ALIVE MONTESSORI & PRIVATE SCHOOL

CASA CLASSROOM
Share some quality time
before bed!

Reading aloud with your

child for at least 20 minutes
can be a pleasure for you
both. Have fun--drop your
inhibitions--act out the the
book as you read it!

The first few years of schooling are vital, as they establish the foundation for all
subsequent learning. It is here that they will learn to read and write and where they begin
to get familiar with mathematical concepts; skills that they need to have for all future
learning. Correcting a poor start in schooling afterwards is made much more difficult
because the child’s ability, confidence and attitude toward learning, whether positive or
negative, are largely set in these early years.
Alive Montessori set very high standards for ourselves as teachers and for our students.
For example, we expect all of our children to begin reading at age 4 and to be fluent
readers by age 6 or 7.
We know that you are placing your trust in us to give your child the very best education
possible. Your child will be treated as an individual and given personal attention. We will
do our very best to keep him or her engaged and interested in learning by making it fun
and related to the real world. We teach life skills, work ethic, mental and physical
discipline, manners, and how to work as a team and care for others.
And because we consider ourselves to be partners in the future success of your child, we
listen and work with you, the parent, on forwarding the best interests of your child.
As Mark Twain so aptly put it,
“Don’t let schooling get in the way of your education.”
We want your child to receive a real education – one that will give him the knowledge,
skills and confidence to achieve success in a career and in life.
1. Personal Independence and Care of the Environment (Practical Life Exercises)
Children have an innate desire to become independent and take care of their own personal
needs and to gain the skills to help others. The Montessori curriculum supports this inner
drive by providing an environment and the necessary materials to support the path to
independence.
❏ Exercises in personal hygiene ❏ Dressing ❏ Care of clothing
These are an integral part of the early childhood Montessori classroom. Activities to support
the many skills young children need to accomplish on the way towards independence are all
taught as specific lessons, with their own set of materials e. g. dressing frames, hand-washing
exercises etc.
In order to work independently in a mixed age group, children are taught the rules of the
classroom and how to move and work successfully within it.
❏ Handling the Montessori materials ❏ Tidying away work
❏ Taking care of books. ❏ Using floor mats
❏ Looking after classroom pets and plants ❏ Preparing snacks & meals
These skills are all taught as separate exercises that are designed to give children the freedom
and confidence they need in order to work at their own individual pace in the classroom.
Exercises in grace and courtesy are presented daily during circle time and in small informal
group lessons.
The children learn how to behave in certain situations and acquire the social skills essential
for every day living in society.
The children develop a sense of personal dignity, an understanding of their own culture and
an awareness and respect for people of all ages and traditions.
Having the appropriate social and language skills enables a child to engage positively in the
classroom community and beyond. Early conflict resolution skills are taught and attention is
given to making good choices.
Exercises are designed to teach the child how to:
❏ Ask for something ❏ Introduce oneself ❏ Wait one’s turn
❏ Offer help to others. ❏ Make eye contact ❏ Apologize
❏ Welcome visitors. ❏ Work cooperatively. ❏ Offer refreshments
❏ Walk with a partner. ❏ Behave at the table. ❏ Behave in public places
❏ Shake hands ❏ Through the social interaction involved in carrying out these exercises, the
children develop the ability to work harmoniously in a carefully prepared environment.
Exercises for the development of fine and gross motor skills are carefully developed as part of
the practical life curriculum.
❏ Rolling mats ❏ Pouring liquids. ❏ Threading
❏ Cutting space. ❏ Sweeping ❏ Carrying chairs
❏ Walking carefully. ❏ Carrying materials to a work. ❏ Using utensils
❏ These activities develop dexterity and coordination and are closely linked to other areas of
the curriculum.
The practical life component of a Montessori early childhood curriculum is the underlying
foundation for success in the other four areas of the curriculum. Each task allows the child to
gain independence, and to develop a sense of order, concentration, responsibility and
coordination of movement. Children gain enormous freedom and confidence to work
successfully both independently and cooperatively.The future success of the elementary
Montessori environment is based on this core foundation of learning skills.
 CASA CLASSROOM

2. Education of the Senses (Sensorial materials)

The Montessori sensorial curriculum allows the child to discriminate and order the
impressions that have entered through each of his senses. Scientifically designed
materials that isolate each sense help develop the child’s intellect through hands-on
exploration.
The child learns to separate and classify forms, colours, textures, tastes and smells.
Exercises in this area refine the senses and develop skills in thinking, judging,
concentrating, comparing and sequencing. The materials offer unlimited opportunities
for the development of vocabulary and the essential development of dexterity that will
lead to writing and reading.
The sensorial curriculum is divided into the following areas:
❏ Visual Sense: Children learn to discriminate by size, length, dimension, colour,
similarity, difference.
❏ Tactile Sense: Children learn to by touch. They match sandpaper and fabric of varying
textures according to their similarities. They order material from rough to smooth and
learn to contrast and compare.
❏ Auditory Sense: Children continue the process of matching, ordering contrasting and
comparing, this time using various sounds, musical bells, instruments.
❏ Complex Senses (weight, heat, shape, smell, taste): Children explore all of the above
qualifies by using carefully designed materials and exercises which sharpen their senses
at a time when they have a particular developmental interest in this work (sensitive
period).
The sensorial exercises are designed to prepare the child for more complex learning in
Language, Math and Cultural Studies.
 CASA CLASSROOM

3. Language curriculum
Language in the Montessori early childhood curriculum focuses on the following areas:
Oral Language
❏ Listening ❏ Speaking
Written Language
❏ Reading ❏ Writing
The curriculum is designed to meet the young child’s innate need to acquire language.
Significant emphasis is placed on building vocabulary and oral competency. Through the
use of the Montessori materials, children acquire a rich vocabulary for labeling,
describing, comparing and contrasting their environment and the people in it.
Precise terminology is used. Discussion is encouraged, and the children are given the
appropriate language to engage in a meaningful exchange as they get on with their work.
Small group and circle activities are organized on a daily basis. These are opportunities
for the children to enjoy a wide variety of language activities that are carefully designed
to enrich their oral expression and strengthen their listening skills.
❏ Rhyming words ❏ Story telling ❏ Nursery Rhymes
❏ Nonsense words ❏ Singing games ❏ Opposites
❏ Poetry. ❏ Animal families ❏ Role-playing
In essence, language enrichment is embedded in the Montessori curriculum and is a
central point of focus when the teacher is giving a lesson in any of the other curriculum
areas.
Written language is introduced to children at about 4 years of age. Skills are taught
separately by careful use of specially designed materials.
❏ Pencil control ❏ Letter formation. ❏ Sound/letter recognition
❏ Phonetic blending. ❏ Word/picture matching. ❏ Sentence construction
4. Math
The Montessori early childhood math curriculum is firmly based on learning through
experience. Children use a wide variety of carefully constructed materials to lead them to
an understanding of the value and sequence of numbers 1 to 10. From there they are
introduced to larger amounts and learn the concept of making groups of tens, hundreds,
thousands (the decimal system). Number notation and place value are taught as the child
develops an understanding of number concepts.
Four and five years olds are introduced to the basic operations of addition,
multiplication, subtraction and division at a concrete level so that they gain a real
concept what these concepts really mean.
Geometry is introduced in the early childhood program through the use of materials
which are classified according to qualities e.g. “these shapes have three sides, they are
called triangles,” “the four sides on these shapes are all the same size, they are called
squares.” The child learns to discriminate, classify and name circles, squares, rectangles
and polygons, always using materials to guide her.
On completion of the early childhood curriculum, the child will demonstrate through the
use of materials, an understanding of the following:
❏ Number value, sequence, and symbols from 1 to 1,000
❏ The four basic math operations
❏ Odd and even numbers
❏ Skip counting (early preparation for memorization of number facts)
❏ Reading and recording numbers for all of the above activities.
The program has the advantage of being able to meet each child’s individual learning
style and pace of development. Children who are not ready to complete the early
childhood curriculum by the end of this cycle will continue the work at the elementary
level where there are special linkage materials to bring about the understanding.
 CASA CLASSROOM
5. Cultural Studies
The Montessori early childhood cultural program is based on an integrated study of
science, the social sciences and the arts. Children are exposed to a rich, stimulating
variety of activities based on hands on learning.
In keeping with the Montessori philosophy of education, the children first experience
general rules of the universe (e.g. the division of land and water). These are gradually
broken down into smaller parts (e.g.continents/oceans, countries, provinces/states, cities)
Stories of animals and children from other lands help the children to understand
fundamental needs and how these are influenced by climate, environment and lifestyle.
Cultural differences and similarities are explored through music, dance, costume and
food. Festivals and traditions such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Chinese New Year, Diwali, St.
Patrick’s Day are celebrated through the arts, stories, geography. Working with cultural
materials helps the children become aware that they are part of the large family of
humanity.
Simple science experiments that demonstrate the qualities of matter: magnetic/non-
magnetic; solid/liquid; living/non-living are made by the children as part of the study of
their environment.
Weather observations and experiments help them to appreciate the variety of clothing,
homes, food that exist to meet people’s needs.
Materials are available to help the children label, compare and classify the parts of plants
and animals. Particular emphasis is placed on having plants and pets in the classroom
and around the school. The children learn how to take care of these so that they thrive.
They undertake experiments to discover the needs of plants and seeds.
An understanding of the passage of time is developed through the use of the clock, the
calendar and personal time lines. This lays the foundation for an understanding of history
in the elementary years.

Art, Music, Drama

Art, music storytelling are all explored through a variety of media and structured
programs. Children are encouraged to incorporate an activity from these streams as part
of their cultural project work.
In short, the Montessori method of education introduces children to a wide variety of
subjects in an integrated and interesting way. The information obtained by the child
through practical activities is retained and forms a solid base for learning through the
elementary years and beyond.