HOUSE OF THE CHILDREN
“Free the child’s potential and you will transform him into the world.”
-DR. MARIA MONTESSORI
Absorbent Mind
Children in this program possess what Dr. Montessori called the Absorbent Mind—the ability to absorb all aspects of one’s culture and environment without effort or fatigue. As an aid to this period of the child’s self-construction, it is common for children to choose materials that are designed to be used by one student at a time. That said, there are also materials that are designed to be explored by two or three children at a time.
Our EARLY CHILDHOOD environment nurtures the independence and process of self-creation by providing means to develop social physical intellectual and emotional skills.
The whole curriculum promotes holistic human development intellectually, physically, socially and uses a wide range of activities to refine sensory perceptions and to help the child adapt to a wider environment, the universe.
The Program begins when the child is around 2 ½ years old and continues through the age of 6 years. The beautiful classroom is prepared in a way that motivates and stimulates the child into activity. The unique curriculum is unmatched by any other pre-school/Kindergarten curriculum. Most children who complete the three-year cycle, graduate from the program reading, writing, have a strong foundation of mathematical concepts and are well-mannered, young members of our community.
Through extensive research, the curriculum was developed with an emphasis placed on language arts, math, practical life, the arts, and sensorial perceptions.
Our activities and lesson plans encourage small group activity as well as individual work and aid the child in the process of integration of the body and mind through work.
Areas of Curriculum:
Practical Life
Practical life is the heart of the Montessori classroom. These are the first activities a child will be introduced to, and they maintain their interest through the early years. Through these activities the new child integrates into the social and physical environment of the classroom, develops, and refines fine and gross motor skills, learns to take care of herself and the environment, and explores crafts and arts. The older child will develop a sense of stewardship for the classroom and consciously help in its maintenance. They learn to work at a task from beginning to end and develop their powers of control and concentration.
Practical Life Curriculum
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Sensorial
Sensorial materials are designed to support children in refining their sense of vision, touch, smell and taste. They offer children the opportunity to explore these senses and identify the unique aspects of each sense in isolation. This precision supports the work they are doing in all other areas, but particularly Language and Mathematics.
Sensorial Curriculum
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Peace Education
Peace Education is presented to children across all levels in a Montessori school and will be described briefly here. Typically, peace education is presented as including a) inner peace, b) peace in community (the classroom), c) global peace, and d) peace for the natural world. Conflict resolution skills, listening, communication, respect, and inclusion are modelled extensively for children in all classrooms, regardless of level.
Language Arts
Language arts development is vital to human development. The Montessori environment is rich in oral language opportunities, allowing the child to experience conversations, stories, and poetry. The sandpaper letters help children link sound and symbol effortlessly, encouraging the development of written expression and reading skills. To further reading development, children are exposed to the study of grammar.
Language Arts Curriculum
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Mathematics
Mathematics is foundational in a Montessori Adv.ECH classroom and activities in this area help children learn and understand the concepts of math concretely through the use of manipulatives. This work helps children internalize mathematical concepts, prepares them for later abstract reasoning and helps to develop problem-solving capabilities.
Mathematics Curriculum
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Cultural Science
Cultural Science begins with learning language (vocabulary) to describe the Animals, Living Things and non-living things and then moves in towards a child's home country and region. This includes the study of different continents, countries, types of lands and cultures.
Cultural Science Curriculum
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