Early Childhood Curriculum
(3-6 Years Old)
The Montessori classroom contains a variety of materials that facilitate the learning of developmentally appropriate skills and concepts. These materials are designed to engage the child on many levels, to encourage the use of the child’s senses, to teach the concept of sequence and order, and to be self-correcting. The child is part of a multi-age grouping that encourages a family-like atmosphere so that learning takes place naturally and spontaneously as the child works at his/her own pace with the materials selected from the environment. The leaning environment is divided into four primary areas as listed below.
Practical Life: Activities that are designed to emulate real life experiences. These tasks are presented at the child’s developmental level so that the child can experience success using the materials. These activities include: pouring, scooping, stringing, folding and cleaning. They help the child develop their coordination and concentration along with encouraging a sense of order.
Sensorial: Activities that have been developed to heighten the child’s sensory perception. These tasks enable the child to learn from the environment through the use of more refined senses.
The pink cubes, color tiles, red rods and other materials are used to intensify the child’s awareness of their senses and are specifically designed to aid the child in comparing, classifying, and making judgments.
Language Arts: Activities and experiences that help facilitate the child’s total language development. Tasks include encouraging conversation, labeling the environment, story reading and the introduction of reading skills.
Math: Activities that allow the concrete manipulation of materials. As the child matures, these activities will help allow the development and understanding of more abstract concepts. The sequential presentation of math materials teaches concepts that are absorbed and later recognized by the child.
Science, Geography, Music, and Art: Materials are sequenced in each of the areas of the environment. The year begins with the simplest of these activities and gradually increases in complexity as the year progresses.