What is Montessori Education?
The Academic Montessori Services are designed to help children who struggle academically in the school system by using Montessori approaches.
- Students are free to choose what to learn
- No grading and homework
- Mixed-age classes (from 0-3, 3-6 or 6-12) so children can learn from each other
- Uninterrupted blocks of study time, usually three hours
- Open classrooms that allow free movement
How do we support language skills?
Communication and language skills are developed each day through various speech activities and visuals. The child will gain an understanding of the concepts of letters, phonetic sounds, writing, spelling, and reading. Children learn the components of Oral Language which focuses on listening and speaking.
Another component is Written Language which this focuses on reading and writing. The child learns to do the phonetic sounds using the sandpaper letters which they process & identify. Once the children have mastered most of the sandpaper letters, they start to move on to the moveable alphabets where they are shown how to build 3-4 letter words and continue to build more phonetics. Then the child will begin to use metal insets to learn how to grip and guide the writing instruments. The variety of movements involved in this work will help the child take control of the writing movements & changing of directions.
As we go more into sequential orders of the language program the child will explore spelling, grammar, vocabulary enrichment, comprehension, sentence analysis, literature analysis, creative writing, poetry, and a daily reading program.
How do we support mathematical skills?
We support the child in understanding mathematical theory by using their senses and concrete examples. The child will learn and understand the value and sequence of numbers as they progress, gradually being introduced to larger amounts.
We will introduce the basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division at a concrete level. Once successful, they will be introduced to abstract approaches. The child then began to group units, tens, hundreds, and thousands based on the decimal system. The child will move on to static equations, then dynamic equations.
Throughout the program, the child will continuously apply the mathematical knowledge through fractions, geometry, negative numbers, money, graphing, weights, measuring, squaring, and cubing. A key priority is for the child to understand the mathematical system in a manner that they can utilize in their daily life outside the classroom.
How do we support sensory development?
Visual: discriminate differences between similar objects, differing objects, dimensions & colors.
Tactile: learn to contrast and compare.
Baric: feel the differences of pressure and weight of objects.
Thermic: to sense objects and their surroundings via temperature differences.
Olfactory & Gustatory: explore the senses of smell and taste.
Auditory: exercise and discriminate between different sounds.
Stereo Gnostic: feel objects and recognize what they feel.
Muscular: sense when they move their body and body parts.
How do we support cultural development?
We encourage children to explore of their views of the world through history, geography, science, botany, and zoology. The children will learn about the natural worlds of animals, plants, land-forms, countries, climate, environment, lifestyle etc. The program will support the children in exploration knowledge and learning experimentation using the scientific method.