What will my child do in the Montessori classroom?

Although, many children will develop skills and acquire information that will astound you, keep in mind that this is secondary to the child’s character development. Children are given opportunities to work at their own pace and receive individual lessons that are consistent with his/ her abilities and need for challenging work.

Your child will be free to choose materials and ask for demonstrations that interest him/ her. Sunshine Acres also provides directed group learning experiences each day.

What will my child learn in the classroom?

Each classroom is equipped with 4 core academic areas and 4 areas of interest: practical life, sensorial, language, mathematics, science, geography, music, and art. Here, the children can explore and discover with the equipment in an environment prepared by the teacher.

Practical Life

When children are using Practical Life equipment, they are learning practical skills, but they are also building the foundations of concentration, coordination, self-discipline, and independence. Activities such as spooning, pouring, dusting, sweeping, scrubbing, buttoning, zipping, etc. are all truly valuable in meeting these early goals. Our teachers vary this work as the children advance in order to keep up with the needs of the child.

Sensorial

At the earliest stages, a child learns about his/ her environment by using the senses. Sensorial activities are just that – activities designed to enhance the awareness of the senses. Shapes, colors, sounds, textures, and size gradation all stimulate the child’s senses. As in all areas of the Montessori classroom, individual lessons in the sensorial section are part of every preschooler’s experience.

Language

After the children learn the short vowel and true consonant sounds of the alphabet, they are able to combine these sounds into three letter words. The children enjoy practicing their skills with various activities and readers designed to give early reading success.

Very soon the children learn to blend consonants, use double consonants, long vowel sounds, general phonograms, etc. in order to enjoy reading at an advanced level. Children are given opportunities to work at their own pace and achieve success at each level of the language program.

Mathematics

The children in a Montessori classroom will be introduced to numerals at an early age. By the time they finish their preschool experience, the children may go from just learning to count to learning to multiply. The Montessori Golden Beads introduce children to counting, quantity, place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

There are boards to teach the teen numerals, numerals 1-100, and mathematical operations. Many children are introduced to the idea of squaring numerals with bead chains and squares in more advanced lessons. Each child receives individual lessons that are consistent with his/ her abilities and need for challenging work.