Primary Curriculum
	HOURS/PROGRAMS First Montessori offers three options for the Primary child: Primary Half-Day Program (8:30 am – 11:45 am): approximately 2 ½ to 5 years of age Primary Full-Day Program (8:30 am – 2:45 pm): approximately 5 to 6 years of age Primary All-Day Program (7:30 am – 6 pm): approximately 2 ½ to 6 years of age: (Please note that the All-Day program operates on a modified school calendar.) Montessori work and lessons are pursued during the full school day (until 2:45) for the older children. After the younger children eat lunch with their classmates, they nap in a separate area of the classroom. As each child awakes, he/she joins the older children at work. There is an organized program of activities and extracurricular enrichment within the Montessori framework between 2:45 and 6:00 for all children in the All-Day program. PHILOSOPHY Maria Montessori believed the first 6 years are the most critical period for nurturing a child’s natural curiosity and for laying the foundation for all future development. This is known as the first plane of development. The Toddler community, serving ages 1 ½ - 2 ½, is a spacious, warm and inviting environment very similar to the home. It is designed to support the developing Toddler and link him/her seamlessly into the larger Primary classroom. The Primary classrooms, age group 3 to 6, are quiet, harmonious environments carefully designed for children to “learn by doing.” A wide variety of research-based learning materials help to foster individual growth and a love of learning. Cooperation, a sense of community, independence and a belief in one’s own abilities create a fundamental sense of self-worth and self-confidence in children that serves them throughout their lives. Primary education includes experiences in the outdoors. All Primary classes have access to adjoining gardens for care of the environment activities as well as exploration in the natural world. This experience is built upon by extended excursions in the natural world at the Elementary level. The Elementary program opens the child to cultures and people in the world and connects the child to it through exploration and the pursuit of applied knowledge. This is the 2nd plane of development for ages 6-12. The final years provide a link to Middle School in which students’ independence, mastery and self direction culminate in young adults ready to embrace the challenges and responsibility of young adulthood. CURRICULUM COMPONENTS Our Primary teachers (who are often called “guides”) intensely follow each child, presenting carefully designed lessons and materials on a one-to-one and small group basis, as the child is ready. The following five areas of exploration are included in our Primary program: Practical Life Curriculum The Practical Life Curriculum and activities are designed to foster independence, self-control, and self-esteem. These are all characteristics that play a critical role in subsequent intellectual growth and responsible social interaction. Logical sequence, attention to detail, exactness and purposeful activity cultivate an aptitude for logic, mathematics, science and composition. The children receive satisfaction from mastery of the daily life skills and become confident in their own ability to learn and contribute. Practical Life activities are divided into the following areas: Care of Self Examples: Dressing Frames, polishing shoes Care of the Environment Examples: Watering plants, polishing silver, sweeping Care of Others Examples: Food preparation Grace and Courtesy Examples: Inviting a friend to have snack, declining an invitation, borrowing an item Sensorial Curriculum The Sensorial Curriculum and activities, designed to isolate and categorize qualities of the environment perceived through the senses, focus on the development of sensory perception. Aristotle said, “There is nothing in the intellect that was not first in the senses.” The senses firmly connect us to our environment, therefore Maria Montessori felt that the Primary age child could master any concept that the hand could hold. The Montessori curriculum offers a multi-sensorial approach to learning, encouraging the child to use the optimum combination of his or her senses while in the critical period for the development of the senses. Using the senses effectively, with refined distinction, lays a physical and mental foundation for further learning based in reason and judgment. A few examples of Sensorial activities are: Botany cabinet of leaf shapes Geometry cabinet of shapes Color matching and grading materials Pink Tower, Brown Stair and Red Rods, varying in three, two and one dimension, respectively Language Curriculum The Language Curriculum encompasses the whole classroom. While all areas of study are integrated, First Montessori classrooms are language-rich environments. The children are given opportunities for discussions, storytelling and naming through curriculum materials such as geometric figures, the continents of the Earth, or parts of an insect. The specialized activities in the language curriculum assist in vocabulary development, phonetic progression into reading, and development of writing skills and composition. Examples of Language activities are: Spoken Language Sound games, Sandpaper letters, acting out stories, vocabulary exercises Written Language Moveable alphabet, making booklets, writing stories Reading Decoding phonetic words, blends and sight words for mechanical and fluid reading Exploring the function of words in sentences as a preparation for grammar Math Curriculum The Math Curriculum begins with activities to teach sequence, recognition, and quantity of the numbers 1 through 10 and progresses through the four math operations. The children explore mathematical relationships, such as the squaring and cubing of numbers and fractions, by manipulating concrete materials that are designed to isolate a concept and prepare the mind for abstract mathematical reasoning. Examples of Math activities are: Quantities and symbols of numbers to ten and teens Decimal system Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing in 4 categories using materials Squaring and Cubing of numbers 1 to 10 Mastery of math facts in +, -, x Cultural Curriculum The Cultural Curriculum and activities, including art, music, science, and geography, are integrated into the Primary child’s day. Through exploring history and the natural world, the children begin to develop an understanding and appreciation of the physical, political, and cultural nature of the Earth, and its diverse populations. Examples of Cultural activities are: Political maps of all continents Flags of the world Experiencing art and music from around the world Cooking food and having cultural celebrations from around the world Foreign Language Curriculum Foreign language study is carefully crafted in Montessori schools. A second language is an important part of curriculum, as knowledge of a second language will enrich students’ development and contributions to the world at large. It is important, however, to take into consideration the way in which the children may acquire a second language because it has a direct affect on all other aspects of learning. At the Primary level, foreign language is integrated into the areas of cultural study, music and spoken language. The children are sensorial learners and are in the Sensitive Period for language; therefore, many languages are spoken and sung in the classroom and integrated in other natural ways. This is done by native and non-native speakers. The children have the benefit of having the lessons connect to other areas of study as well as the opportunity to develop their ears for the nuances of language. This approach does not hinder development in other areas of the curriculum, but prepares the child for further refined study in foreign languages after he/she is reading and writing in his/her native tongue. Spanish is introduced formally beginning in the Elementary program. Physical Education Curriculum Movement is a basic element of the Montessori philosophy of education and occurs daily in classrooms at all levels. The FMSA Physical Education Curriculum is an extension of this core ideology. The aim is to promote the idea of a healthy body, enabling students to develop their fitness, physical skill and body awareness. We aspire to cultivate a spirit of sportsmanship and enjoyment in all physical activity. The Physical Education program, like art, music and language, develops as the child grows. In the Primary class, the young child enjoys physical activity in small groups led by the class teacher. The teachers are guided by our Physical Education Teacher to provide age-appropriate activities, which strengthen coordination, facilitate following directions, and improve gross motor movement. The older Primary child leaves the classroom in the afternoon twice a week to participate in activities directed by the Physical Education Teacher. RECOMMENDED READING * Montessori: a Modern Approach by Paula Lillard