Curriculum
Preschool Curriculum
Dr. Montessori believed that the goal of early childhood education should not be to fill the child with
facts from a pre-selected course of studies, but rather to cultivate the child's own natural desire to
learn.
In the Montessori classroom, this objective is approached in two ways: first, by allowing each child to
experience the excitement of learning by his or her own choice rather than by being forced; and
second, by helping the child perfect his or her natural tools for learning, so that the child's abilities will
be maximized for future learning situations. The Montessori materials have this dual, long-range
purpose in addition to their immediate purpose of giving specific information to the child.
Practical Life Exercises
For young children there is something special about tasks which an adult considers ordinary -
washing dishes, paring vegetables, polishing shoes, etc. They are exciting to children because they
allow them to imitate adults. Imitation is one of the strongest urges during children's early years.
In this area of the classroom, children perfect their coordination and become absorbed in an activity.
They gradually lengthen their span of concentration. They also learn to pay attention to details as
they follow a regular sequence of actions. Finally, they learn good working habits as they finish each
task and put away all the materials before beginning another activity.
Sensorial Exercises
The Sensorial Materials in the Montessori classroom help children to distinguish, to categorize, and to
relate new information to what they already know. Dr. Montessori believed that this process is the
beginning of conscious knowledge. It is brought about by the intelligence working in a concentrated
way on the impression given by the senses.
Mathematics
Dr. Montessori demonstrated that if children have access to mathematical equipment in their early
years, they can easily and joyfully assimilate many facts and skills of arithmetic. On the other hand,
these same facts and skills may require long hours of drudgery and drill if they are introduced to
them later in the abstract form. Dr. Montessori designed concrete materials to represent all types of
quantities, after she observed that children who become interested in counting like to touch or move
the items as they enumerate them. By combining this equipment, separating it, sharing it, counting it ,
and comparing it, they can demonstrate to themselves the basic operations of mathematics.
Children in a Montessori class never sit down to memorize addition and subtraction facts; they never
simply memorize multiplication tables. Rather, they learn these facts by actually performing the
operations with concrete materials. In a Montessori classroom there are many materials that are used
for numeration, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing.
Language
In a Montessori classroom children learn the phonetic sounds of the letters before they learn the
alphabetical names in a sequence. The phonetic sounds are given first because these are the
sounds they hear in words that they need to be able to read. The children first become aware of
these phonetic sounds when the teacher introduces the consonants with the Sandpaper letters. The
individual presentation of language materials in a Montessori classroom allows the teacher to take
advantage of each child's greatest periods of interest. Reading instruction begins on the day when
the children want to know what a word says or when they show an interest in using the Sandpaper
Letters. Writing - or the construction of words with the movable letters - nearly always precedes
reading in a Montessori environment.
Gradually the children learn the irregular words, and words with two and three syllables, by doing
many reading exercises which offer variety rather than monotonous repetition. Also available in the
Montessori classroom are many attractive books using a large number of phonetic words. Proceeding
at their own pace, children are encouraged to read about things which interest them. Their skills in
phonics gives them the means of attacking almost any new word, so that they are not limited to a
specific number of words which they have been trained to recognize by sight.
The children's interest in reading is never stifled by monotony. Rather, it is cultivated as their most
important key to future learning. They are encouraged to explore books for answers to their own
questions, whether they are about frogs, rockets, stars, or fire engines. In a Montessori class, the
children are introduced to grammar by games which show them that nouns are the names of things,
adjectives describe nouns, and verbs are action words. The activity becomes most enjoyable.
Physical Geography
The large wooden puzzle maps are among the most popular activities in the classroom. At first the
children use the maps simply as puzzles. Gradually they learn the names of many of the countries as
well as information about climate and products. The maps illustrate many geographical facts
concretely. Children also learn the common land formations such as islands and peninsulas by
making them.
History
Montessori offers the children a concrete presentation of history by letting them work with Time Lines.
Time Lines are very long strips of paper which can be unrolled and stretched along the floor of the
classroom. The line is marked off in segments which represent consecutive periods of history.
As an introduction to the idea of history, the children begin by making a time line of their own lives,
starting with their baby pictures.
Cultural Awareness Program
The children gain an awareness of the world around them by exploring other countries, their customs,
food, music, climate, language, and animals. This helps to raise their consciousness about other
people, to gain an understanding and tolerance and, therefore, compassion for all the people in the
world.
Arts and Crafts
Art in the pre-school environment strives to maintain the great joy the child finds creating something
of his or her own. The children have the freedom to explore their imaginations in a variety of mediums
uses for expression. The importance of the process is stressed at this time, not the end product.
Science and Nature
In Science the children's natural curiosity is stimulated through discovery projects and experiments,
helping the children draw their own conclusions. The plant and animal kingdoms are studied in an
orderly fashion to foster a love and appreciation for all living things.
Music and Creative Movement
The creative music, movement, and dramatics program is an on-going flexible process that integrates
itself into the academic program of New Horizons Montessori. The philosophy brings together the
graphic notation symbols, the instruments and sound textures, and the principles of movement. The
musical element of primary appeal to young children is rhythm and the natural response to rhythm is
physical; therefore the body is the child's first instrument through which the movement in music is
reflected and interpreted.
Montessori Kindergarten
Children that are academically, emotionally and socially prepared will be working in an intensive
pre-elementary environment, specifically prepared for this age group. The key concept of the
Montessori kindergarten is the child's interest and readiness for advanced work. The program offers
them enriched lessons in math, reading, language, and a wide range of lessons in science,
geography and other cultural areas. We will be combining the children from both classrooms.
Dr. Montessori believed that the goal of early childhood education should not be to fill the child with
facts from a pre-selected course of studies, but rather to cultivate the child's own natural desire to
learn.
In the Montessori classroom, this objective is approached in two ways: first, by allowing each child to
experience the excitement of learning by his or her own choice rather than by being forced; and
second, by helping the child perfect his or her natural tools for learning, so that the child's abilities will
be maximized for future learning situations. The Montessori materials have this dual, long-range
purpose in addition to their immediate purpose of giving specific information to the child.
Practical Life Exercises
For young children there is something special about tasks which an adult considers ordinary -
washing dishes, paring vegetables, polishing shoes, etc. They are exciting to children because they
allow them to imitate adults. Imitation is one of the strongest urges during children's early years.
In this area of the classroom, children perfect their coordination and become absorbed in an activity.
They gradually lengthen their span of concentration. They also learn to pay attention to details as
they follow a regular sequence of actions. Finally, they learn good working habits as they finish each
task and put away all the materials before beginning another activity.
Sensorial Exercises
The Sensorial Materials in the Montessori classroom help children to distinguish, to categorize, and to
relate new information to what they already know. Dr. Montessori believed that this process is the
beginning of conscious knowledge. It is brought about by the intelligence working in a concentrated
way on the impression given by the senses.
Mathematics
Dr. Montessori demonstrated that if children have access to mathematical equipment in their early
years, they can easily and joyfully assimilate many facts and skills of arithmetic. On the other hand,
these same facts and skills may require long hours of drudgery and drill if they are introduced to
them later in the abstract form. Dr. Montessori designed concrete materials to represent all types of
quantities, after she observed that children who become interested in counting like to touch or move
the items as they enumerate them. By combining this equipment, separating it, sharing it, counting it ,
and comparing it, they can demonstrate to themselves the basic operations of mathematics.
Children in a Montessori class never sit down to memorize addition and subtraction facts; they never
simply memorize multiplication tables. Rather, they learn these facts by actually performing the
operations with concrete materials. In a Montessori classroom there are many materials that are used
for numeration, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing.
Language
In a Montessori classroom children learn the phonetic sounds of the letters before they learn the
alphabetical names in a sequence. The phonetic sounds are given first because these are the
sounds they hear in words that they need to be able to read. The children first become aware of
these phonetic sounds when the teacher introduces the consonants with the Sandpaper letters. The
individual presentation of language materials in a Montessori classroom allows the teacher to take
advantage of each child's greatest periods of interest. Reading instruction begins on the day when
the children want to know what a word says or when they show an interest in using the Sandpaper
Letters. Writing - or the construction of words with the movable letters - nearly always precedes
reading in a Montessori environment.
Gradually the children learn the irregular words, and words with two and three syllables, by doing
many reading exercises which offer variety rather than monotonous repetition. Also available in the
Montessori classroom are many attractive books using a large number of phonetic words. Proceeding
at their own pace, children are encouraged to read about things which interest them. Their skills in
phonics gives them the means of attacking almost any new word, so that they are not limited to a
specific number of words which they have been trained to recognize by sight.
The children's interest in reading is never stifled by monotony. Rather, it is cultivated as their most
important key to future learning. They are encouraged to explore books for answers to their own
questions, whether they are about frogs, rockets, stars, or fire engines. In a Montessori class, the
children are introduced to grammar by games which show them that nouns are the names of things,
adjectives describe nouns, and verbs are action words. The activity becomes most enjoyable.
Physical Geography
The large wooden puzzle maps are among the most popular activities in the classroom. At first the
children use the maps simply as puzzles. Gradually they learn the names of many of the countries as
well as information about climate and products. The maps illustrate many geographical facts
concretely. Children also learn the common land formations such as islands and peninsulas by
making them.
History
Montessori offers the children a concrete presentation of history by letting them work with Time Lines.
Time Lines are very long strips of paper which can be unrolled and stretched along the floor of the
classroom. The line is marked off in segments which represent consecutive periods of history.
As an introduction to the idea of history, the children begin by making a time line of their own lives,
starting with their baby pictures.
Cultural Awareness Program
The children gain an awareness of the world around them by exploring other countries, their customs,
food, music, climate, language, and animals. This helps to raise their consciousness about other
people, to gain an understanding and tolerance and, therefore, compassion for all the people in the
world.
Arts and Crafts
Art in the pre-school environment strives to maintain the great joy the child finds creating something
of his or her own. The children have the freedom to explore their imaginations in a variety of mediums
uses for expression. The importance of the process is stressed at this time, not the end product.
Science and Nature
In Science the children's natural curiosity is stimulated through discovery projects and experiments,
helping the children draw their own conclusions. The plant and animal kingdoms are studied in an
orderly fashion to foster a love and appreciation for all living things.
Music and Creative Movement
The creative music, movement, and dramatics program is an on-going flexible process that integrates
itself into the academic program of New Horizons Montessori. The philosophy brings together the
graphic notation symbols, the instruments and sound textures, and the principles of movement. The
musical element of primary appeal to young children is rhythm and the natural response to rhythm is
physical; therefore the body is the child's first instrument through which the movement in music is
reflected and interpreted.
Montessori Kindergarten
Children that are academically, emotionally and socially prepared will be working in an intensive
pre-elementary environment, specifically prepared for this age group. The key concept of the
Montessori kindergarten is the child's interest and readiness for advanced work. The program offers
them enriched lessons in math, reading, language, and a wide range of lessons in science,
geography and other cultural areas. We will be combining the children from both classrooms.
New Horizons
Montessori
Montessori
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