Primary Program Three to six is the stage of the “Absorbent Mind”. This is the period when conscious learning begins to appear. Children learn from their environment by direct interaction with the core Montessori materials. These are the formative years for laying the foundation for future learning. Interactions with friends during this three-year period establish a community within the classroom. A child who started in the Toddler class may move up to the Primary class by age 2 1/2. Signs of readiness are developed vocabulary, ability to sit and finish a task, need for more challenging work, and has developed trust in caregivers. Montessori never hindered a child just because he or she is young. Practical LifeThese exercises lay the foundation of a Montessori classroom. These are everyday life skills that children learn in order to function in society. These activities satisfy the need for imitation, repetition, and help develop coordination. They enable children to expand their attention span and develop concentration essential for all academic learning to manifest. Independence, self-confidence, body consciousness, and self-awareness develop steadily through the use of materials for: caring for oneself and the environment, social skills of grace and courtesy, and control and refinement of movement. Preliminary Exercises of Practical Life
Care of Person
Care of the Environment
Coordination
Language
This allows for enrichment of vocabulary, phonetic and non-phonetic sound recognition and assimilation, function of words, and complete reading and writing. These basic skills are acquired through the use of materials in three-dimensional forms. Once these skills are mastered, the child is ready for interpretive reading and creative writing VISUAL DISCRIMINATIONMatching, similarities and differences, sequences, categorizing WRITINGMetal inset (pencil control), sandpaper letters, left to right movement, upper case, lower case, sequences (1,2,3 letters words), sentence composition PRE-READING Identification of upper and lower case letters, pronounce consonant sounds, pronounce short vowel sounds READING Movable alphabet (phonetic sound assimilation, phonograms, level 1: 3 letter phonetic words, level 2: r-controlled vowels, level 3: phonograms/vowel difficulties, level 4: phonograms/consonant difficulties, level 5: compound words, puzzle words, sight words, phonetic books, level books PARTS OF SPEECH Noun, adjective, conjunction, preposition, verb, adverb COMPREHENSION Reads and understands words, reads for enjoyment WORD STUDY Compound words, singular/plural, prefixes, suffixes, homograph, homophones Mathematics Mathematical materials provide the means for the discovery of mathematics and the fundamental skills to calculate. Concepts are understood by use of concrete forms before abstracting theories. After understanding has been achieved, memorized learning is meaningful Number 1-10 Linear counting, symbol, quantity, association of symbol and quantity, odd and even, writing numbers, bead stair counting DECIMAL SYSTEM Introduction to hierarchies, golden beads quantity, symbols (units, tens, hundreds, thousands), decimal system layout (1-1000), formation of number 1-9,999, addition, subtraction, division, long division, multiplication, word problems LINEAR COUNTING 1-10, teens, tens, hundreds, thousands, skip counting, equality/inequality FACTS & TABLES Addition charts, subtraction charts, multiplication charts, division charts ABSTRACTIONS Small bead frame: notation, + - x / , hierarchy Sensorial ExercisesAll the faculties of intelligence are developed through exploration of the various materials of varying dimension, color, shape, texture, smell, and taste. The special materials are organized for developing and refining each sense while isolated from the other senses, thus enabling the utmost refinement. These are essential for the ability to discriminate differences, similarities and identities, and for enhancing the memory, the imagination and consequently the appreciation and interpretation of the fine arts. VISUAL Differences in tall/short, thick/thin, large/small, thin and tall/ thick and short, pink, differences in dimension, thickness, and length, color: consciousness, limited and unlimited variations, geometry: (basic figures, three sided figures, rectilinear figures, many sided figures, continuous circle/unbroken lines, four sided figures, curvilinear figures), geometric solids (cube, rectangular prism, triangular prism, square pyramid, triangular pyramid, cylinder, cone, sphere, ellipsoid), grading with rectilinear figures, polygons, and circles, constructive triangles (right, scalene, isosceles, equilateral, unequal, obtuse), binomial cubes (binomial theorem), trinomial cubes (trinomial theorem) TACTILE Rough and smooth, variation of roughness, variation of smoothness, variation of textures AUDITORY Discrimination and variation of sounds, music bells BARIC Differences in weight STEREOGNOSTIC Consciousness of possibilities (paring, sorting, mystery) OLFACTORY Discrimination of variety of scents: vanilla, cinnamon, lavender, rose GUSTATORY Discrimination of tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty Cultural Arts Geography, Botany, Zoology, Art, and Music expose children to the world and enable them to appreciate the importance and the beauty of nature, the diversity of people and their cultures. ARTPeriods and its artists, creative expression, art mediums MUSICPeriods and its composers, musical instruments, bells, movement GEOGRAPHYDays of the week, month, land and water forms, solar system, earth: (layers, globe, hemispheres, continents, oceans, zones), maps: world, USA, North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Antarctica, Australia), parts of a flag BOTANY Living/non living, parts of a flower, leaf and tree, nomenclature cards ZOOLOGY Vertebrates/invertebrates, mammals, fish,
amphibian, parts of horse, frog, fish, and turtle, life cycles, animal homes BIOLOGY Parts of the body, internal organs, senses, important systems HEALTH Food pyramid, cleanliness, physical hygiene COMMUNITY SERVICES Awareness of civic sense, community helpers, conservation, recycling, gardening HISTORY Famous people, historical events
|
               |
