The curriculum offers individual and holistic learning through the Montessori method of education. This allows a programme of practical life, sensorial, language, mathematics, biology, history, science, art and music. All these topics are introduced in a way that becomes part of an exciting day. The subjects are brought to life with real materials and activities that seek to excite and stimulate little minds. There is a mixture of small group lessons and freedom for children to follow their own interests within a planned environment.
There are five major areas of curriculum in a Montessori environment that were discovered through Dr. Maria Montessori’s scientific observation of the natural tendencies children have toward learning. The five main areas of the Montessori curriculum are, Practical Life or Everyday Living Skills, Sensorial or learning through the senses, Language and Mathematics and Culture which includes Geography, Science, Music and Art.
Practical Life activities are important to teach children to function in their own environment and find their place in their world and culture. Practical Life exercises help children find their place in their home by becoming involved in how their home works and how they can best function in their home. Practical Life exercises include pouring, sorting, food preparation, care of self (hand washing, dressing oneself), care of the environment (table setting, sweeping), and politeness lessons (saying excuse me, introducing oneself.) Practical Life activities build children’s concentration, coordination, order and independence enabling them to master other Montessori curriculum areas. Children love the Practical Life area because it enables them to do adult work in a child size environment.
The Montessori Sensorial curriculum promotes the development and refinement of the five senses. Children learn through their senses and all materials in a Montessori environment provide learning through touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing or hands-on manipulation. The Sensorial materials and curriculum create a method of learning through the senses and some examples of Sensorial learning activities are sorting objects, matching colours, matching same tastes or same smells.
The Montessori Language curriculum begins with story-telling, sound games with objects, and eventually children are introduced to reading and writing. The Language curriculum is phonetic in nature and utilizes games and powerful teaching tools to help children learn.
The Montessori Mathematics curriculum is a powerful learning tool for developing a strong foundation in math. Dr. Maria Montessori realized that all children have a “Mathematical Mind” and that when they are given the opportunity to explore math in a concrete way, through “hands-on” materials, math become easier to understand. The Montessori Math materials cover counting, addition, subtraction and multiplication.
The Montessori Culture curriculum is focused mostly on Science, Geography, Music, and Art. The Culture curriculum provides a wide array of activities including learning about the continents of the world and their uniqueness such as animals and habitats. Montessori Culture activities include pictures of the places and people of the continents, books and flags of the world. Children learn the names of the continents, oceans and countries of the world. They learn through “hands-on” materials such as puzzle maps of the world. Montessori Culture activities help to inspire a love of learning and offer children a new perspective of the world. Children’s eyes light up with the Montessori games and activities that explore far off lands, providing their imagination with more places to explore and countries to visit in the future.