Programs
Ages 3 – 6 Years
Current research and over one hundred years of classroom instruction have proven Dr. Maria Montessori’s theory that three to six year-old children possess an extraordinary capacity to absorb information from their surroundings.
At the Montessori Learning Centre of Newfoundland & Labrador (MontessoriNL), Montessori materials are accessible to children. They are free to choose activities which they deem appropriate to their level. With repetition and exploration of an activity, children acquire concepts and skills while strengthening concentration, self-motivation and self-discipline.
A special characteristic of this program is that the classroom encompasses the areas of learning and socializing which are designed to foster independence and a love of learning.
This program focuses on four main areas of study namely, practical life, sensorial, mathematics and language.
| Practical Life - provides lessons on how children can care for themselves, for others and for the environment. | |
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| Activities may include: | Benefits: |
| playing with dressing frames, pouring exercises, preparing food, using tools, folding, opening & closing, silence game, walking on a line, etc. | building self-confidence, body consciousness, self-awareness, controlling and refinement of movement, coordination, ability to care for oneself and the environment and social skills that focus on grace and courtesy. |
| Sensorial - provides lessons on how children use the five senses and how they organize things based on their senses. | |
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| Activities may include: | Benefits: |
| playing with materials that use specific senses to explore their environment | ability to discriminate differences, similarities and identities, enhances the memory, improves imagination, builds an appreciation and interpretation of the fine arts. |
| Mathematics - provides the means for children to discover the basics of mathematics. | |
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| Activities may include: | Benefits: |
| playing with concrete materials, introduction to the quantity and symbols for 1 - 10, writing numerals, introduction to operations, linear counting to 100, moving to the point of memorizing basic facts. | ability to calculate using the decimal system, basic ability to add and subtract, provides a foundation to move towards memorizing basic facts. |
| Language - provides the basic skills for writing and reading. | |
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| Activities may include: | Benefits: |
| playing with letters, an introduction of the short phonetic sounds of letters which leads to word building and beginning reading, introduction to basic sight words, development of pencil skills and the development of children’s physical writing skills. | basic skills for writing and reading, interpretative reading, creative writing. |