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Three- and Four-year-olds & Kindergarten
The three- and four-year-old and kindergarten classes are based on the Montessori Method of education. The curriculum is designed to provide instruction and participation in specialized areas helping children to develop fine and gross motor skills, aesthetic appreciation, and intellectual ability. Art and music further enrich the learning experience. Classes are child-centered; the teacher is the guide and observer overseeing the child's exploration of the world. Children learn in a pleasant and stimulating environment with carefully designed, age-appropriate materials.
The classrooms are divided into five main activity areas:
- practical life
- sensorial area
- math activities
- oral and written expression
- environmental studies
In practical life, which includes life skill exercises and creative arts projects, students develop organizational skills and become familiar with cognitive order, care of self, and their environment. In the sensorial area students learn to order, classify, and describe sensorial impressions. The math activities use use manipulatives, so that students may internalize the concepts of numbers, symbols, sequence and operations. The tactile math activities make it easier to memorize pertinent facts. In language arts students engage in many stimulating activities. Using manipulatives students learn to link sound and letter to better express themselves. Children also practice grammar in the context of oral and written expression. Additionally, we read children's literature and perform creative dramatics. In all activities, we encourage self-expression. Finally, children learn about the natural world in environmental studies, which combines the study of science and geography. We teach an awareness of global geography and of the many cultures of our world.
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