|
| Montessori Curriculum
“Imagine an environment especially designed and scaled for a child’s curiosity and power to learn!” (Maria Montessori)
This is the type of environment that awaits your child at Visitation Montessori. Visitation Montessori creates an environment that inspires children to develop a love of learning that will help support an inner discipline and self-assurance. The Montessori Method respects the individuality of each child by helping them develop skills at periods of greatest readiness and sensitivity.
Montessori Curriculum was developed by Dr. Maria Montessori. Montessori’s method promotes the child’s natural, self-initiated impulse to become absorbed in their environment and in turn learn from it. Dr. Maria Montessori developed specific curricular areas, materials and techniques that assist each child in reaching his or her full potential.
Montessori Curriculum Areas
Practical Life
“The hand is the tool of the mind.” (Maria Montessori)
The Practical Life area of the Montessori classroom is a very busy and purposeful place. It is where children develop independence, coordination, concentration, and gross and fine motor skills. In this section of the classroom you will find children scrubbing tables, pouring beans from one pitcher to another, using tongs and tweezers to pick up objects, spooning dried pasta into various containers and washing, drying and dressing a baby doll. Other materials that are found in Practical Life (also called Everyday Living) are: art activities (painting, gluing, cutting), basic tools (screwdrivers, sanding blocks, hammering), sewing work (lacing, embroidery, button sewing), and food preparation (cinnamon grating and carrot peeling/chopping).
There is always only one of each material so children learn naturally to be patient and wait for their turn. Children choose the work that satisfies their inner need and repeat it as much as they like. The skills the children develop in Practical Life are the foundation for all the other work in the classroom.
Sensorial
“There is nothing in the intellect which was not first in the senses”. (Maria Montessori)
Consider for a moment, the puzzling, mixed and often contradictory world of sensations to which the infant is exposed at birth. Sounds, colors, smells, textures- all are new, all are overwhelming. It is the initial task of human development to sort out these impressions, to sort them into systematic categories, essentially to “make sense” of the environment. The process itself, the actual sorting out, is how intellectual growth is accomplished. It is for this purpose that each of us must educate his or her own senses.
There are essentially five overall purposes for the Sensorial area, these are: to develop the intellect, to develop the powers of observation, to increase and sharpen perception, to develop the ability to make judgments, and to develop language and increase vocabulary.
Language
“Language development is… encouraged in a Montessori classroom through its total freedom of conversation.” (Lillard)
Language is an extremely important part of the Montessori curriculum. From the time children are born, they are developing language. All materials that are used in a Montessori classroom are directed toward the development of language, or the ability to read and write.
The Montessori classroom also provides a safe and nurturing environment that encourages children to share their thoughts and feelings. A large part of language is developed through practice and use.
There are many different materials that are used in Language to help the child learn to read and write. The Language materials vary greatly in difficulty and in skill. Materials are provided for the child that is just beginning to learn the letter sounds, all the way through to the child that is analyzing sentences and seeing them for their different parts.
Reading and writing are not the only factors that are included in language. The child’s personality and intellect depend on his or her ability to communicate. Language is the child’s most important form of communication. Montessori recognizes this and is extremely supportive of the development of language.
Mathematics
The essential job of the Montessori math curriculum in the early years is to lay a foundation for future cognitive development and create a framework for abstract thinking. This is achieved through various concrete math materials that Maria Montessori developed. In the beginning, the child physically manipulates a variety of objects (wooden rods, beads, counters, spindles) and associates them with a numerical symbol. After the child is comfortable at this level, they are slowly introduced to operations in math (addition, multiplication, etc.) by using these familiar objects in different ways. Later, the beginning of abstract thinking starts to emerge naturally.
The development of the mathematical mind in the Montessori classroom is nurtured through all areas of the classroom. The materials in Practical Life (such as pouring, table scrubbing, food prep, hand washing) help reinforce the child’s ability to focus on a task and lengthen their span of attention. The sequence of steps involved in each activity help build an internal sense of order as well as acquire an awareness of the external order of things. The physical skills they are developing help with eye-hand coordination, one to one correspondence and the manipulation of small objects.
The Sensorial area of the classroom again reinforces the concept of order and sequence. In this area the child is developing their perception of differences (long, short, thick, thin, rough, smooth), and similarities. They are problem solving by figuring out which dimension cylinder fits in the right space. They are matching things that are the same weight, color, or size.
As the child moves through these fundamental “works” in room, they will then “possess all the instinctive knowledge necessary as a preparation for clear ideas in the range of mathematical experience.” Consequently, the development of self-confidence and self-esteem as the result of eventual success and mastery with these materials leads to independence apparent throughout all facets of the child’s life in and out of the classroom.
Science
The Montessori science curriculum takes the child on a journey through the natural world. The child is introduced first to zoology through the qualities of Living and Non-Living. Within the Living category, they are shown plant vs. animal, then vertebrates and non-vertebrates. Children also experience botany by tracing and matching a multitude of leaf shapes and consequently learning their names. Science lessons are reinforced by nature walks outdoors that connect what they see in the classroom to the outside world. Properties of physical science are experienced through materials that show sinking and floating, magnetism, and experiments that show matter as liquid, solid, and gas. Other topics explored are rocks and minerals, dinosaurs, and planets and space.
Science is integrated into the rest of the classroom through journal keeping (language area), recording and looking at data (math area), and tracing, sorting, carrying and pouring (practical life area). The Montessori approach to science encourages children to be inquisitive of the universe and lets them discover answers themselves.
Geography
Our location and where we live in the world has a large influence on our lives. Children need to have a good understanding of who they are, where they are located on the planet, and understand there are many different people and cultures with whom they share the earth.
The materials and methods used for teaching geography are very hands on and concrete. Children study maps of their own country, and those of different countries. By studying different cultures, continents, and countries the children get to know themselves better and realize the wonderful differences that exist between people. Children also study the earth’s landforms, and the continents and countries different flags.
Montessori Teachers
| Carrie Kisch Paul
| Lead Montessori Teacher
AM Session
| BA Education
College of St. Benedict's
MA Early Childhood Education
College of St. Catherine
Visitation Employee since 2004 | Carrie Kisch Paul's Web Site
| Lisa Cronin-Hennessy
| Montessori teacher
PM Session
| B.A. Communications
Boston College
At Visitation since 2007
| Lisa Cronin-Hennessy's web page
| Kathy Lingofelt-Meyers
| Assistant Montessori teacher
| | |
|
