Our Nursery School’s Curriculum
“The secret of good teaching is to regard the child’s intelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may be sown, to grow under the heat of flaming imagination.”
- Maria Montessori
Dr Maria Montessori was the first person to recognise the importance of the early years. She came to realise that children were capable of extraordinary independence and developmental growth if they were allowed to work freely and without constant adult interference. Her intense scientific observation of the child from birth to maturity allowed her to discover several unique developmental principles. These, together with a vast range of self-teaching materials, came to be known as the Montessori Method of Education.
Montessori classrooms provide a prepared environment where children are free to respond to their natural tendency to work. The children’s innate passion for learning is encouraged by giving them opportunities to engage in spontaneous, purposeful activities with the guidance of a trained adult. Through their work, the children develop concentration and joyful self-discipline. Within a framework of order, the children progress at their own pace and rhythm according to their individual capabilities.
Practical Life Exercises
“Only practical work and experience lead the young to maturity.”
Maria Montessori
Simulating the activities involved in everyday life, practical life exercises help children develop a sense of responsibility and belonging by participating in everyday activities such as sweeping, dusting, and food preparation. Children observe these activities within their world and then gain knowledge and experience of them through practice in the prepared environment of our Montessori classroom.
The purpose of these exercises is to help children learn coordination of movement, gain independence, adapt to their society, and develop the ability to concentrate. Through the repetition of practical life activities, children also learn gross and fine motor skills, effective problem-solving techniques, and a strong sense of self, built on what they contribute to the world.
Within the Montessori Curriculum, practical life activities revolve around five key areas:
Preliminary Exercises
Basic Movements of All Societies, such as Pouring and Folding
Care of Self
Everyday Personal Care Activities, such as Washing Hands and Getting Dressed
Care for the Environment
Interactions with the Environment That Show Love and Respect for Our Surroundings, e.g., Cleaning, Watering a Plant, or Arranging Flowers
Grace and Courtesy
Skills Associated with Social Interactions, including Greetings, Introducing Oneself, and How to Appropriately Interrupt Others
Control of Movement
Refining and Coordinating Control of Their Bodies through Activities such as Walking on the Line or the Silence Game
Sensorial Education
Sensorial activities teach children to refine their senses of sight, touch, sound, smell and taste so that they can organise sensory impressions and their understanding of the world. Through sensorial materials, children learn about similarities and differences, dimensions, colours and shapes, and distinguish between smells, tastes, and sounds.
Sensorial work also prepares children for mathematics, language and geometry by teaching children how to classify and sort.
“Imagination can have only a sensorial basis. The sensory education which prepares for accurate perception of all different details in the qualities of things is the foundation of all observation. This helps us to collect from the external world the material for the imagination.”
Maria Montessori
Mathematics
Preschool-aged children have natural mathematical minds. Montessori mathematics materials empower children to begin their journey in this area from the concrete to the abstract through manipulation, experimentation, and invention.
Using Montessori materials, children learn to count, identify, and match numerals to their quantity and even relate decimal quantities and symbols. They also become aware of the functions of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Language and Literacy
The Montessori classroom emphasizes spoken language as the foundation for all linguistic expression. Throughout the environment, the child hears and uses precise vocabulary for all the activities, learning the names of textures, geometric shapes, plants, mathematical operations and so on. In addition, the child is exposed to a wealth of storytelling, rhymes, music, poetry, listening, and speaking opportunities.
The Montessori Language Curriculum provides children with the knowledge and skills to build their vocabulary and understanding of language. The skills required for reading, writing and oral language are developed through hands-on experience using the Montessori language materials.
Children learn letter sounds (phonics), letter identification and formation, combining sounds to make words, how to build simple sentences, and confidently hold a pencil. Oral language skills are developed through daily social interactions, group time experiences, and lessons in grace and courtesy.
Cultural and Environmental Studies
Topic work introduces the child to explorations in nature study, botany, science, history, geography, and conservation. The children work in the garden, sweeping, composting, planting, and harvesting vegetables. They are introduced to science through experiments and exploration. Globes, maps, flags and models of land and water formations allow the children to explore the world’s continents, oceans, people and customs.
We investigate and learn about a variety of topics, following the interests of the children and using a wide range of equipment and resources. Each term we follow the seasons and explore a different topic alongside to expand our knowledge about the world we live in.
“The education of even a small child, therefore, does not aim at preparing them for school, but for life.”
- Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child