The Montessori
Method
Montessori classrooms provide a
prepared
environment where children are free to respond to their
natural tendency
to work. The children's innate passion for learning is
encouraged by
giving them opportunities to engage in spontaneous, purposeful
activities
with the guidance of a trained adult. Through their work, the
children
develop concentration and joyful self-discipline. The children
are able
to progress at their own pace and rhythm, according to their
individual
capabilities within a framework of order.
Infant
Center
(Six
Weeks to 24 Months)
In our Infant Center,
we provide a clean, safe, warm, and home-like nurturing
environment
to foster the development of physical and emotional securities
of our
infants. Our home-like environment makes it easy for infants
and parents
to adjust to our settings.
Infants
Our infant teachers strive to form caring and trusting bonds
with each
infant under a family-like setting. In partnership with
parents, the
cognitive, social, and physical developments of the infants
are monitored. Physical exercises to facilitate
gross and fine
motor development, story telling to foster language
development, and
nursery rhymes singing to enhance cognitive development are a
few examples
of the integral parts of the daily infant program activities.
Parents are welcome to stop by
anytime
to visit with their infants, check in with the staff, or to
spend a
few quiet minutes with their children in our private fenced in
grass
areas outdoor. As an integral part of
the Montessori philosophy,
self-pacing is stressed and the program is adapt to cater to
the feeding,
sleeping, and developmental pattern of each individual infant.
Toddlers
The toddler program continues our Infant Center's emphasis on
personal
care. While the toddler program continues to provide the
caring and
nurturing relationships, there is a beginning emphasis on
self-reliance.
Through supportive, guided procedures the child begins
to learn
to develop self care skills, such as toileting, washing hands,
putting
on a jacket, etc. The curricula include activities on
movement, manipulation,
exploration, and autonomy. Children learn according to their
own individual
capabilities, building trusting relationships with their care
givers
under a secure framework of daily routines.
Montessori School
Transitional
Class (Ages 2 to 3)
This classroom
is designed to be a transitional class into our Montessori
Preparatory
classrooms. The transitional class will provide a more
structured environment
to facilitate your child's language and social development. Montessori equipments are introduced and daily
activities are designed
to provide an interactive setting where language and social
skills will
expand rapidly. Your child will learn to make many make simple
choices,
follow simple rules, and routines.
Preparatory Classroom (Ages 3 to 5)
The children's natural curiosity
and learning capacity peak at this stage.
Therefore, the Montessori preparatory classroom is
created to
enhance this inner motivation. The environment is controlled
and structured
by the teacher to maximize the children's intellectual growth.
The self-paced
classrooms use five curriculum areas of experience: Practical
Life,
Sensorial, Mathematics, Language, and Cultural. Each area has
specifically
designed materials to take advantage of the children's
interests and
abilities. Sensorial and Practical Life materials help develop
gross
and fine motor skills and coordination. Mathematics, Language,
and Cultural
materials allow the children to foster their intellectual
abilities.
The Montessori lessons presented
to the children are carefully sequenced to build a strong
academic foundation.
When children master one level, they can move up to the next
level.
Tasks are separated into the smallest possible segments so the
children
experience mastery at every stage. This experience of success
builds
a healthy self-concept and fosters independence and
responsibility.
Kindergarten (Ages 5 to 6)
At this stage, the children
begin
to move from the concrete to the abstract and begin to see
themselves
as parts of a larger whole. In
kindergarten, much of the material is similar or identical to
that in
the preparatory class, but is used at another level, building
on the
previous work. In collaboration with
their teachers, the children
are introduced to daily and weekly goals that they are
expected to complete.
In addition, weekly homework packets are given to the students
to help
reinforce their class work. The children's experiences are
further expanded
by the introduction at this level of many new materials.
In kindergarten, the children
are
also introduce to computer skills; research strategies such as
review,
hypothesize, data gathering, analyze, synthesize, and
conclude; and
develop positive study habits.
Early Elementary
(Ages 6 to 9)
Elementary children can be
characterized
by their questioning minds, their ability to abstract and
imagine, and
their unlimited energy for research and exploration.They move
from the
concrete and discovery to the abstract - thus greatly
expanding their
field of knowledge. In our early
elementary classroom, the Montessori teacher directs the
children toward
activities which help them to develop reasoning abilities.
Elementary
studies include geography, biology, history, language,
mathematics.
More structure is provided in this classroom to serve as a
transitional
phrase into the traditional school classrooms
Enrichment Activities
Music, Spanish,
and Chinese are included as part of the enrichment activities.
Extra-curricula
Activities
Extra-curricula
activities such as piano, violin, computer, and dance are
available
upon request
|