At MAARS Academy we utilize the Montessori method to ensure that our students learn and develop their physical, social, emotional and cognitive functions. It is a view of the child as one who is naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a supportive, thoughtfully prepared learning environment. Our classroom is divided into different themes. Each theme has multiple sets that the children play with to stimulate that area of their learning. The benefits of the play range from honing their fine motor skills to reading and writing short sentences.
As much as we depend on the Montessori method to develop your child, we also implement practices that they will face once they graduate to Kindergarten. The shift is difficult for some but our students always adapt well in public school due to their exposure to the practices that we have already made habit. These include collaborative learning, reading and writing and even taking notes.
Learning mathematical concepts in our classroom begins concretely and progresses towards the abstract. They are developed from simple to complex. Process is taught first and facts come later. Order, coordination, concentration, and independence are experienced by the child using these materials. The math activities are organized into four groups.
Group one introduces sets of one through ten which prepares the child for counting and teaches the value of quantity. Children begin to associate numeral and quantity with number rods and number cards. A child will gain a growing understanding of sequence. Spindle boxes, cards and counters, the short bead stair, and other 1- 10 additional counting activities a teacher may add, reinforce the one through ten numeral concept.
Group two involves the decimal system using the golden bead material. The child will become familiar with the names of the decimal categories; units, tens, hundreds, and thousands. A concrete experience with each category is represented by beads. Quantity will be followed by symbol and association.
Group three deals with the operations using the golden bead material. The concept and process of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are presented. Children work with each other and benefit from these exercises using the bank game. Progression then continues using operations with the stamp game.
Group four consists of linear counting. Quantity is presented using the teen and ten boards followed by symbol and association. The one-hundred board and bead chains develop number concepts and recognition of numbers one through one-hundred. The bead chains also introduce the child to skip counting; five, ten, fifteen, twenty, etc.
The activities in the Math area are not to be implemented at a set pace. Providing the child with the materials at precisely the right challenge level will enable the child to demonstrate his development to the teacher through his progress. A child that is able to grasp such math concepts as addition and subtraction demonstrates the successful use of the math materials. The materials are so beautifully designed and appropriate for each child during his sensitive periods of learning math. Mathematical apparatus provides the necessary stimulation for the child to learn math concepts more readily
Our classroom is a natural extension of the patterns of communication that have already been absorbed. Through every conversation, every book read aloud, every new word that is taught, the MAARS student is learning language, and thus, learning to read. In our environment, emphasis is placed on the process of acquiring language. Knowledge is constructed by mental and physical activity rather than on passive learning. Writing is taught before reading through the direct and indirect aims of the Montessori Practical Life and Sensorial works. In the MAARS Language curriculum, writing itself is seen as a direct preparation for reading.
Our educators use precise language that is neither too simplified or given to baby-talk in order to give credence to the work the child is doing to acquire vocabulary and language skills. We help the child to focus their attention to the sound of their own speech, making fine distinctions between sounds. From our attention in oral language development emerges the child’s need to write. Written symbols are introduced and from there, the child bursts spontaneously into reading.
The purpose and aim of Practical Life is to help the child gain control in the coordination of his movement, and help the child to gain independence and adapt to his society. It is therefore important to “Teach teaching, not correcting” (Montessori) in order to allow the child to be a fully functional member in his own society. Practical Life Exercises also aid the growth and development of the child’s intellect and concentration and will in turn also help the child develop an orderly way of thinking.
Practical Life Exercises can be categorized into four different groups: Preliminary Applications, Applied Applications, Grace and Courtesy, and Control of Moment.
In the Preliminary Exercises, the child learns the basic movements of all societies such as pouring, folding, and carrying.
In the Applied Exercises, the child learns about the care and maintenance that helps every day life. These activities are, for example, the care of the person (i.e the washing of the hand) and the care of the environment (i.e dusting a table or outdoor sweeping).
In the Grace and Courtesy Exercises, the children work on the interactions of people to people.In the Control of Movement Exercises, the child learns about his own movements and learns how to refine his coordination through such activities as walking on the line.
The purpose and aim of Sensorial work is for the child to acquire clear, conscious, information and to be able to then make classifications in his environment. Montessori believed that sensorial experiences began at birth. Through his senses, the child studies his environment. Through this study, the child then begins to understand his environment. The child, to Montessori, is a “sensorial explorer”.
Through work with the sensorial materials, the child is given the keys to classifying the things around him, which leads to the child making his own experiences in his environment. Through the classification, the child is also offered the first steps in organizing his intelligence, which then leads to his adapting to his environment.