Curriculum

Early Childhood: Syllabus

Required Reading

"The Montessori Method", "The Absorbent Mind", Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook", The Discovery of the Child", "The Secret of Childhood", "Advanced Montessori Method Vol I". All are by Maria Montessori and available at your local bookstore or Nienhuis Montessori, 1-800-942-8697.

Practical Life

This area includes activities which assist the child in developing practical living skills. Exercises include: the care of person and environment, social behavior and exercises to develop balance and coordination. The goal of Montessori's Practical Life is to develop the child's order, concentration, coordination and independence.

Sensorial

Dr. Montessori stated that "Our sensory material, in fact, analyzes and represents the attributes of things: dimensions, forms, colors, smoothness or roughness of surface, weight, temperature, flavor, noise, sounds. It is the qualities of the objects, not the objects themselves which are important" The Pink Cubes, Brown Prisims and Red Rods are examples of some of the materials that will be presented during this area of study.

Cultural Subjects

The areas of Geography, History and Science are components of the Montessori curriculum. They encompass ideas of Cosmic Education and the interrelatedness of all things. This is the area where peace education is introduced. Montessori believed it was the desire of every human being in their intelligence and endless curiosity to know and explore the world around them.

Mathematic

Working with 1-10 quantity/numeral relationships; the concrete conceptual composition of teens, tens etc, the concrete representation of the decimal system, fractions and the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are all part of the math cirriculum in a Montessori environment. Montessori speaks of the "mathematicial mind" of the child- that part of the mind "which is built up with exactitude" and reflects a natural tendency in the young child toward precision, classification and measurement.

Language

Language is present at all times in the Montessori classroom, but is formally introduced through a phonetic approach. The children are introduced to the sounds of the alphabet using sandpaper letters which expose the child not only to the visual representation of the letter, but also to its sound.The process of combining the sounds into words is introduced through the use of the moveable alphabet. This is the Montessori approach to the beginning of formal reading.

Child Development

Montessori's philosophy is based on observing a child in a prepared environment. This course covers Montessori's psychology of child development and relates it to other psychologists amd current research.

Montessori Philosophy

Dr. Montessori's ideas of education were based on her observations of how children learn. She believed that education was an aid to life and she was the first educational philosopher to develop a curriculum which supported her philosophy. Montessori philosophy introduces the student to these ideas and how they are applied and related.