The Montessori Method
The Montessori Method is a complete integrated approach to childhood education based on the incredible insight and scientific observations of Dr. Maria Montessori. It facilitates learning by discovery in an atmosphere of success and positive reinforcements. A Montessori classroom is quiet and calm, the "secret" lies in the way the inner needs of the child are met through the carefully prepared environment and the philosophy of respect for self, others and environment. The prepared environment is designed to support the child’s need for purposeful activity. They are divided into separate areas, all of which interrelate. These areas are: Practical life, Sensorial, Language, Math and Culture, which includes science, geography as well as music and art.

Practical Life Area
Practical life activities are purposeful and calming. They develop concentration, a sense of order, good self-esteem, learning to work through a process, and to improve fine motor skills. The activities include Care of the Environment, Care of Person, Grace and Courtesy and other skills like spooning, using tongs, pouring, folding, sewing and cutting. The activities in this area continue throughout the curriculum to more and more advanced tasks.

Sensorial
With hands-on materials, the child is able to explore and experience each of the five senses. This means the child touches, sees, tastes, hears and feels materials. He/she learns to classify and categorize his/her experiences, which leads him/her to understand different concepts. The activities are exercises in perception, observation, fine discrimination and classification that play a major role in helping the child to develop his/her sense of logic and concentration. Every piece of Montessori equipment has its basis in sensory discrimination.

Mathematic
Montessori materials start from concrete that allow the child to manipulate and reinforce the quantities 1 to10. Some of the materials used to associate verbal names to quantities are rods, spindles, counters, beads, cubes, to name a few. The child does not merely count; he/she understands the concept of how many. Later the quantity is matched to its symbol. All math materials reinforce concepts this way, starting with the concrete and moving on to the abstract. Dr. Maria Montessori realized that a child who has mastered the concept of counting one to nine can apply this to the decimal system, and can just as easily count 10 to 90 when the number is split into 10 equal parts. This led to the bead system, the ten-bead bar, hundred square, and thousand cube. Advanced children work with larger numbers and receive guidance on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

The Cultural and Science Area
All children have a natural curiosity about the world around them. They are fascinated by the globe, and by the fact that their home, the Earth is a sphere. The interest in their home planet keeps growing by exploring the world through pictures, stories, puzzle maps, artifacts, and foods from around the world. Montessori provides us with materials that first introduce the child to land, water and air. Children then learn about the continents and the globe. We strive to inform them about land- forms that make up the geographical features.
In order for a child to develop and understand the environment, he/she must explore the biological aspect of our world. We will study botany so children.

Learn why plants need to be respected. Children will learn how to take care of plants and understand that they are living things.
The study of zoology allows children to connect with animals. They will learn that like themselves animals have individual traits.
Art and Music activities are viewed as forms of self-expression. We have music and movement during our 2nd. Circle time. Art is integrated as part of the day-to day activities of the children.

Language
This area has materials that help children develop vocabulary. There are activities that introduce phonic sounds of the letters in the English language. Montessori uses a phonic approach and teaches the sounds of letters, and only introduces lower case letters until a child is reading and is ready to understand capitals. The language area has activities that help refine the children’s pencil grip and prepares them for writing the letters. All these activities develop the children’s love for language and reinforce their sense of success in each area. Some children may learn to read before leaving preschool, others may not. They will read when they are ready.