Ages 3-6 Classroom
The Children's House
The Montessori classroom for three, four, and five-year-olds is designed to be a "Children's House." The children are guided to participate fully in the actual life of their community. They help to prepare snacks and meals, clean the environment, and maintain the order of the classroom. In this way, they develop not only muscular control and competency over daily tasks, but a deep sense of self-respect, independence, and interdependence.
The primary classroom is designed for open learning for children ages 3-6. It is broken into five main areas of learning which include Practical Life , Sensorial , Language , Mathematics , and Cultural Studies .
The primary child works to form an integrated personality within a nurturing community. The child works with interest and focus, and learns to coexist in a peaceful society. The primary program provides the ideal foundation for this young learner to set the tone for the remainder of his or her academic life. In the Primary classroom, areas of learning are organized to form a child-centered learning environment that promotes independence and uninterrupted periods of work.
Practical Life
The exercises in Practical Life are the very heart of Montessori education.
As young children wash tables, pour liquids, polish silver, sweep and dust,
they are developing the inner aptitudes of calmness, order, concentration,
coordination, and fine motor skills.
At the same time, through the process of learning to meet their own needs, learning to take care of the classroom environment, and through the experience of helping others, children in Montessori programs begin to develop independence, self-confidence, and self-respect.
Sensorial
In working with the materials, the children take things apart,
put them back together, and think about what they do.
This gives them practice in the highest thinking skills of
analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
It leads to mature questioning, research and true creativity
when they put things back together in new ways.
The youngest children in the environment catch the enthusiasm of the older ones
as they make their discoveries and reach toward the more sophisticated materials,
all the while enjoying their own pursuits and "games."
Language
The Montessori Language Arts curriculum is designed
to enhance the students' skills in reading, comprehension,
writing and speaking; and to provide connections with
history, literature, science, math, and geography.
Mathematics
The Montessori Mathematics program consists
of sequential exercises that start with more concrete lessons,
and move forward into the highly abstract.
The fundamental goal of Montessori education is to stimulate the child's
reasoning ability by developing the mathematical mind.
The math presentations require the use of concrete materials
conceived to be manipulated and explored until the child's mind
spontaneously reaches the "A-Hah!" point of consciousness where the
concrete becomes the abstract and the child understands.
Cultural Studies
In addition to the core curriculum, your child will be engaged
in delightful activities that instill a lifelong love of sciences, history, cultures
and the arts. Our school is infused with music of many varieties and peoples.
Each year, geography is studied in depth. Students learn about physical
and political geography, people and flags of distant countries,
and the cultural similarities that unite all people.
Music, art, architecture, and food are a part of this experience.
Oak Grove Montessori School
132 Pleasant Valley Road Mansfield, CT 06250-1521
Telephone 1.860.456.1031 Fax 1.860.456.2907
admin@ogms.org