Overview of Montessori Method Children pass through sensitive periods of development early in life. Dr. Montessori described the child's mind between the time of birth and six years of age as the "absorbent mind". It is during this stage that a child has a tremendous ability to learn and assimilate from the world around him, without conscious effort. During this time, children are particularly receptive to certain external stimuli. A Montessori teacher recognizes and takes advantage of these highly perceptive stages through the introduction of materials and activities which are specially designed to stimulate the intellect. Encouraged to focus her attention on one particular quality, the child works at her own optimum level – in an environment where beauty and orderliness are emphasized and appreciated. A spontaneous love of "work" is revealed as the child is given the freedom (within boundaries) to make her own choices. Montessori teachers are trained facilitators in the classroom, always ready to assist and direct. Their purpose is to stimulate the child's enthusiasm for learning and to guide it, without interfering with the child's natural desire to teach himself and become independent. Each child works through his individual cycle of activities, and learns to truly understand according to his own unique needs and capabilities. Everything in a Montessori classroom has a specific use or purpose. There is nothing in the prepared environment that the child cannot see or touch. All of the furniture and equipment is scaled down to the child's size and is within easy reach. A quality Montessori classroom has a busy, productive atmosphere where joy and respect abound. Within such an enriched environment, freedom, responsibility, and social and intellectual development spontaneously flourish!

Note:  Montessori  classrooms  are  grouped  by  age  rather  than  by  grade.    Montessori   curriculum  is  based  developmentally  on  a  child  and  their  corresponding  “sensitive   periods”.    A  child  may  progress  at  their  own  speed,  and  by  observing  and  using  cues   from  the  child,  lessons  are  presented  according  to  their  development.    It  is  also   likened  to  a  corkscrew,  where  when  lessons  are  presented  each  year,  it  is  reviewed   then  goes  deeper  and  deeper  into  detail.    So,  below,  you  are  looking  at  the   curriculum  for  the  primary  years  for  ages  2.5-­6  or  3  years.               ART   At  this  young  age,  art  is  explored  through  the  visual  and  tactile  senses.    When  a   lesson  is  presented,  the  child  has  the  freedom  to  re-­‐create  or  explore  the  subject   matter  or  material  at  his  or  her  own  prompting.       a. Working  with  Art   i. Clay     ii. Gluing   iii. Finger  Painting   iv. Painting     v. Cutting   vi. Drawing     vii. Artists  and  Their  Work     viii. Collage   ix. Prints   x. Pastels   xi. Stamping   xii. Watercolors     b. Art  Forms     i. Landscape     ii. Portrait     iii. Sculpture     iv. Photography     c. Artists  and  Their  Work     i. Cassat     ii. Kandinsky     iii. Michaelangelo     iv. Mondrian     v. O’Keefe     vi. Picasso     vii. Pollack     viii. Renoir     ix. Reubin     x. Seurat   xi. Van  Gogh    

xii. Warhol          

MATHEMATICS   Montessori  Mathematics  is  first  built  up  in  sensorial  exercises  were  the  conception   of  identity  and  difference  are  established.    It  is  also  introduced  in  Practical  Life   where  order,  concentration,  and  coordination  are  formed.    Once  this  foundation  is   laid,  the  sequential  order  and  problem  solving  skills  that  are  at  the  heart  of  math   begin  to  flourish  and  expound.       I. Introduction  to  Numbers:  0  –  10         II. Introduction  to  Numbers:  11-­‐99     III. Decimal  System     IV. Fractions     V. Preparation  for  Operations     VI. Linear  Counting     VII. Skip  Counting     VIII. Visual  Discrimination     IX. Passage  to  Abstraction     X. Addition     XI. Subtraction     XII. Multiplication     XIII. Division     XIV. Measurement     XV. Money      

LANGUAGE     The  uniqueness  of  Montessori  education  is  evident  here  when  observation  of  the   child’s  development  needs  prompts  the  lessons  of  language.    Oral  language  is   emphasized  first  as  children  are  immersed  in  it  already,  usually  ages  2-­‐3.  As  they   progress  through  this  verbal  work,  reading  and  writing  lessons  will  appear  in   tandem,  but  will  now  be  presented  separately  as  the  child’s  own  developmental   needs  surface.     I.

Reading  (Preparation  for)    (Age  2-­‐3)   a. Verbal  Work   i. I  Spy     ii. ABC  Board     iii. Matching    (concrete  to  Abstract)   1. Same/Different     2. Object  to  Object     3. Object  to  Picture     4. Picture  to  Picture       5. Picture  to  Word     6. Word  to  Word     b. Naming  Objects     c. Rhyming    

I.

Handwriting  (Preparation  for)  (usually  around  4)     d. Sandpaper  Letters     e. Directional  Lines     f. Metal  Insets     g. Tracing  Shapes     h. Tracing  Letters     i. Tracing  Name     j. Tracing  Numbers     k. Letters     l. Name     m. Story  Writing       Sound  Recognition  (visual)  (Age  4)   a. Sandpaper  Letters     b. Phonetic  Object  Boxes     c. Phonetic  Sound  Exercises     d. Beginning  Sounds       e. Initial  short  vowel  sounds   f. Ending  Sounds     g. Moveable  Alphabet         Language  (age  4+)   a. Opposites    

II.

III.

b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l. m.

  IV.

V.

Sequence  Cards     Classification  Materials     Days  of  the  Week     Months  of  the  Year     Seasons       Label  the  Environment     Capitalization     Punctuation     Puzzle  Words     Sight  Words     Compound  Words     Dictionary  Skills      

Handwriting  –  Print  (4.5  to  5)   a. Sandpaper  Letters     b. Directional  Lines     c. Metal  Insets     d. Uppercase  Letters     e. Lowercase  Letters     f. Sand  Tray     g. Writing  on  a  Chalkboard     h. Writing  on  Lined  Paper     i. Writing  on  Unlined  Paper     j. Letters     k. Name     l. Address     m. Phone  Number       n. Words     o. Sentences     p. Story  Writing     q. Sandpaper  Numbers         Reading  (Age  5+)   a. Rhyming     i. Rhyming  Basket     ii. Rhyming  Cards     iii. Word  Family  Boxes     iv. Poetry     b. Moveable  Alphabet     i. Words     ii. Sentences     iii. Stories     c. Grammer     i. Noun     ii. Article     iii. Adjective     iv. Conjunction    

v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. xi. xii.

Preposition       Pronoun     Verb     Adverb     Interjection     The  Farm     Singular  and  Plural     The  Detective  Adjective  Game    

PRACTICAL  LIFE   Education is not only simply a method for the imparting of a standard knowledge of correct behavior, but also the provision of good habit. It helps the child to take cognizance of his human nature, and to furnish him with the elements of knowledge. Through education, he may most fully discover how to adapt himself to his society. The Practical Life activities provide an ideal opportunity to practice and develop the necessary skills. In Montessori classroom, the Practical Life Activities are the first activities the child is introduced to the Montessori environment because they can immediately satisfy the children's inner needs and desires. In this area, it allows children to do the things what adults do everyday, for example cleaning, dressing or greeting people. For teachers, we need to organize a purposeful activity that connects their experience from their daily life. From Dr. Montessori observation, children's needs are not the fantasy experience, but real-life experience that help children work well and adjust their real environment. Through the training of Practical Life, children learn to take care of himself, environment, social grace, control his fine and gross muscles with eye-hand coordination. The practical life exercises are included two important links for a child. The first is between home and the outside work because the exercise uses many materials and tools that are found at home. The second link is between the child and nature. Also, this environment is part of the curriculum patterns. It includes threefold developmental purpose on the physical, psychic and intellectual development. It encourages self-respect and the growth of confidence, important to later learning through: -learning from the know to the unknown, the simple to complex.   I. Preliminary  Activities  (working  within  the  environment)     a. Walking  on  a  Line     b. Laying  out  a  Mat     c. Walking  in  the  classroom     d. Carrying  a  Tray     e. Turning  the  Pages  of  a  Book     f. Opening  and  Closing  Doors     g. Hand  Washing     h. Toileting     i. Carrying  a  Chair     j. Washing  and  Drying  Hands     II. Movement     a. Grasping     b. Rolling     c. Twisting     d. Opening/Closing     e. Dry  Pouring     f. Water  Pouring       i. Water  Pouring  with  a  Funnel   ii. Transferring  with  a  turkey  Baster     iii. Transferring  Water  with  a  Sponge     iv. Dropper  Activities     g. Screwing    

h. i. j. k. l. m. n. o. p. q. r.

III.

IV.

Squeezing     Stringing     Locking     Sewing       Exercise     Silence  Game       Transfer     Sifting     Nuts  and  bolts     Screwdriver  Boards     Cutting     i. Handling  of  Scissors     ii. Cutting  with  Scissors     iii. Cutting  on  a  line     iv. Cutting  out  Shapes/figures     v. Cutting  with  a  knife     s. Weaving     t. Lacing     u. Cloth  folding         Care  of  Self     a. Identifying  Emotions     b. Dressing  Frames:     i. Large  Buttons     ii. Small  Buttons     iii. Snaps     iv. Hook  and  Eye     v. Laces     vi. Buckles     vii. Zippers     viii. Velcro     ix. Safety  Pins     x. Shoe  Tying     Care  of  Environment     a. Dusting     b. Sweeping       c. Polishing     d. Table  Washing     e. Food  preparation     i. Washing  vegetables     ii. Washing  fruits     f. Table  setting     g. Planting     h. Flower  arranging     i. Recycling     j. Assembling  a  flashlight       k. Mopping    

V.

Grace  and  Courtesy     a. Quiet  Voices     b. Making  Eye-­‐Contact     c. Handshaking     d. Verbal  Greeting     e. Manners     f. Sharing     g. Listening     h. Following  Directions     i. Saying  Excuse  Me       j. Using  Yes  and  No  Ma’am/Sir     k. Using  Please  and  Thank  You    

SENSORIAL   A child is an active learner who is attractive by the thing in this world. He learns everything without knowing he is learning it, and is doing so he passed little by little from the unconscious to the conscious. Maria Montessori mentioned that the first of the child's organs to begin functioning are his senses. The period of life between the ages of three and seven years covers a period of rapid physical development. It is the time for the formation of the sense activities as related to the intellect. The child in this age develops his senses. His attention is further attracted to the environment under the form of passive curiosity. The development of the senses indeed precedes that of superior intellectual activity and the child between three and seven years is in the period of formation.     I. Visual     a. Solid  Cylinders     b. Pink  Tower     c. Brown  Stair     d. Knobless  Cylinders     e. Color  Box  1,2,3     f. Geometric  Cabinet     g. Drawers:     i. Circles     ii. Rectangles   iii.  Triangles       iv. Regular  Polygons     v. Other     Quadrilaterals     vi. Curved  Figures     h. Power  of  2     i. Binominal/Trinomial  Cube     j. Geometric  Solids     II. Tactile     a. Touch  Boards/Tablets     b. Mystery  Bag     c. Fabrics     d. Stereognostic  Exercises     e. Baric  Tablets    (Weight)   f. Thermic  Bottles     g. Pressure  Cylinders     h. Pressure  Cylinders     III. Auditory     a. Sound  Cylinders     b. Montessori  Bells     IV. Olfactory     a. Smelling  Bottles     V. Gustatory     a. Tasting    

GEOGRAPHY    

I.

II.

III. IV.

V.

Globes     a. Land/Air/Water     b. Sandpaper  Globes     c. Differentiates  between  Land  and  Water     d. Painted  Globes     e. Names  Continents     f. Transition  from  globe  to  map     Puzzle  Map    (And  their  labels)   a. Planisphere     b. Oceans     c. North  America     d. South  America     e. Europe     f. Africa     g. Asia     h. Oceania/Australia     i. United  States       Cultural  Study     a. Overview  study  of  each  continent  through  music/people/food  etc.     Land  and  Water  Forms     a. Island     b. Lake     c. Bay     d. Cape     e. Isthmus   f. Strait     g. Gulf     h. Peninsula     i. Archipelago     j. Lake  System       Flags    

BOTANY    

I.

Identification       a. Common  Characteristics  of:     i. Trees     ii. Garden     iii. Plants     iv. Leaves     v. Seeds     vi. Plant  Kingdom     Trees     a. Types  of     b. Parts  of     c. Shapes  of       Flowers     a. Types  of     b. Parts  of     c. Shapes  of       Plants     a. Types  of     b. Parts  of     c. Shapes  of     Leaves     a. Types  of     b. Parts  of     c. Shapes  of     d. Botany  Cabinet     Seeds     a. Types  of     b. Parts  of     c. Shapes  of       Gardening     a. Planting     b. Watering     c. Weeding     d. Composting      

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

 

               

ZOOLOGY    

I.

Zoology     a. Non-­‐living/living     b. Distinguish  between  plant  and  animal     c. Habitat     d. Vertebrates     i. Mammal     ii. Fish     iii. Bird     iv. Amphibian     v. Reptile       e. Invertebrate     i. Insects     ii. Molluscs     iii. Crustaceans     f. Animal  kingdom       g. Further  Study     h. Anatomy     i. Fish     ii. Amphibian     iii. Reptile     iv. Bird     v. Mammal    

SCIENCE    

I. II.

III.

IV.    

Human  Anatomy     a. Parts  of  Body  and  Face     Solar  System     a. Solar  System     b. Structure  of  Earth     c. Earth/Sun  Relationship     d. Earth/Moon  Relationship     Geology     a. Volcanoes     b. Rocks     c. Structure  of  Earth     d. Minerals     Meteorology     a. Weather     b.