montessori Separation Environment, the transition period from home to
school, is created to support the parent/child bond and to develop trust in the new class environment and the teachers. This process promotes security and independence while respecting the emotional needs of the child. The Separation Environment is an individual process, and the duration varies for each child and family.
Once the child has successfully gained confidence and trust in the teacher and the environment, they can work on developing social values, independence, cooperation and respect. The classroom environment provides opportunities for conversation with
teachers and peers, and fosters appropriate interactions in a group setting. The child is able to hone in on social skills in a nurturing environment that promotes independence.
2. Language Development – Language is covered in the curriculum through linguistic, auditory, and visual development. Linguistic development is promoted by working on listening skills in stories, poems, nursery rhymes, songs, spoken social graces and conversation. Communication skills are developed through constant exposure to language and opportunities for expressive speech. Receptive language promotes auditory development with the ability to recognize sounds, follow directions, and follow a sequence of two different directions. Visual development, including visual memory and discrimination, is assisted by recognizing colors, shapes, sizes and patterns.
3. Physical Development – When toddlers join our classes, they are at individual stages of physical development. Some have mastered walking, climbing stairs, using a crayon and putting on their own shoes. Others walk unsteadily, are tentative on stairs, lack
the fine motor skills to effectively use a crayon, and need our assistance with dressing and undressing. Gross motor development occurs naturally when given the appropriate environment at each developmental stage. The use of steps, ramps, balance beam, rakes, wheelbarrows, balls and wagons all provide opportunities for gross motor exercise based on each child’s ability. Working with crayons and markers, shovels, tongs, lacing activities, utensils and bead-stringing exercise fine motor development. Self-dressing and self-feeding require well-developed motor skills, and it is during the toddler years that these skills are learned.
As children gain motor skills, they also learn vocabulary related to body awareness and body parts. For example, “I use my feet to kick a ball”, “I use my fingers to string beads”, and “I exercise to stay strong.” Along with these lessons we provide experiences and activities to promote healthy eating. We grow plants, and read books and sing songs about keeping our bodies healthy. In addition, we manage the environment in such a way that we maximize the children’s safety while giving them ample opportunities to exercise their developing motor skills.
4. Practical Life – We not only practice the skills, we also play games, read books and sing songs that promote these important concepts. For example, at snack time, the children eat “family style” and learn to ask one another to “Please pass the apples”. If a child is using a material and another child desires to have it, the teacher helps the children learn to ask, “May I use that when you are finished?”, then respect the other’s answer. As toddlers learn to defend their personal space and bodies, teachers give them appropriate language, (“Please do not touch me” or “You may touch me gently”), and assist with appropriate actions and behaviors.
5. Sensorial – Sensorial materials and experiences are aplenty in the Montessori School of Aberdeen’s Pre-primary environment. The outdoor environment is accessible several times per day, as weather permits, allowing for endless naturally occurring sensory experiences. Indoor and outdoor experiences such as sand and water play, experimenting with textures, using a variety of art materials, food preparation, and comparing qualities such as smooth, rough and soft give toddlers an opportunity to learn about their world through their tactile sense.
Activities that exercise and strengthen the visual sense include working with materials that teach color recognition, and materials. That demonstrate size and shape. Books and phonics materials offer opportunities for children to begin to learn that the letters they see on a page represent sounds and words. In addition, they begin to learn that the numerals they see represent sounds and words. In addition, they begin to learn that the numerals they see represent quantity. Experiences with a variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices, as well as flavors such as sweet, bitter and salty give the children opportunities to identify food through the use of their sense of taste. The
olfactory sense is developed through experiences with a variety of food and flavors, and naturally occurring scents such as flowers, rain and compost. Listening to a variety of music genres, (jazz, classical, etc), tempos and volumes, and exposure to naturally occurring sounds (birds, wind, etc) are methods by which the children develop their auditory sense.
The development of the proprioceptive sense is important as children learn how to move their body safely through their environment. The children’s independent access to steps, stools, chairs, climbing equipment, and ride-on toys gives those opportunities to build strength, coordination and balance while gaining an awareness of where their body is in space, and how to maneuver with confidence.
Experiences such as manipulating objects with their hands, while eyes are close, helps them learn to discriminate size, shape, weight, density, etc while exercising the stereognostic around exposure and experiences. Books, songs, materials and field trips offer the children opportunities to personally meet and interact with community helpers. A police officer, firefighters visit us each year, and help the children begin to understand that members of our community work to keep them and their families safe. In addition, we invite our Montessori families to share their cultural and family traditions with us, including the holidays, food, language, costumes, and music that is part of their heritage.
The teachers (guides), model behavior regarding respect for self, others, and the environment. Children quickly absorb the language associated with social graces such as “please”, “Thank you”, “I am sorry”, “excuse me”, etc, and as empathy develops they begin to demonstrate the behaviors that coincide with these terms. Role modeling is also used to help children learn appropriate behavior regarding interactions with others. For example, a child who attempts to take a material from a peer may hear a teacher offer appropriate language such as “You may say, ‘May I use that please?” Children learn to defend their bodies and personal space with phrases such as “No, this is my body”, or “Please wait until I am finished”. A child who often uses “why”? as a means to gain knowledge, is encouraged as a positive characteristic of the child’s development, thereby, the child begins to learn that being an inquirer is beneficial and valued.
The importance of respecting the environment is demonstrated in many ways. For example, brooms, mops, cloths, etc are available at all times and the children learn to use them in order to take responsibility for their actions (spills, etc). In addition, we compost, recycle, care for plants and pets and use the language associated with these activities (“Let’s put the peels in the compost.”) Through cultural studies toddlers become active members of the classroom community and begin to realize the value of an individual’s contribution to a group.
6. Science – The Pre-primary Montessori environment provides real-world opportunities to become aware of the natural world with hands-on experiences with weather, animals and plants. Recycling, composting, and harvesting food from the summer garden demonstrate our relationship to the natural environment. Casual experiments provide opportunities for an introduction to biology, physics, and weather systems. Lessons and activities that include science are introduced simply in the Pre-primary program, then reintroduced with more complexity and abstraction in the following years.
7. Math Readiness – The Pre-primary environment lays a foundation for math with the use of manipulative materials, fingerplay, songs, and language to explore math concepts. In the environment the child will begin to explore spatial relationships such as long/short, big/little, and less/more. Toddlers begin to recognize quantity and its relationship to symbols. There is a growing awareness of one to one correspondence.
Lessons and activities that include math are introduced in the Pre-primary program, then reintroduced with more complexity and abstraction in the following years.
8. Instructional Aides – The primary instructional tool in a Montessori pre-primary environment is the teacher. Each classroom has one AMS certified Lead Teacher and one assistant per 12 children. The teacher and assistant model appropriate behavior, respect, language and values to the toddler. The teacher models peaceful interactions, respect for one another and educational use of the materials. Proper nomenclature is used throughout lessons and casual conversation to model language. The teacher models values such as empathy, compassion, and acceptance of individual differences.
While Montessori did not specifically design materials for use by toddlers, there are certain types of materials which are key in a pre-primary environment. The materials move from concrete to increasingly abstract and generally isolate one concept to be mastered at a time. All materials on the shelves are rotated regularly, according to the children’s interests and developmental needs. Materials increase in challenge as children become older and more capable. They need to meet the child’s needs, which change with each developmental stage. They are kept clean and safe by way of daily cleaning and checking for broken or missing parts. Children are encouraged to carry activities either to tables with sturdy chairs or to mats for use on the floor. Other inside areas include a puzzle shelf and a snack area. Our environment also includes direct access to outside, weather permitting, for additional exploration and activities.
Within the environment, the shelves contain beautiful materials that are specifically chosen and organized according to student interest and developmental levels within each area of the curriculum. The art shelves hold clay work and other elements to explore, design, and experience basic motor skills, (cutting, gluing, painting, using stickers, etc). The art shelf may include glue, crayons, chalk, and clay. The manipulative shelves hold materials that provide opportunities to explore shapes and textures and to manipulate objects through posting, stringing, stacking, and sorting.
Fine motor activities include nesting objects, vertical and horizontal ring posts and hammering, opening and closing containers, bead stringing. The sensorimotor shelf may include geometric shape boxes and puzzles, mystery bag and geometric solids, as well as simple sound-matching materials and a music box. The language shelves contain materials designed to assist children in classifying and identifying objects such as object-to-object and object-to-picture matching, language cards, books, and puzzles. The materials on the language shelf also provide opportunities for music, rhymes, and language acquisition. The practical life shelves hold activities for the care of the classroom as well as activities to practice daily living skills such as spooning and pouring, preparing snack, dressing frames, hand washing table, polishing metal and glass, brooms, dustpans, dusting mitts, flower arranging, and watering cans. The imaginary play shelves hold dress-up clothes, animal models, dolls, etc.
The Montessori Pre-primary environment is a dynamic entity, and the teacher continually prepares an appropriate environment with materials and lessons that capture each child’s attention and entices him to learn. The teachers carefully and frequently observe the children and consider their development and interests in order to decide when materials need to be removed, replaces, or extended upon.
A Guide to the Primary Classroom
Principles of the Classroom
The most important time for learning is the period between birth and six year of age. Children are eager to learn from new people and experiences. They absorb all the environment has to offer and it is our responsibility to ensure the world they experience is rich, safe, nurturing, and intelligent. The foundation of self-esteem and all future learning is constructed during these early years and the Primary program is designed to take advantage of this powerful, formative period. The Primary program runs five days a week (Monday through Friday). This offers your child a step toward independence in an environment specially created for the developing young learner.
This happy and intelligent setting offers your child an opportunity to develop strong social skills as well as explore language, music, practical life skills, art, math, geography, science, culture and large motor activities.
In the primary classroom, your child will be introduced to many different concepts and will learn both through observing and through direct interaction with our beautifully crafted materials.
The Three Year Cycle – Primary
The Montessori primary program is a three year cycle. Children begin at three years of age in this program. We have found children adjust and access the Montessori environment much more successfully when they attend five days a week. Pre-school aged children especially need consistency. They bond socially more readily with the other children. They also tend to progress through the full spectrum of materials in the five day format. Developmentally it is beneficial for children to experience the full three year cycle. The third year of leadership for the child gives him or her immeasurable self-esteem and intellectual confidence.
Curriculum
1. Practical Life – Dr. Montessori structured exercises for the classroom to help children satisfy the need for meaningful activity. We refer to these as “exercises of practical life.” They include those daily activities which adults perform to maintain the environment and promote cohesive human relations. The Montessori practical life area is designed to allow the child to practice skills that will lead to greater independence and self-control. This area provides the child with the opportunity to engage in tasks associated with the real world of home, garden, and self-care. This work allows the child to develop concentration and attention to detail. Fine motor skills are honed, as the child gains a sense of satisfaction that comes from completing a task. They cultivate a deep joy for caring for themselves, others, and their environment through exercises that develop their sense of order, coordination, concentration, and independence.
There are four distinct groups of practical life exercise:
* Care of the Person. Children learn hand washing, fastening buttons, zipping, tying, combing, and other personal hygiene skills. First children have to take care of themselves, and then reach out to the environment. We help guide the children to gradually develop independence from their parents.
* Care of the Environment. With these exercises, children take responsibility for the space they use and enjoy. The Montessori classroom is kept clean and tidy and the children are, large part, responsible for its maintenance. They delight in washing windows, tables and chairs, sweeping floors, dusting shelves, polishing, and gardening. In addition, each child is responsible for returning his/her materials to the shelf upon completion.
* Grace and Courtesy. Through classroom activities and modeling by teacher, children develop the necessary skills for conversation, conflict resolution, greeting, and thanking. By participating in Grace and Courtesy exercises, children learn to positively interact and to problem solve.
*Concentration, Coordination and Order. The exercises in practical life are among the first presented. These preliminary exercises include spooning, pouring, using tools, opening and closing bottles, folding and matching. These lessons help the child develop his/her gross and fine motor skills as well as develop a sense of order and concentration. In addition, there are groups of exercises that involve the analysis and control of movement to facilitate coordination. There are exercises that are essentially designed for this purpose, such as walking on the line and the silence game.
2. Sensorial Exercises – Maria Montessori believed that nothing exists in the intellect that was not first experienced in the senses. The materials in the sensorial area are designed to help children sharpen their senses by isolating particular qualities such as size, shape, composition, color, flavor, smell, pitch, texture and weight. Each of the materials in this area is autodidactic and allows the child to work at their own pace with minimal interruption from the teacher. Children enjoy working with these materials repeatedly and often develop their own variations on the standard lesson.
3. Language – Language is an integral part of the entire Montessori preschool curriculum. Stories, songs, poems along with conversations with adults and peers help children increase their vocabulary and develop oral language skills. Written language is
taught through a specific progression of lessons that engage the senses – children learn letters and sounds through seeing, hearing, and touching them – and through immersion in a linguistically rich classroom environment. Children first learn the phonetic sound of each letter. Using inviting, hand-on materials, the children progress by classifying objects based on their sounds and then begin putting these sounds together to create words. Once they have learned to create their own words, reading follows quickly. The children work with increasingly more challenging materials. As they progress with their reading, the focus turns to comprehension and grammar.
With the development of language, children develop a greater ability to organize their thoughts and express themselves.
4. Mathematics – The materials in the math area are designed for the development of a concrete understanding of abstract mathematical concepts. The hands on materials in the math area help the child sequentially progresses from basic comparisons of
different quantities and their numeric symbols, through addition and subtraction and on to the combination of numbers, multiplication, division and fractions.
5. Science – The objective of science in the Montessori classroom is to develop each child’s natural sense of wonder and invite them to find answers to some of their “Why’s”. Each classroom contains many materials with which to explore various aspects of science.
6. Geography and Cultural Studies – Maria Montessori believed it was important to study what humans have in common to instill in the child a greater sense of belonging to the universe. By examining the similarities and differences of humans around the globe, we build a sense of connection to all human beings. Children in the Montessori classroom begin by looking at the world as a whole. Children are first introduced to the ideas of air, land, water, and continents. They then begin the study of local regions, cultures, and geography of the United States and all the continents. Colorful puzzles provide extensive hands-on exploration world geography. Boxes containing a variety of items from each continent give the children a concrete link to peoples in other lands. Students at Montessori School of Aberdeen, Inc., come from a variety of rich cultural backgrounds. This allows us a unique way to introduce students to other cultures and customs and to study countries in a variety of different ways.
7. Special Offerings – Students also have experience with art, music, languages, and physical movement as part of the Primary program. Regular experience with art, music, languages, and physical movement is offered to all children in both large and small groups.
8. Enrichment Activities – Montessori School of Aberdeen, Inc., incorporates Spanish into the classroom on a daily basis with Miss Elizabeth. We participate in the Northern State University’s STEM Integration (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program. The school offers Chinese lessons from the Confucius Institute. The Kindergarten children also participate in horseback riding lessons and gymnastics classes.
Kindergarten
The third year, or Montessori kindergarten year, is when all the learning that has taken place in the previous two years reaches fruition and a child’s knowledge begins to fall into place. Your child will be challenged to reach his/her potential by his/her Montessori teacher who knows your child incredibly well and so can provide precisely what is needed next. Children build upon what they have learned, experience rapid academic and social growth and their skill level dramatically increases when they are given the opportunity to consolidate their knowledge within the Montessori classroom. Third year students are ready to explode into more complex learning and discovery and they delve into a wealth of new and interesting materials.
They are guided to take on more and more complex work, begin to learn time management skills and have an increased set of expectations and privileges in the classroom. These older children also reinforce their academic skills by helping another child, a well-documented way to consolidate knowledge.
Your child has been unconsciously looking forward to being one of the “big kids” in the classroom so when he/she is put into a school where the kindergartners are looked down upon as being in the “baby class” his/her cycle of maturing is interrupted. It is especially unfortunate for a child who is a younger sibling at home to miss this opportunity to shine. This year of leadership gives a child immeasurable self-esteem and intellectual confidence.
A key advantage of staying at our school is that your child’s teacher already knows your child very well so no time is lost at the beginning of the year trying to assess him/her. Be sure to speak to your child’s teacher about kindergarten during conferences. The gift of this third year can never be taken away and it sets up a child for future academic and social success.
As you plan for your child’s future schooling we encourage you to view a video from American Montessori Society – https://vimeo.com/109029560 . We hope this video will provide more information about the benefits of having your child stay in a
Montessori classroom for his or her pivotal kindergarten year.