Montessori Curriculum

Montessori Curriculum – The Five Areas of Learning

At North American Montessori Center, we approach education in a holistic way and focus on the unique developmental needs of each individual child. There are five key areas of learning in the Montessori environment. Each area helps your child learn and grow by stimulating their development through logical and creative experiences.

Practical Life The exercises in Practical Life cover two main areas of development: care of self and care of the environment. These exercises in daily living provide the foundation for all other activities in the Montessori classroom. Specifically, these activities contribute to the control and coordination of movement, development of concentration, and the self-esteem that comes with making a real contribution to the group.

Sensorial Sensorial experiences began at birth, and children, especially, are “sensorial explorers.” Montessori Sensorial exercises are focused on giving children the keys to study, understand, and classify the things around them. Sensorial exercises provide the first steps in organizing the child’s intelligence which leads to them being able to adapt to their environment.

Math All of the child’s work with Practical Life and Sensorial exercises brings order to their experiences and prepares them to further explore and mature their mathematical mind. Young minds are full of energy that propels them to absorb, manipulate, classify, order, sequence, abstract, and repeat. Montessori math exercises lead the child through progressive, hands-on activities and emphasize concepts while preparing the child for abstractions.

Language Language given to children within the context of their experiences is essential to Montessori education. Children need to know the names, labels, and the meanings of things in their environment for them to have relevancy. The transition to reading and writing is dependent on a strong vocabulary, and a child who is taught through varied experiences will develop a well-rounded vocabulary. Montessori Language exercises help children express thoughts and understand and interpret the thoughts of others.

Culture Montessori Culture exercises provide children with an opportunity to explore the larger world. Students learn about people, terrain, and animals through a rich exploration of the different cultures of the world. By celebrating other traditions with food, music, and stories, children can begin to see the uniqueness of other cultures, yet come to understand how much we all have in common.

5 Learnign Areas of Montessori Method mobile

Practical Life

Montessori practical life exercises are designed to prepare your child for daily living by teaching them how to interact with their environment. These exercises are meant to resemble everyday activities as they use materials that are both breakable and functional. This area of learning sets the foundation for all other activities in the Montessori education — it reinforces the Montessori principles of independence, coordination, concentration, self-control, self-awareness, and confidence.

Practical life exercises include care of self and care of the environment, such as:

Food preparation
Dressing
Grooming
Hand washing
Refining movements
Moving quietly
Cleaning
Gardening
Care of pets
Manners
Social interactions
etc.

Sensorial

Montessori sensorial exercises focus on developing your child’s ability to understand and adapt to their environment. This area of learning includes the manipulation of specifically designed materials that isolate the senses. Exposure to sensory information, such as dimension, color, shape, texture, smell, and taste, helps your child classify and categorize the things around them as they explore the world.

Sensorial exercises allow your child to refine each of their senses:

Sight (visual)
Touch (tactile)
Smell (olfactory)
Taste (gustatory)
Sound (auditory)
Stereognostic (kinaesthetic)

Mathematics

Montessori math exercises focus on bringing order to your child’s experiences. This area of learning prepares the mind for further exploration by first introducing sequential work including an understanding of numbers through ten. Each exercise builds upon another and your child gradually moves from concrete to abstract areas such as place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and fractions. Activities dealing with mathematics are not implemented at a set pace, allowing your child to grow at their own natural pace.

Math exercises use hands-on materials such as:

Number rods
Sandpaper numbers
Number boards
Spindle box
Number tiles
Beads
Games
etc.

Language

Montessori language exercises focus on increasing your child’s listening skills, comprehension, and vocabulary. Scientific research backs up the Montessori belief that children are born with what they need to develop language and that they absorb language with little effort. Since your child creates an internal understanding of their environment, they must practice using these words during this early stage of life. This area of learning is designed to help your child experience different modes of language within their environment. Building a strong vocabulary sets the foundation for understanding the importance of communication and developing increased reading and writing skills.

Cultural

Montessori cultural exercises focus on allowing your child to experience their place in the world and gain an appreciation and respect for differences. These exercises explore their culture and others while teaching that all beings are fundamentally related. This area of learning helps your child discover the world around them and understand their own significance in it.

Cultural exercises explore a variety of topics, such as:

Geography
Zoology
Science
Botany
History
Art
Music

Benefits of a Montessori Education

One of the factors that make The Montessori Method work so well is its focus on self-motivation. All five curriculum areas encourage children to learn at their own pace.

When following a Montessori curriculum, your child gains: