Our Montessori preschool classroom is a “living room” for children. Children choose their work from the self-correcting materials displayed on the open shelves, and they work in specific work areas. Over a period of time, the children develop into a “community,” working with high concentration and few interruptions. Great care is given to the child’s individual learning style and pace. All children are worked with individually as well as in small groups, to insure that they receive the very best care and instruction at this important time in their development. Love and respect for the child is the main focus of all our staff.
Our preschool has five
distinct areas which we call the prepared environment:
- Practical life enhances the development of task organization and
cognitive order through care of self, care of the environment, exercises of
grace and courtesy and coordination of physical movement.
- The sensorial area enables the child to order, classify, and describe
sensory impressions in relation to length, width, temperature, mass, color,
- Mathematics makes use of manipulative materials to enable the child to
internalize concepts of number, symbol, sequence, operations and memorization
of basic facts.
- Language Arts include oral language development, written expression,
reading, grammar, creative dramatics, and children’s literature. Basic skills
in writing and reading are developed through the use of sandpaper letters,
alphabet cut-outs and various presentations allowing children to link sounds
and letter symbols effortlessly and to express their thoughts through writing.
- Cultural activities expose the child to basics in geography, history and life sciences. Music, art and movement education are part of the integrated cultural curriculum
The Preschool program offers young children a unique program of self-development in an atmosphere of special understanding, respect and support. Sensorial activities in the classroom respond to the child’s urge to use all their senses to explore everything around them.
The Preschool program also appropriately accommodates the young child’s sensitive period for language by offering creative and intriguing concepts to expand their growing vocabularies. Joining conversations, listening to stories, classifying objects and learning songs and poems all nurture their budding language skills. To help smooth their initial social interactions, the child also learns to use words for the feelings they experience in themselves and others.
Many of the activities in the Montessori program highlight the self-help skills that lead to independence. Children are gently urged to put away their coats and aprons and to problem-solve rather than say, “I can’t.” Since this is an age of very strong imitation, the teachers constantly model appropriate social skills, good manners and consideration of others. Through song, dance and freedom of choice, the child has access to a variety of large muscle activities that offer them opportunities to jump, climb, balance, crawl or skip. However it is always tempered by two important limits that will be beneficial for a lifetime—respect for others and respect for the environment.