Montessori Curriculum ~ The Four Areas
Activities in the our centre fall into four major areas: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language and Mathematics.
Music, art, geography, life science, history and physical education are also part of the daily curriculum.
Children learn to work at a task from beginning to end and develop their self-discipline and the capacity for deep concentration.
Practical Life
During the Children’s House years, children engage in a wide range of Practical Life (or Daily Living) activities, which provides the initial bridge between the child’s home and school. They consist of many tasks children see as part of the daily routine in their home such as care of ones self, others and for the environment, exercises in social etiquette known as “grace and courtesy,” and exercises to develop equilibrium and control of movement.
These living skills are important for human being in order to adapt to the environment and also help children extend their powers of concentration, internalize order, and the experience of completion of a task. It enhances the development of hand-eye coordination, independence and responsibility. The Practical Life activities lay a strong foundation for later work in all areas in the curriculum.
Sensorial Exploration
Young children are sensorial explorers, eager to touch, see, smell, and listen to everything around them. The sensorial area in our environment provides a series of Montessori-designed materials for children to explore extensively. These materials are designed as keys to the everyday world.
Through interaction with sensorial materials, children refine their visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory, and other senses. They will discover abstractions such as sound, color, dimension, and shape, and this exploration enables him to clarify, classify, and internalize elements of their world. All sensorial activities contain many indirect preparations for developing other skills necessary for later work in language, math, and science.
Language
English & Mandarin
Language development is vital to human development. In the Montessori environment, children begin with rudiments of spoken and written language, and progress to become confident readers and writers in three languages. We are conscious of the fact that children during this age of the absorbent mind can acquire vocabulary and usage norms effortlessly once they are in a stimulating and rich language environment, therefore Children’s House classroom provide bilingual immersion environment as children receive constant input in three languages and engage in meaningful practices.
In working with the comprehensive Montessori language materials, whether in English or Mandarin, the children absorb and use precise vocabulary related to all the activities in the environment, they also learn to express their thoughts and ideas whether through conversation or written form.
Mathematics
Mathematics area consists of a progression of manipulative materials starting with the concrete and ending with the abstract. Young children’s mathematical sense is built on the strong foundation of the sensorial materials where many fundamental concepts, such as length, volume, gradation, sequencing, grouping and so on, have been already experienced via the senses.
Children learn numbers in isolation, the concept of quantity, and corresponding symbols. They also explore the four operations of arithmetic, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division (up to 4-digit problems) using hands-on bead materials, abacus, and other Montessori mathematical materials.