Curriculum

The Montessori classroom is designed and organized for the comfort and stimulation of the child.  At MMI, we strive to nurture a child’s intrinsic curiosity by providing them with an enriched and challenging environment to freely learn, explore and express themselves.  Learning is most effective in an environment that allows a child the freedom to make discoveries, with specific ground rules:  Maintain respect for self, others and the environment.  The Montessori environment hovers between a fine balance of structure and freedom. Empowering a child with choices is entrusting them with a responsibility for their actions.  Through trial and error children begin distinguishing what is constructive and beneficial with very clear cause and effect consequences.

The classroom is the child’s work place.  It is a safe, well-prepared, beautiful space that welcomes the child to work independently and cooperatively.  It contains materials and equipment necessary for children’s learning from the very basic to the more advanced.  Depending on the age and needs of the students in the classroom, it will contain materials and equipment for learning in the various subject areas.

The Montessori classroom offers hundreds of unique self-correcting materials in five different subject areas. These materials accommodate many levels of ability and are arranged in progressing order of difficulty.  The materials invite the child to touch and explore, motivating them to learn through natural interests.  Concentration, coordination, cognitive development and good work habits are established through the child’s work process.

Practical life is the gateway to the Montessori environment; it is the area in which a child is first introduced to work in a Montessori classroom.  Through the exercises and repetition of “practical” skills, children learn how to complete work from beginning to end by following a sequence of performance steps.  These activities include many of the tasks children see as part of the daily life in their home such as buttoning, zipping, setting the table, watering plants, washing the windows, preparing food, doing the dishes, arranging flowers, etc.  Grace and courtesy presentations help children to understand the practice of culturally appropriate social behaviors in a fun way.

While empowering children to care for themselves, for others, and for the environment, practical life exercises are instrumental in assisting children in developing habits of concentration and completing activities. Practical Life is the foundation of independence, as the children move into sensorial, language, mathematics and cultural studies.

The Sensorial materials serve as tools for development.  The materials in this area include various activities to teach the children shapes, colors, spatial relationships and logical thinking skills.  By touching, seeing, smelling, tasting, listening, and exploring children learn to order and classify the physical properties of their environment.  Such activities increase the child’s awareness and provide a repertoire of sensorial experiences through which they will use to perceive and order the world around them.

The Mathematics materials help the child learn and understand mathematical concepts by working with concrete materials.  This work gives children a solid understanding of basic mathematical principles, prepares them for later abstract reasoning, and helps to develop problem-solving capabilities.  This area includes a range from number recognition, place value, subtraction, addition and ordinal counting, all the way to multiplication and division.

Language development is vital to a child’s development.  The Montessori environment is rich in both written and oral language opportunities.  In the busy Montessori classroom children experience oral language through conversations, stories and songs.  Written language begins with the sandpaper letters, where children link sound and symbol.  The sequential language materials progressively help the child to develop written expression and reading skills.  As they begin to gain confidence in their reading, the children move on to reading comprehension, sentence structure, vocabulary development, and writing skills.

Cultural Studies include geography, biology, botany, zoology, physical science, art and music.  These subjects are usually presented to reinforce another concept in the classroom.  For example, children learn about people and cultures in other countries alongside their geographical studies.  Broadening the scope of their basic studies will offer children an underlying knowledge, overall understanding, and earned appreciation for the world around them.

Milestones Montessori’s Integrated Arts Program arises from each classroom’s cultural and science curriculum, with lessons intentionally designed and carefully developed to integrate the arts into the students’ work.  The Arts Coordinator is responsible for working closely with our teachers to incorporate the weekly theme into her group lessons and provide materials for the work shelves in each classroom.  Furthermore, the child may utilize art in such things as geometrical drawings, geographical maps, mathematical graphing, or illustrations for history, botany, zoology, social studies, geology, geography, etc.  A variety of techniques are taught, and with multiple media available at their disposal, the child has free artistic expression in a Montessori environment.  Collaborative projects and large-scale murals also provide opportunities for children to work and brainstorm together.

The Music Program at MMI gives children the opportunity to experience music every day in the classroom through singing and studies of various composers.  Our Music Instructor provides formal group lessons with the children once a week.  A different musical instrument is introduced each week alongside music theory and language (notation, rhythm, harmony, musical literature).  The engaging class gives children a positive first experience to musical appreciation through song, movement and laughter.  The children also share their joy of music in our school-wide winter and spring performances.

Our Music Instructor offers private lessons to interested families.  With a piano on campus, the children receive convenient, individual instruction on the piano as young as three.  This is an optional program and an additional fee will apply.

The children participate in gardening during all four seasons. The fruit and vegetable gardens provide a rich and rewarding way to learn about environmental science.  Children are engaged in the crop cycle from start to finish.  They receive hands-on lessons about soil composition, preparation of soil, crop rotation, sowing, transplanting, growing, and harvesting.  Harvesting the fruits of their labor encourages the children to try different foods from the garden.

Students are encouraged to participate in physical education as a step towards developing a lifelong appreciation for exercise and physical fitness.  A great outlet for their energy, athletics can improve a child’s sense of self through physical achievement.  We concentrate on the fundamental movements of jumping, skipping, leaping, galloping, and sliding skills through fun games, relays and activities.