Montessori education was developed by Maria Montessori in 1907. It is focused on 5 areas of learning. Montessori focuses on the whole-child and that every child is capable of learning. The Montessori classroom is carefully prepared by the guides to offer meaningful activities for the children to work on and progress through once they are ready and have mastered the previous activity.
In Montessori schools, there are mixed-ages in each classroom. It has been researched and observed over the years that younger children look up to, and admire, their older peers. The older children always lend a loving, helping hand to the younger children in their class.
Maria Montessori firmly believed that no matter how old or young a child is, they all develop and learn in their own unique and wonderful way. Every child should be loved and respected equally.
Practical Life
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A purposeful activity that develops motor control and coordination, and develops independence, concentration, and a sense of responsibility. The exercises in practical life cover two main areas of development: care of self, and care of the environment
Sensorial
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Sensorial is used in a Montessori classroom to develop the five senses: sight, listening, touch, taste, and smell. Montessori Sensorial activities help children to think cognitively, helping them in their future learning and also their personal and interpersonal development.
Math
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Children learn to recognize shapes, angles, size, position, and the spaces they live in. They use a process of working with materials, from concrete forms to the more abstract.
Language
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Part of the language journey and learning to read is teaching children phonetics. Children need to be able to identify letters of the alphabet, and more importantly, how these are sounded out when reading. This helps the child on their first steps to putting these sounds together into a word.
Culture
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Culture encompasses Geography, History, Art, Music, and Science. Most importantly we teach children to have a love and respect for nature.