Montessori Method
Montessori-based classrooms are mixed aged classes that model real-life communities. Children work in groups based on their developmental levels. Younger students learn by modelling and through guidance from their older peers. Older students blossom from their leadership roles and they learn with and from their peers.
The Five Learning Areas of the Montessori Method
PRACTICAL LIFE
Life skills that help develop a child's independence, coordination, concentration, self-control, self-awareness and confidence.
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Care of Self (food preparation, dressing, washing)
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Care of Environment (cleaning, gardening, care of pets, environmentalism)
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Grace and Courtesy (greetings, manners, social interactions)
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Control of Movement (refining movements, walking the line and moving quietly).
SENSORIAL
Activities that allow children to refine their senses:
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Sight (visual)
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Touch (tactile)
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Smell (olfactory)
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Taste (gustatory)
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Sound (auditory)
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Stereognostic (kinaesthetic).
LANGUAGE
Children work through specific hands-on and tactile language materials such as the sandpaper letters to the moveable alphabet to gain phonetic awareness. Language is not an isolated topic but runs through the curriculum. The spoken language is the foundation for writing and then reading.​
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Pink scheme ( 3 letter phonetic words)
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Blue scheme (consonant, short vowels, 4-5 phonetic words, e.g “flag”, “mend”, and “clock”.)
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Green scheme (major phonemes, e.g “ai”, “ou”, “ie”, and “ow”. Vowel combinations like like “a_e” in cake or “i_e” in mice, grammar)
MATHEMATICS
Mathematics is developed with the use of concrete learning materials. Sensorial experiences prepare children for learning mathematics.
Hands-on materials are used such as number rods, sandpaper numbers, number boards, spindle box, number tiles, short bead stairs and golden beads. Each exercise builds upon another and the child gradually moves from concrete to abstract experiences such as place value, addition, subtraction and multiplication.
CULTURE
Culture allows children to explore the natural world around them and includes:
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Geography (continents, landforms, earth layers, the solar system)
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Zoology (classification, physiology of animals),
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Botany (ecology, classification, physiology of plants)
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History (time lines, using a calendar)
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Science