The classroom is divided
into the six Montessori Curriculum Areas;
The first area that your child will be introduced to is called
Practical Life. In this area, your child will be given the opportunity
to practice developing his/her skills in looking after him/herself and the surroundings. For example, children can practice
pouring, transferring and dressing themselves, and also other activities like sweeping, mopping, washing, folding, cooking,
etc., to develop co-ordination and dexterity skills.
Equipment in the Sensorial
area helps to refine each of the five senses. For example, the sound boxes help to develop listening and music skills, colour
boxes help develop observation and perception skills. The Sensorial equipment also indirectly prepares the child for later
mathematics and language work, as they help the child to order, grade, classify and describe their sensory impressions.
Montessori before working with children studied Mathematics and through her observations of children she designed the mathematical equipment used in our
classroom. Our children gain a physical impression of concepts such as numbers, counting skills, simple sums, measurement,
fractions etc.
Language is enriched
within the environment through the use of phonetic games, songs, rhymes, stories, books, and writing through the introduction
of the sand paper letters. Language is also present throughout the classroom as everything is labelled to encourage an interest
in reading.
In our classroom we try to promote cultural awareness through
our Cultural area. We encourage children to explore and investigate their
environment, using the equipment that Montessori developed for this purpose. Biology, geography, history and simple science
activities are included in this area.
We like Montessori, feel that it is very important that the
children are able to express themselves freely in the Creative area. Various
materials are available for the children to use to make, draw, cut, glue, model, etc.. Light classical music is also played
throughout the sessions to promote musical appreciation. Drama, singing, role-play, and playing musical instruments are encouraged.