Hornsby Montessori

OUR PROGRAMS

 

Our Montessori program has five defined areas:

1. Practical Life

In the Montessori classroom, the initial steps toward independence begin with the practical life exercises. These exercises are designed to extend: concentration, self confidence, development of the pincer grip, left to right orientation, integration of the body’s movements with the will, and self direction. Encouraging the children to look after themselves, their classroom and home environment, independently.

 

2. Sensorial

Children live in a world of senses. In order to continue their creative task of development, children need to classify and express the impressions they have already received. Through sight, touch, sound, taste, and smell, the sensorial materials focus the child’s attention on sensory experience.

 

3. Language

Language is the symbolization of human life, communication, the recording of all knowledge, the basis of history and culture. In the Montessori environment, the receptive (listening and reading) and the expressive (speaking and writing) are explored to their fullest dimensions. Language is introduced in its richest oral and written traditions so that the child’s vital energies are engaged by naming and expressing what is heard all around.

 

4. Mathematics

Mathematical concepts emerge from the concrete manipulation of “materialized abstractions” such as rods, beads, spindles, cubes, cards, and counters. The children do not merely learn to count; they are also able to visualize the whole structure of our numeration system and to perform the concrete operations of addition, subtraction multiplication, and division. Children are also presented with the possibilities of fact memorization at a young age when combinations like “3+2=5″ offer a real fascination and can be absorbed readily. Materials are sequenced so that mathematical discovery will always be part of a natural process.

 

5. Arts & Cultural

Crayons, chalk, pencils, paint, clay, textiles, inks, dyes, and a variety of papers typify a Montessori art shelf. The emphasis is open expression using a variety of materials on an individualized basis. Music is also treated as part of self-expression and is therefore ongoing during the day.