- Improve concentration
- Establish a work cycle
- Master coordination and movement
- Understand social relationships
- Become independent and care for the self
- Develop language, reading and writing skills
- Associate quantities with symbols
- Learn to add and subtract
Preschool Curriculum
Under the guidance of a trained teacher, children in a Montessori preschool classroom learn by making discoveries with the materials, cultivating concentration, motivation, self-discipline, and a love of learning. In a Montessori setting, children develop a strong sense of respect for themselves, for others, and for their environment.
The preschool classroom is divided into four main areas: practical life, sensorial, math, and language. Parts of each room are also devoted to art, science and geography. The classroom is scaled to the size of the preschoolers and arranged with materials and activities that are enticing and enjoyable.
Practical Life Experiences
For preschool-aged children, there is something special about tasks which an adult considers ordinary: sewing, folding clothes, setting a table, etc.
In this area of the classroom, children perfect their coordination and become absorbed in an activity. They gradually lengthen their span of concentration. They also learn to pay attention to details as they sequence activity.
Sensorial Experiences
The sensorial materials help preschoolers to relate new information to what they already know. Children learn fine discrimination of color, size, texture, and sound through exploration, language, and games.
Mathematics
Children often become interested in counting in preschool and like to position items as they enumerate them. By counting concrete quantities, separating them, sharing them, and counting them children demonstrate for themselves the basic operations of mathematics. Counting games become an everyday activity in the preschool classroom.
Language
Children are introduced to the sounds of the language in preschool through games and materials. Proceeding at their own pace, they are introduced to the skills necessary for writing, reading and spelling.
Physical Geography
Children learn to work with globes, maps, and flags. Gradually preschoolers learn the names of the continents and countries as well as information about climate regions and products. Children also learn the common land formations.
Arts and Crafts
Art in the preschool classroom strives to encourage the child’s own joyful expression. Children have the freedom to explore imagination through a variety of media. The emphasis is on the creative process.
Music and Creative Movement
The most appealing musical element to preschool-aged children is rhythm, and the natural response to rhythm is physical. Children in the preschool class are introduced to many songs and dance. Children are also introduced to the instruments of the orchestra and their unique sounds.
Science and Nature
The natural environment is an extension of the preschool classroom. Discovery projects and experiments stimulate a child’s natural curiosity. The plant and animal kingdoms are studied to foster an appreciation for all living things.
Foreign Language
A foreign language is introduced to our pre-primary through elementary students twice a week. The preschool curriculum emphasizes speaking, however, written work is introduced in kindergarten through elementary.
The Preschool Room
In our preschool classroom, our school environment is dedicated to nurturing a child’s inherent curiosity by enabling children to explore and discover. Our classrooms and materials are designed to stimulate the child’s senses as well as to respond to the pre-school child’s need for order within the world.
Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.
