Curriculum
Our early childhood classroom is designed to meet the ever changing needs of the three to six year old child. Beauty and order play important roles in creating the child size atmosphere which is carefully designed to encourage curiosity and a love for learning. Absorbent Minds Montessori offers each child the opportunity:
• To develop a solid academic foundation and desire for lifelong learning
• To encourage independent decision making and problem solving skills
• To become an integral member of the classroom community
• To develop positive social, emotional and physical growth in a respectful environment
A typical day for a young student includes time when the class gathers together in a circle to sing songs, and learn about something new; perhaps the topic is dinosaurs or how to greet a friend with a handshake. Children in a preschool Montessori classroom learn to maneuver about their classroom with confidence, exploring concepts in mathematics, reading and writing, geography, science and activities of daily life such as preparing their own snack or washing dishes. Children learn skills in grace and courtesy, naturally caring and teaching each other, respecting the classroom activities and learning to clean up after themselves. In addition to the Montessori curriculum, we provide children with the opportunity to experience art, music and movement, and outdoor activities.
Learn more about the kindergarten year in a primary classroom by watching the video “Montessori Kindergarten: Empowering & Essential“.
The Montessori curriculum
Practical Life:
Practical Life or Everyday Living Skills activities are important to teach children to function in their own environment and find their place in their world and culture.
Practical Life exercises help children find their place in their home by becoming involved in how their home works and how they can best function in their home. When children become involved in the workings of their home, it creates a great sense of pride and builds self-confidence. This sense of self-confidence will be imprinted in their being for future success.
Practical Life exercises include pouring, sorting, food preparation, care of self (hand washing, dressing oneself), care of the environment (table setting, sweeping), and grace and courtesy lessons (saying excuse me, introducing oneself.)
Practical Life skills are the foundation of all other areas in a Montessori environment.
Consequently, all of the Practical Life activities are designed to be purposeful work that leads children to more complicated work; children refine their fine motor skills through repetition of Practical Life exercises.
Practical Life activities build children’s concentration, coordination, order and independence enabling them to master other Montessori curriculum areas. Children love the Practical Life area because it enables them to do adult work in a child size environment.
With more and more success comes greater confidence, giving them the internal foundation to believe in themselves with the realization that they can conquer any task through repetition and perseverance. The concentration children develop through using Practical Life works will aid in future skills and success in other areas of the Montessori curriculum such as Sensorial, Language and Math and Culture.
Sensorial: 
The Montessori Sensorial curriculum promotes the development and refinement of the five senses. Children learn through their senses and all materials in a Montessori environment provide learning through touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing or hands-on manipulation, “nothing comes to the intellect that is not first in the senses” (Montessori, Secret of Childhood, p.100).
Sensorial exercises demonstrate an introduction to Math using the Base Ten Mathematical or Decimal System, “Therefore, we think of our Sensorial materials as a system of materialized abstractions, or of basic mathematics” (Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind p.170).
The Sensorial materials and curriculum create a method of learning through the senses and an introduction to the Montessori Mathematics curriculum. Children enjoy exploring Sensorial exercises especially around the age of 3 and 4. Some examples of Sensorial learning activities are sorting objects, matching colours, matching same tastes or same smells. A popular Montessori Sensorial work is the pink tower where pink cubes are built from the largest at the bottom to the smallest cube at the top. The pink tower cubes are a concrete representation of the Decimal Numeral or Base Ten System of Mathematics. Children love to build the pink tower!
Language:
The Montessori preschool Language program is a complete literacy program for children ages 2.5-6. The program begins with story-telling, sound games with objects, and eventually children are introduced to grammar by age 6. The reading and writing materials are didactic in nature as children are able to practice the materials on their own. The Language curriculum is phonetic in nature and utilizes games and powerful teaching tools to help children learn to decode phonetic words and high frequency/sight words. It is powerful in promoting early reading and writing skills using a variety of games and activities.
Dr. Maria Montessori realized that there is a sensitive period of language development and that the richer the learning environment, the more beneficial for the acquisition of a child’s skills and love of reading and writing.
Mathematics:
The Montessori preschool Mathematics curriculum is a powerful learning tool for developing a strong foundation in math. Dr. Maria Montessori realized that all children have a “Mathematical Mind” and that when they are given the opportunity to explore math in a concrete way, through “hands-on” materials, abstract math concepts become easier to comprehend. She created her Mathematics and Sensorial curriculum based on the Decimal Numeral System or Base Ten Mathematical system. All Montessori Mathematics materials are based on abstract concepts and create concrete learning materials that children use independently.
The Montessori Mathematics program creates a concrete foundation of math skills that are invaluable for future learning. The Montessori Math materials cover recognition of math patterns, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, short and long, fraction work and skip counting.
Cultural:
The Montessori Culture curriculum is focused mostly on Science, Geography, Music, and Art. Yoga exercises are a modern addition to the program. The Culture curriculum provides a wide array of activities including learning about the continents of the world and their uniqueness such as animals and habitats. Montessori Culture activities include pictures of the places and people of the continents, books and flags of the world. Children learn the names of the continents, oceans and countries of the world. They learn through “hands-on” materials such as puzzle maps of the world.
Similar to math, science can be a challenging subject for children but when introduced during the “Absorbent Mind” period of learning, children become familiar with concepts of observation, science, hypothesis etc. Montessori Culture activities help to inspire a love of learning and offer children a new perspective of the world. Children’s eyes light up with the Montessori games and activities that explore far off lands, providing their imagination with more places to explore and countries to visit in the future.
