As your young preschooler begins to assert control of both self and environment, structured opportunities are provided within the framework of a stimulating Montessori setting, which encourage your child to show initiative and inquisitive exploration. Here, your child begins to reinforce their individual identity as they become increasingly aware of themselves within the context of the world in which they live.
The children work independently at activities from the five main areas of the Montessori classroom.
Practical Life
In the Practical Life section, the children learn to care for themselves and their environment, so building fine motor skills, practicing interpersonal communication skills, and gaining confidence and competence in daily life skills. Pouring, lacing, washing, serving oneself snack, are just a few examples of practical life exercises.
Sensorial
In the Sensorial section, the children develop an ability to order, to classify and to seriate. They learn to perceive differences in size, weight, shape, temperature, sound, and color. Through the sensorial activities, children prepare themselves not only for the upcoming math activities but for the language ones too: many of the sensorial activities deal with muscle development for later hand-writing, sound differentiation for language development and left to right organization for reading preparation.
Mathematics
In the Mathematics section, the children are first exposed to physical impressions of size, quantity, numbers and counting. They make use of carefully developed, hands-on materials in order to internalize the concepts learned, and are only later introduced to the more abstract concepts of sequence and operations.
Language
In the Language section, the children work through phonics-based language manipulatives, such as sandpaper letters to explore letter-sound relationships and colourful objects to match, classify and enrich their vocabulary.
Culture
In the Culture section, various classroom materials and projects assist the children in gaining an understanding of geography, the needs of man, and the beauty of the variety of cultures and customs within our world. Puzzle maps of the world, land and water forms, and many artifacts from around the globe enrich this facet of the curriculum.
