The Montessori I program serves
children who are between the ages of eighteen months and
thirty-five months, in a small and intimate group setting of eleven
students.
The primary goal of CMM's Montessori
I program is to help each child reach his/her full potential in all
areas of life. Activities promote the development of social skills,
emotional growth, and physical coordination as well as cognitive
preparation for the Montessori II class. Our program allows
the child to experience the joys of learning, the time to enjoy the
process, and ensuring the development of self-esteem. It provides
the experiences from which children create their knowledge. In a
Montessori atmosphere the children are free to explore their
environment and develop physically, socially, intellectually and
academically in activities and learning areas.
The first task a child learns when
he or she comes to the Montessori classroom is that there is order
in the classroom. The children learn that materials belong on the
shelf at a specific place and after using it they have to replace
it back at the same place. The teacher demonstrates this first.
When a child select a task, he/she repeats the activity until
he/she masters the task.
The Montessori I classroom uses an
environment that covers a number of different distinct areas where
children learn concentration, order, sequence, and practical life
skills.
1. The practical
life area provides the children with practical life
activities, which gives the child a feeling of dignity,
accomplishment, and self-confidence. The exercise of practical life
are fundamental for the child’s development because it support the
tendencies and needs of young children. The practical life area includes materials necessary for
setting and clearing the table, sweeping, buttoning, zipping, hand
washing, etc. To the child, these are meaningful activities
that involve caring for himself or herself, other people and the
environment. They also help children to concentrate, to expand
their attention span and to improve their hand-eye
coordination. Practical life activities are simple and can be
accomplished by each child. They offer repetitive cycle, which
helps the child establish patterns of order and sequencing.
2. The sensorial
area allows children to use their senses to learn about
the world. In Montessori school, a child can learn to distinguish
different heights, lengths, and weights, colors, sounds, shapes,
and textures.
3. Language
activities and materials increase vocabulary and
conversational skills. Children begin to recognize letters,
shapes, colors, animals, and so forth.
4. The math
activities introduces the child to numbers with and
understanding of quantity. At this level, we focus on
counting, recognizing numbers, and understanding the concept of
each number. Hands on experience with math materials give
children clear, concrete impression on which to build on.
The Montessori I classroom offers
space for movement, space for individual work, and space for group
activities. Toddlers are given opportunities to work in the
development of language skill, art, sensorial, and practical life.
We use a number of multi-sensory, sequential, and self-correcting
Montessori materials to facilitate learning. The tasks are designed
so that each new step is built upon what the child has already
mastered, thus removing the negative experience of frequent
failure. A carefully planned series of successes builds upon inner
confidence in the child assuring him that he can learn by himself.
Due the fact that these are very real activities, each child
becomes grounded in reality, building the child's self esteem is
the ultimate goal and this is accomplished through repeated
successes with these activities. These confidence-building
activities likewise contribute to the child's healthy emotional
development.
Through song and dance, and freedom
of choice, the toddlers have access to a variety of large muscle
activities that offer them opportunities to jump, climb, balance,
crawl, or skip. These exercises as well as creative art activities
are offered for each child to choose. This freedom in a safe space
is crucial to the toddler program.
