Math is a big concept for children to understand and is a process that cannot be rushed or forced. In our classroom, we aid the child’s process of abstraction of Math concepts by providing the child with many exercises that introduce different, individualized qualities. We do not teach children math when they first enter the classroom at age 3 because they must first develop their “Mathematical Mind”. The development of the Mathematical Mind unfolds in the first year. When the child has developed a certain level of clarity in their mind, the child will be ready to learn mathematical concepts. Attending Montessori for the full three years is very important for a child’s progression in math as the third year is the culmination of all of the indirect preparations and foundational math work done in the first two years.
There are four different qualities to look for to know the child is ready for math:
1. The child can establish patterns.
2. The child can establish relationships.
3. The child has an orderly mind.
4. The child can classify his or her surroundings.
There are three important qualities of the math materials in the classroom:
1. The child comes into physical contact with a concept that will become abstract, thus the child can first physically touch and manipulate a concept.
2. Only one concept at a time is presented to the child, always building on a previous concept that has been learned. We will not overwhelm or pressure children, so they develop a love of learning.
3. There are controls of errors within each material enabling the child to discern a mistake has been made.
There are six different areas of our math program:
1. Numbers from 0-10
2. The Decimal System
3. Counting numbers 1-1000
4. Exploration and memorization of the tables
5. Passage to Abstraction (the ability to calculate and apply concepts without the use of concrete materials)
6. Introduction to Fractions
Math is a journey that begins during a child’s first year in the Casa and truly comes together in the third capstone year.
Dr. Montessori categorized lessons in the areas of science, botany, zoology, history, social studies and geography as “cultural subjects” – and that the knowledge and understanding of these subjects is what elevates a person from being merely literate to being cultured and truly educated. Take a look at how this unfolds in our Primary environment at North Creek!
The Sensorial Area offers children “keys to the world.” It responds to the young child’s urge to explore the sensorial and concrete qualities of the physical world and contains materials to help children discriminate and classify objects based on various criteria such as colour, size, shape, scents, sounds, texture, weight, and temperature. These activities also support the child’s intellectual development through indirect preparation for the Areas of Math, Language and Culture and eventually leads to the child’s greater awareness for the rich diversity that exists in our world while fostering aesthetic appreciation and a sense of wonder.
Through Practical Life exercises of this sort, the children develop a true ‘social feeling,’ for they are working in the environment of the community in which they live. – Maria Montessori
Young children are naturally interested in activities they have witnessed in their lives and homes. The Montessori Practical Life exercises in our primary classrooms allow children to perform those real life tasks while enhancing the development of their organization and cognitive order. Activities such as pouring, transferring grains and water, flower arranging, care of plants, polishing different types of materials, washing a table, mopping, washing cloths, buttoning, and preparing a snack allow children to engage in purposeful and meaningful tasks while developing muscular coordination and manual dexterity. By gaining control of their movements, children not only become more independent but gain greater ability to adapt and orient themselves to their classroom community and society. Grace and Courtesy lessons are presented as part of the Practical Life curriculum. These lessons present the child with elements of human conviviality and how we interact with each other in different social contexts. Formal control of movement exercises such as Walking on the Line provide the children with the opportunity to learn about their own bodies and movement while refining their gross coordination.
Practical Life activities also provide direct and indirect preparations for Sensorial, Language and Math lessons. They include the development of work ethic, moving from left to right and top to bottom (pattern for writing and reading), the refinement of pincer grip and finger strength as well as the ability to follow a logical sequence of steps with order and precision.
Children learn specific skills using Practical Life materials. Through engagement with these activities, children are provided with the opportunity to gain a greater sense of independence while developing their concentrative abilities. For example, a new student may start transferring lentils from one container to another by the use of a spoon. This focuses the child on a specific aim: move all the lentils by using a tool that is an extension to the hand. The physical act of holding a spoon and moving the lentils helps develops fine motor skills and grasp. The child learns to notice when a lentil spills or lentils are left in one bowl or the other, seeing what the desirable outcome is. The child will then strive to perfect his/her work because the procedure is self-correcting; that is, the child knows when the task has not been performed properly. This procedure builds concentration and sustained focus. By observing other children in the environment performing similar tasks, the child increases his/her observational skills. Successful completion of the task encourages independence and imbues the child a sense of pride and self-esteem. Eventually, after much practice, the child will master this method of transferring grains and will be ready for more complex activities, such as transferring water or pouring beans/water between two pitchers.
Throughout their primary years, children are presented with a progression of exercises with higher levels of complexity. These help to foster the development of greater fine motor skills and sustained focus. To an adult, these activities may appear quite simple; to the child, they are highly purposeful and an essential component in the Montessori classroom. During Parent Observation Week, take the time to notice children pouring, polishing, sweeping, spooning, washing hands, and transferring grains. Keep in mind that these meaningful activities not only prepare the children for practical living, but are vital to the development of their cognitive, emotional and physical abilities. The capacity for focused concentration, to perform independent actions and maintain self-control are qualities that serve children well in the Montessori classroom and beyond as they grow into confident, self-aware and well-adjusted individuals.
Though it is a dedicated area in the environment, language is woven throughout your child’s experience long before she will ever use the formal Montessori Language materials.
Dr Montessori recognized that children under the age of 6 are going through what she coined a “sensitive period” towards the acquisition of language. They show a true affinity towards language and are observed to be specifically drawn to the human voice, especially their own mother’s voice. At this time, children have a very strong ability to take in and retain new information related to language. For example, they love big words and are enthralled with learning new songs and stories, which they pick up with great ease. We aim to make the most of this time while the child experiences effortless and joyful learning.
During this sensitive period towards language, the child goes through three explosions, or identifiable peaks, in their development of language. The first is an explosion into spoken language, which occurs around two years of age; the second is into written language, around 4 to 4.5 years old; and finally into reading around age 5. Dr Montessori understood that children respond to materials that engage each sensitive period when presented at the right time in their individual development. All children will reach these peaks in their own time. These age parameters are just to provide a general idea.
In essence, language is communication, and we begin of course, with Spoken Language, the foundation of this area. Spoken Language “lessons” begin from the moment the children enter the environment. This is done with a greeting at the door, which is the first Grace & Courtesy lesson. Grace & Courtesy is built on the idea that children are looking for the “how to’s” of our society. We help them to build their own community by giving short lessons and providing role playing opportunities to learn everything from “how to ask someone not to observe” to “how to make room for someone to pass” to “how to give compliments”. The children love the opportunity to role play and soon after, you can hear the difference these verbal tools really make!
We provide Vocabulary throughout their experience, as we introduce areas of the environment, names of materials, names of objects in the environment, basically anything the child can touch or use has a proper name and we ensure to name it for them. Other vocabulary given includes names of qualities of the Sensorial material, given by way of a three-period lesson. Names of the classified cards provide classification, vocabulary from a theme, such as “items in the kitchen.”
Spoken Language also includes “Language Training” which builds a love for language through Stories, songs, poems, finger plays, question games, oral composition, and conversation. Finally, Sound Games are used to help children begin to recognize that words are made up of sounds. We present a set number of objects in the lesson and ask children to identify the beginning, ending or middle sounds of the words as their understanding develops.
Poetry
Through her observations, Dr Montessori recognized that children are ready to write before they are able to read, as breaking down one’s own words into component sounds are easier than the synthesis that is needed in reading to sound something out and come up with the word and meaning intended. Written language begins with the Sandpaper Letters, building the child’s first visual and tactile experience with the sounds explored in the sound games. We work with the cursive alphabet given Dr Montessori’s observations of young children’s inherent scribbling in a curvilinear fashion. (Print is introduced and used within reading activities.) In most cases, we do not need to directly teach the print alphabet, as children learn this mostly through their exposure to print.
Once your child knows at least half of the sounds and symbols, we introduce the Movable Alphabet. With this, children are able to express thoughts and ideas with symbols before they are physically able to write themselves. Dr Montessori noted that the mind is able to write before the hand has reached the development necessary. The Movable Alphabet makes the exploration into writing possible without the pencil.
Writing requires many indirect preparations long before your child is introduced to materials in the language area. For example, the polishing wood exercise found in our Practical Life materials, includes many manual preparations such as applying the oil from left to right, top to bottom and in a semicircular motion. Further, the sequence of these prior activities helps to build logic and sequence within the child’s mind, which helps with the order required for language, as writing requires syntax or grammar, the correct ordering of sounds, words, and phrases in order to be comprehensible to the reader. Other manual preparations include lightness of touch, staying within limits, following a contour, and developing the pincer grip.
All of these physical preparations come together in the Metal Insets material, which was presented on the night of our workshop. In this exercise, the child works to hold the stencil steady, trace around and within it, using a correctly held pencil and colouring within the shapes that are created using a soft stroke moving from left to right. There are seven stages to this material offering several ways to create beautiful designs while practicing the skills needed for strong penmanship.
The process of handwriting begins with a chalkboard, moving to writing on a line, between lines and finally on paper, following a similar process of introducing lines. The length of this process varies depending on the child.
What is interesting at this stage is that even though a child is able to write her thoughts using either a pencil or the moveable alphabet, it is likely that she will may be able to read it all back to us if asked. However, after some time of practice with these materials, and almost spontaneously, the child will look at a word she or another child has written and read it out! At this time, we see the child is ready to be introduced to the aspects of reading. Writing from here on is presented and used in parallel to the reading activities.
Reading is basically being able to decipher and understand a written message of another. It starts with mechanical reading where the child is able to sound out and link the various letters into words. The child does not fully grasp the intention or emotions passed on by the author, but is able to read the words on the page. From here, the child will eventually move towards total reading where the reader understands everything that the author wants to convey.
Our reading exercises begin with the phonetic object box, where our philosophy of using concrete materials to develop understanding is put to use. We also have a phonogram object box to introduce the concept of phonograms to the children, where two sounds placed together create an entirely different sound. In puzzle words children are introduced to words that cannot be sounded out, such as “I” and “the”, where no rules are followed. The child is also introduced to reading classification exercises which include things like labeling the environment, using the classified cards with labels, and exploring scientific vocabulary through definition booklets.
Phonogram Lists
Once children are easily reading, we move towards further exploring reading through activities like Word Study, looking at how words relate to each other, such as homonyms, antonyms, synonyms, plurals, and compound words. The Function of Words is introduced, giving children the opportunity to explore the article, noun, adjective, verb, etc. and symbolize these within a phrase or sentence. Advanced materials such as Reading Analysis offers children a further understanding of what they have read. The child, when using these materials becomes conscious of the change in style or meaning when words are moved around. Through each of these, the child develops a deeper understanding of syntax.
Word Study Lists
Interpretive Reading exercises are also used to help the child explore the meaning of text with the opportunity to dramatize what is read. This, along with other informal language lessons such as regular read-alouds leads children towards an appreciation for language beyond the dry understanding of words. In short, our environment is one that engages and delights the child through creative expressions with language in conversation, wordplay, songs, literature, drama and of course, the formal Montessori Language lessons.
Activities such as pouring, transferring grains and water, flower arranging, care of plants, polishing different types of materials, washing a table, mopping, washing cloths, buttoning, and preparing a snack allow children to engage in purposeful and meaningful tasks while developing muscular coordination and manual dexterity. By gaining control of their movements, children not only become more independent but gain greater ability to adapt and orient themselves to their classroom community and society. Grace and Courtesy lessons are presented as part of the Practical Life curriculum. These lessons present the child with elements of human conviviality and how we interact with each other in different social contexts. Formal control of movement exercises such as Walking on the Line provide the children with the opportunity to learn about their own bodies and movement while refining their gross coordination.
Children learn specific skills using 
