Primary Class/KindergartenThe Primary classroom welcomes
children ages 3 to 6 years old. This multi-age class forms a community
of 25-30 children all working together or alongside one another. In
this type of setup, a 3-year-old can explore a practical life exercise,
a 4-year-old can discover the wonders of language skills, and a
5-year-old can write his poem, or teach a younger child to trace
numbers. The Primary Montessori classroom is divided into sections in
which the child is able to explore various subjects:
Practical Life Exercises
These
are activities the child sees in his everyday environment. Practical
life materials teach the child how to tie, button, snap, zip and use
other fastening devices. The child cares for the classroom environment
by washing tables and chairs, mopping, dusting and polishing, while
developing small and large muscle coordination. Development of the
social graces is another important aspect. The child is shown how to be
polite, courteous and thoughtful of others. Practical life activities
develop and expand the child’s concentration time and provide the
foundation of a Montessori education.
Sensorial Materials
The
child’s mind receives impressions of his environment through the
senses. Small - Smaller,- Smallest is one exercise where a child can
understand sizes and dimension. The sensorial material assists this
natural process by helping the child to order and classify these
impressions. Sensorial materials isolate one specific quality such as
color, sound, texture, size, shape, temperature and weight. Sensorial
materials include color tablets, cylinder blocks, geometric shapes and
solids.
Language
The
child’s vocabulary is enriched in the Montessori classroom through the
use of objects in the environment, pictures, illustrations, stories,
poems, conversation and the sensorial materials. The Montessori child
learns to read by the phonics method. Introducing the child to phonics
with sandpaper letters allows him to hear the sound, see and feel the
shape of the letter and train his muscles for writing. Language cards
are used to develop vocabulary, spelling and to expand the child’s
knowledge of varied subjects from dinosaurs to art. Our program also
includes Hebrew language: vocabulary and spoken, letter recognition and
movable alphabet. Reading and writing is introduced at the advanced
level.
Mathematics
The
math materials give the child a concrete experience before dealing with
the abstract. The child is first introduced to the quantity and then
the symbol for the numbers 1 through 10, followed by work with the
teens and tens. Using beads and number cards, the child learns the
basis of the decimal system and is taught the processes of addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division. Only after the child develops
a complete understanding of these functions in the concrete, does he
begin a gradual process of working with the many math materials that
will lead to the more abstract numbers.
Geography
Hands-on
material gives the child a firm understanding of the physical world.
The young child learns the differences between the many land and water
forms. Puzzle maps of each continent allow the child to learn the names
of all the countries and later their capitals. Cultural lessons
designed around the maps are used to teach history. Stories capture the
child’s imagination and help him learn about the world. Years later,
Montessori students report how easy it is for them to remember names of
countries and cities around the world because of their early
experiences with Montessori geography materials.
Art, Nature, Music and Science
The
young child is presented with many art projects and simple science
experiments. Singing, rhythm games and folk dances are important
activities in the Montessori program. The children also learn about
famous composers and artists through stories and by listening to their
music. The class plants and grows seeds for Tu B'Svat, and learns forms
of trees and plants as part of our discoveries. |
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