Practical life
In a Montessori class, Practical Life is likely the most important category. It provides the basis for all other daycare exercises that follow. The ultimate objective of Practical Life is to develop the child’s intellectual and physical independence. Exercises are analyzed and divided into smaller parts so that the child can complete a series of complex actions in an efficient manner. This fosters their sense of self-efficacy and concentration.
Examples of exercises include: the dressing frames, polishing shoes, washing a table, washing clothes, sewing a button, folding, caring for plants, and so on.
Sensorial
Sensorial materials contain a series of objects placed in a specific order. Intuitively, children will understand the concept of order through the placement of materials and will be able to classify and arrange objects according to their size, volume, texture, colour brightness, length, sound intensity, and so on. Examples include the use of cylindrical blocks, geometrical figures, colour tablets, and the geometric cabinet.
Language
Our Montessori daycare program offers children the tools to expand their knowledge and build their vocabulary through various in class-exercises such as storytelling, singing, poetry, and so on.
Practical daily life exercises (all liquid transfer exercises) and sensorial materials (cylindrical blocks, geometric cabinet) involve the use of fine motor skills; indirectly, this helps prepare the child for pre-writing. In contrast, sandpaper letters, metal insets and the movable alphabet directly help in developing concrete writing skills, including practice with handwriting. Moreover, the “I Spy” game, sandpaper letters and movable alphabet introduces children to the reading process. Using these class materials, children begin to read simple phonetic sound combinations and words.
Mathematics
Mathematical potential is present from birth. It is the ability to think abstractly, reason, imagine, calculate, measure, and to make precise judgements. It is through manipulation that a child discovers mathematics and different concepts. In order to integrate and master mathematics, the use of many senses is necessary.
Our daycare’s mathematics program is highly structured, with clearly defined priorities. Numbers are taught through concrete quantities while symbols are introduced independently later on. Finally, numbers and quantities are combined.
While at Montessori Preschool, your child will acquire a sensorial impression of the four operations – addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Examples of math activities include golden bead work, group activities and the stamp game.
Geography
In geography, children learn to situate themselves, to explore their environment, and to be open to the world. Initially, learning begins with a general overview and then increasingly becomes more specific. With the sandpaper and coloured globes, children discover planet Earth and the oceans!
Through the manipulation of various geographic landforms, children are invited to observe and use their sense of touch to understand the concept of a ‘waterway’, including lakes, islands, bays, capes, isthmi, peninsulas, straits and gulfs.
By using the geography puzzles, the children learn the continents, countries and Canadian provinces. One continent and one country are chosen for further exploration. The culture and the specific characteristics of the location will be discovered.
Children learn to recognize the different aspects of their immediate environment: their neighbourhood, city, and country. Their knowledge broadens when they are put in contact with the map of the world, the seven continents, and the different countries.
