The Montessori Philosophy
The Montessori Curriculum
Practical Life:
Practical life materials enable children to do real work that is meaningful and purposeful. Flowers are arranged by the children to beautify the room, windows are cleaned, gardens dug, food is prepared and shared. Children take the initiative to actively care for themselves, each other and their environment.
The process helps the child to develop an inner sense of order, a greater sense of
independence, and the ability to concentrate and follow a complex sequence of steps. They become confident, capable and independent.
Sensorial:
The Sensorial curriculum is designed to help the child focus careful attention on the
environment, becoming aware of subtle variations in dimension, shape, colour, texture, sound, smell, temperature or weight. Activities often include matching or grading materials.
There are also limitless possibilities for constructing patterns and buildings. Children might enjoy building a pyramid or a Roman arch, or discovering that if they put six triangles together they can create a hexagon.
Mathematics:
Working with hands-on learning materials make abstract concepts clear and concrete. These unique and brilliantly designed materials enable the child to easily grasp concepts such as addition and subtraction. The Golden Beads enable children to work with thousands, hundreds, tens and ones in increasingly complex ways.
Children make discoveries about how numbers work and have fun while learning about mathematical concepts and processes.
Children also explore geometry, becoming familiar with three-dimensional shapes such as the cube, sphere, cone and cylinder, for example, as well as with two-dimensional shapes.
Language:
Language materials are designed to support children’s developing vocabulary, and to enable exploration of both written and spoken language. Playing games such as ‘I Spy’ using miniature objects helps children to become aware of the individual sounds within words, the foundation of all literacy learning.
Working with the Tactile Letters enables children to recognise the symbols we use to
represent sounds, and they then learn to associate sounds with letters.
Children learn to build words by using cut-out letters – they identify each sound that
they can hear in a word, then find the letters that represent those sounds.
After first learning to compose their own written work, children go on to learn how to read the work of others.
Environmental Studies:
Children are fascinated by the physical, social and natural world around them. They learn about the continents and countries of the world, life cycles,animal habitats
and plant growth, magnetism and electricity. These areas of study help children to develop an understanding and appreciation of the world around them.
They compare and contrast, classify and order. They question, investigate and make
discoveries. Art, music, movement, and a variety of cultural activities are integral parts of this fascinating area of learning.
The Garden:
The children love being in the garden. It is a place where they can interact with
nature and living things, developing an appreciation and respect for their surroundings.
The children have the opportunity to explore nature first hand as they study insects,
rake up leaves, gather fruit from the trees, collect eggs from the chooks and plant their
own vegetables.
They learn about animals, their life cycles and habitats, and how to take care of them.
The garden is also a place where the children can paint a picture, play games with their
friends, build with the carpentry tools, and explore sand and water.
Dr Maria Montessori
Dr Maria Montessori (1870 - 1952) is recognised as a visionary leader in
Early Childhood Education, and her research and discoveries have had
a profound effect on our understanding of children’s development and
learning.
She wrote in ‘Education for a New World, “Education is a natural process
carried out by the child, and is not acquired by listening to words, but by
experiences in the environment.”
The Montessori method takes a child-centred approach, focusing on
self-directed activity, collaborative work, creativity and hands-on learning.
It is designed to support children’s learning and development by providing
challenges that are suited to each child’s interests and abilities.
Children are free to explore and discover, gaining independence,
self-motivation and a love of learning.
The Role of the Teacher
We believe that from birth children are curious about the world and intrinsically motivated to learn, absorbing new concepts and skills effortlessly. Our objective is to support children in their learning by encouraging them to ask questions, think for themselves, explore, investigate and discover.
We observe the children, interact with them and seek input from parents and whānau so that we get to know the children well. We then prepare the environment so that it meets the needs and interests of the children. We gently and respectfully guide, encourage and mentor, supporting each individual child’s learning process. We introduce the unique Montessori learning materials – beautiful and carefully designed tools that guide children into logical thought and discovery.
Once the children have received an initial introduction to an activity we encourage them to explore further and make their own discoveries.
“I Can Do It By Myself”
We believe that from birth children strive towards independence. “Help me to do it by myself” is the phrase commonly associated with Montessori pre schools. Our objective is to support children in achieving independence in all their endeavours.
We prepare the environment so that the children have access to tools and resources that will enable them to take as much responsibility as possible for the running of the programme. There are utensils for preparing food and drinks, washing dishes, cleaning tables, sweeping and scrubbing floors, wiping up spills, caring for our animals and working in the gardens.
The Practical Life materials aid the children in practising skills that support their independence, for example pouring, spooning, fastening clothes and bags, sewing, and using tools such as scissors, glue, screwdrivers, locks and keys, nuts and bolts, hammers and nails etc.
A Community of Learners
We believe that children learn from each other. Our objective is for children to learn to collaborate, respect and celebrate each other’s efforts and to form a supportive community of enthusiastic learners.
The age range of the children in the Casa Class is from two to six years. This gives our younger children opportunities to watch and learn from their older classmates. The older children are able to take on the role of guide and mentor, which in turn helps them to consolidate their own understanding. We actively encourage children who need help to seek it from another child who has already shown confidence in the particular skill or concept.
Celebrating Virtues
We embrace universal values such as respect, kindness, peacefulness, compassion, responsibility and courage. At Shaken Oak Montessori we implement the Virtues Project, which is an effective way of empowering children to recognise and affirm those wonderful character traits within themselves and others.
We role model respectful and compassionate behaviour in our interactions throughout the day, using calm voices and treating each other with respect.
We give the children regular Grace and Courtesy presentations in small groups and individually, so that the children gain an understanding of how to act in a variety of situations - how to observe another child who is working; how to greet a visitor; how to walk around someone’s work mat.
Freedom to Learn
We believe in the importance of giving children freedom to concentrate on their chosen activities for as long as they wish. We provide children with a minimum of three hours of uninterrupted time during which they can work autonomously and at their own pace. We encourage them to make their own decisions and choices. Our role is to ‘follow the child’, carefully observing and demonstrating materials that will support the child’s learning and development, and trusting that they will learn in their own time and in their own way.
The children prepare their snacks and drinks as they feel hungry and thirsty. They are also free to work inside, on the deck or in the garden as they like. Having an entire morning open for individual choices means that the children are more likely to engage in challenging learning that requires a period of deep focus.
Montessori Aotearoa
We believe in the importance of maintaining the authenticity of our Montessori environment. We provide many opportunities for our teachers to engage in professional development. We are members of Montessori Aotearoa New Zealand. We are involved in the Montessori Journey to Excellence, an online community of Montessori educators who share Inquiries and Self Reviews with the aim of stimulating continuous improvement of our practice through discussion and reflection.
