Our Environment

Specially designed Montessori materials provide the child with rich learning experiences. These materials are very attractive and inviting for the child to explore with. Children learn academic concepts through these materials. These materials allow for the child to correct his/her own errors and this builds their self esteem and confidence. 

The classroom is arranged in 5 areas of the curriculum namely Practical Life, Sensorial, Mathematics, Language and Culture.

Practical Life

In the early days, children are introduced to Practical Life activities which develop independence and concentration. These activities provide opportunities for intellectual development and improve hand-eye coordination. The benefits of these activities prepare the child for future work in reading, writing and math.

Sensorial

Children learn through their senses. It is through sensorial experiences that the foundation for intellectual learning takes place. Impressions formed in the mind through these materials help the child in discriminating and appreciating similarities and differences in a more concrete manner. 

Sensorial exercises help unlock the mind of children and prepares them for future work in Arithmetic.

“The senses, being explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge. Our apparatus for educating the senses offers the child a key to guide his explorations of the world.”
Dr. Maria Montessori

Mathematics

Materials in this area make a profound impression on the children. The child’s journey begins with very simple steps with an introduction to each concept in a very concrete and simple manner and eventually taking the child into more complex and abstract work. 

Children begin this area with learning quantities 0 to 10 and its symbols i.e. the numeral. They are able to hold quantities representing its symbol. This gives them a very concrete experience of number sense.

Through the materials children transition very easily onto addition, subtraction, division and multiplication work.

Most adults, when seeing how the materials work say, “I wish I had learnt math this way!”

Language

The formal part of this area of the curriculum begins with teaching children phonetic sounds and formations of each letter. In a systematic manner, children begin exploring, building sounds into words and writing them over a period of time. 

By age 5, almost all our children are reading and writing sentences, exploring non-phonetic words.

Culture

This area is vast and encompasses: 

  • History
  • Geography
  • Science
  • Art
  • Creativity
  • Music
  • Biology

Part of our work in this area takes us to the materials and part of it we cover through what we call ‘Show and Share’.

Children bring in theme related items to discuss and experiment with. This area of the curriculum is extensive and one has to see to believe how the children gather , discuss, compare and classify ideas and information. Through creative art and music and movement, children learn to express themselves and develop higher levels of imagination.

“Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment”
Maria Montessori