Curriculum

Practical Life

Practical life activities teach children how to take care of themselves and their surroundings. Some tasks – food preparation, dish washing, dusting, gardening, and so on – mirror those
a child sees adults do at home. Others – buttoning, tying, zipping, folding, or hand washing, for example – inch young children toward independence, increasing those tasks they can do for themselves. All activities are purposeful – and real.

Children don’t just pretend to cut carrots, wash dishes or sweep crumbs off the floor. They actually do it, using child size tools that really work. In the practical life area, children also expend excess energy, indulge their love of repetitive motion, and develop the manual dexterity, muscular coordination, focus, concentration, and self-control necessary for
future growth and learning.

Sensorial

In this area, children explore, clarify, classify, compare, and comprehend the world through their five senses. Sensorial materials appeal to a child’s natural fascination with the physical properties of his or her environment. Children explore size, shape, color, sound, odor, texture, and more. They discover a vast array of concepts (long, short, large, small, rough, smooth, loud, soft, dark, light, sweet, and sour, to name just a few) and develop skills that serve as a f oundation for learning language and mathematics.

Language

In this area, children find materials that will ease them into reading and writing. The process builds on spoken language skills, which are part of all classroom activities. Children hear and learn to use exact words for everything they do. They name colors, shapes, textures, tools, plants, and so on. In the language area, they move on to associate sounds with sandpaper letters, compose words, sentences, and stories using the moveable alphabet, practice forming letters using metal inserts, and eventually, learn to write and read. This ability seems to emerge spontaneously.

Montessori provides the keys to reading; children unlock the door themselves.

Math

Counting, comparing, grouping, and estimating: activities such as these appeal to the naturally mathematical minds of young children. They yearn to know “How much?”, “How many?”, and “Who has more?” In the math area of our primary classroom, they discover the tools and skills to answer those questions (and many others).

Using rods, spindles, cards, beads, cubes, and counters, math activities start simply and become increasingly complex, carrying the young child from matching a concrete number of objects with an abstract numeral to doing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Art

Art can be seen everywhere in a Montessori classroom. On any give day children may draw, paint, cut, paste, work with clay, make collages, design and sew costumes, and more. At the elementary level, students not only create artwork as part of larger projects, but also come to appreciate the art of various cultures and historic periods.

Music

Music permeates our programs. Children can choose from countless Montessori activities involving sounds and music. In addition, we offer lessons that include singing, music history and instruction in piano and recorder.

Culture

Cultural subjects such as literature, crafts, cooking, drama, history, geography,
and science are integrated into the elementary curriculum and introduced at the primary level as part of various sensorial, language, mathematics and practical life activities.

Physical Education

Full-day children have 20-30 minutes of physical activity every day. If weather permits, they go outside, where primary children play freely and elementary child participate in organized games and sports. We substitute aerobics, dancing and other movement activities when weather keeps children in.

Environmental Studies

We encourage children to explore and make
discoveries about their environment through indoor activities – plant and pet care, science experiments, using recycled materials for projects – and outdoor ones – gardening, collecting leaves, labeling trees, studying clouds, and more.

The photos displayed show the variety of activities that our preschool and elementary school students engage in on a daily basis. From art to theater, to fun and games, Mastro Montessori students truly enjoy their life and school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can read more about us and our staff. See how the Montessori Method can provide the ideal learning environment for your preschool or elementary school child. We offer an early preschool program and All Day Program to accommodate our parents needs.  Contact us to see Montessori in action at our weekly Open House. Learn more about how to observe a preschool in action.

Call Mastro Montessori Academy at 732-842-5816 and schedule a visit today.