Practical Life - otherwise known as "exercises for daily living", this area includes a variety of well organized tasks to facilitate motor skills, self management and confidence. The children also learn to care for their environment with plant and animal care, food preparation, cleaning and polishing. These exercises help a child adapt to his/her environment, develop concentration, refine gross and fine motor skills, achieve independence, and aid in the development of will. Some of the activities in Practical Life include: 1) Elementary movements sitting in a chair, sponge squeezing, tweezing, pouring, carrying a tray. 2) Care of the Self: putting on shoes, washing hands, combing hair. 3) Care of the Environment: scrubbing, sweeping, planting. 4) Lessons of grace and courtesy. In the Montessori classroom, a child's activity is referred to as "work" rather than "play". It is a mind set that shows respect for the energy and pride that a child puts into his/her efforts.

Sensorial - A wide array of sequential manipulatives demonstrating concepts in size, weight, color, form, texture, smell and taste. All children are attracted to these creative materials which also allow for building and creative design. Aristotle said "there is nothing in the intellect which was not first in the senses". Dr. Montessori named the sensorial apparatus the "Keys of the Universe." The sensorial area presents the child with a strong basis for intellectual growth and a preparation for complex learning. With this kind of a foundation the child truly does possess the keys of the universe. In developing the sensorial apparatus, Dr. Montessori perfected instruments to reveal and develop a child's capacity as an individual. Sensorial development precedes the development of superior intellectual activity, including creative or imaginative work. The ability to compare and classify and make judgments are habits of all artistic or scientific work. Development of the senses benefits us in three broad areas. The first is biological. The aim is to aid the natural development of the individual. For example, our senses or our ability to use our senses refine us biologically and physically. The second area is social. The child is prepared for the community environment. The last area is psychic. Through physical and social growth the child's psychic life is enhanced. Sensorial Materials: Visual Sense: Cylinder Blocks, Pink Tower, Broad Stair, Red Rods, Knobless Cylinders. Chromatic Sense: Color Box 1, Color Box 2, Color Box 3. Tactile Sense: Rough and Smooth Boards, Graded Touch Tablets, Fabric Box. Auditory Sense: Sound Cylinders, bells, Musical instruments, listening exercises. Baric Sense: Baric Tablets. Thermic Sense: Thermic Bottles, Thermic Tablets. Stereognostic Sense: Geometric Solids, Mystery Bag, Sorting Exercises. Kinesthetic Sense: Geometric Cabinet, Binomial Cube, Trinomial Cube, Constructive Triangles. Olfactory Sense: Smelling Bottles. Gustatory Sense: Tasting Bottles, Tasting exercises at line. Sense of Equilibrium and Sense of Direction: Line Activities, Silence Game.

Math - everything from experiences with quantities and symbols, to the functions of numbers, to linear counting and decimal system activities. Montessori Math combines creative exploration of numbers from simple games to more complex geometric and algebraic experiences. Mathematics is a way of

looking at the world. It is a language for understanding and expressing measurable relationships inherent in our experience. Montessori saw it in these terms when she categorized it as one of the four fundamental kinds of activities essential for children's development. Math fundamentals and concepts are for Montessori children founded in sensorial concrete experiences. In the Montessori classroom the first level of understanding numbers has three divisions: quality, symbol and association. On the second level the child learns to count, which requires an understanding of the concept of sequence and number recognition. The third level of understanding numbers has several steps: exchange, place value, and composition of complex numbers. Materials can be matched to a child rather than a child to the materials. It is the conceptual skill, not the piece of information, that lets a child progress. Math Materials: Numeration: Number Rods, Sandpaper Numerals, Spindle Boxes, Table Top Rods, Cards and Counters, Memory Game. Decimal System (unit, ten, hundred, thousand): Introduction, Quantity and Symbol, Exchange Tray, Experience with quantity and symbol (1-9000),composition of Numbers. Operation of Decimal System: Addition, Multiplication, Division, Subtraction with four place numbers. Linear Counting: Bead Stair (109), Teens with Rods and Beads, Teen Boar, 10 Board,100 Board, Chains for Square of Numbers (linear skip counting), Chains for Cubes of Numbers. Memorization: Addition with Number Rods, Addition Strip Board, Addition with Beads, Multiplication with Bead Bars. Fractions: Sensorial, Tracing, Cutting, Naming.

Language - Storytelling, vocabulary enrichment, matching and categorizing progress to letter recognition and phonetics. We use a variety of approaches to individualize our beginning reading program, while other manipulative activities slowly prepare the hand for writing. We provide authentic learning

experiences in our classroom. These experiences are the key to language development. We agree with Maria Montessori that "language is meaningless if it is not based on experience." Maria Montessori spoke of the development of language rather than the teaching of language. She said that this development follows fixed laws that are the same in all children. She felt that each child absorbs the language of his group whether it is simple or complex. She also taught that the acquisition of language was not a conscious act of the child, but that the mind of the child was set to absorb the language of the environment unconsciously. Language Materials: Training of the Ear: The Silence Game, Line Activities for Language, Telling a Story, Learning a Poem or Song. Language Enrichment: Go Togethers, Matching Cards, Sequence Cards. Association of Sound and Symbol: Sandpaper and Moveable Alphabet, Initial Sounds, composition of Words, Creative Writing, Blends, Short Vowels, Long Vowels, Phonograms, Singular, Plural, Metal Inserts, Penmanship. Function of the Words: Noun, Article, Adjective, Conjunction, Preposition, Verb.

Cultural Area - The Cultural Area consists of Science, History, and Geography. The purpose of the materials in this area is to sharpen the child's powers of observation and understanding of the world around him. The child is given the big picture first. In geography, we start with land, air, and water. In life science we start with living and non-living. In the history area we start with the year. Our children learn more about themselves by learning about the world and the people, places, and things around them. Science: Living, Non-Living, Plant, Animal, Vertebrate, Invertebrate, Omnivore, Herbivore, Carnivore, Animal Classification, Skeleton, Science Matching Cards, Animal Tracks, Dinosaur Materials, Botany Cabinet, Parts of

the Earth, Parts of the Volcano, Rock matching and Identification, Planets. History: Year, Seasons, Months, Days, Calendar, Day and Night, Clock, Time by the Hour, Time by the Half Hour, Time by the Minute. Geography: The Globe, Land, Air and Water, Land Forms, Continents, North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Flag Work, Continent Animals, Needs of People, Music, Art, Literature, Customs.

Arts & Music - We offer various and changing art related and musical activities. Our art curriculum combines experiences with various mediums, with seasonal projects that often highlight and correspond to other curriculum areas. Drawing Board, our afternoon art program, is a way for children to expand their natural love of art which is begun in the Montessori classroom. Songs and musical games are part of the daily experiences in the classroom.

Programming

Toddler Programming

At age two to three a special sense of order, concentration, coordination and independence begin to emerge in a child. This is an ideal time to begin a child's training in Montessori, as he or she is at the perfect period to build a strong foundation for future learning. Much of our curriculum is focused on sensorial and practical life works, as these areas provide the toddler with appropriate opportunities to increase his or her autonomy and concentration. Our environment is rich in language, constantly enabling the child to construct his or her sense of word order and usage. During the school year our toddlers will naturally learn their colors, shapes, basic letter sounds, and numbers. Montessori Learning Path offers several options for our toddlers:

Five Day Programming
Three Day Programming
Two Day Programming
Full and Half day options are available.

Three - Six Year Old Programming

Dr. Montessori's approach to education utilizes self-correcting materials, rather than "teaching" the child concepts. The materials in the classroom are designed to stimulate the child's interests and facilitate his or her understanding and learning capabilities spontaneously. This approach is based on the "absorbent mind" of a child, which from age three to six is developed with a child's growing sense of awareness and active participation. These years are one phase of growth, with physical, intellectual and psychological characteristics common to the whole period. Children aged three to six may participate in the following:

Three day for three hours
Five day for three hours
Five day with auxiliary programming
Five day all day

Drawing Board

Our drawing board program is our afternoon program where children learn about art through hands-on activities. Recent study topics have included cave art, Native American art, and Egyptian art. The children learn about not only the kinds of art experienced by each culture but they get to create their own versions.