Montessori 3-6 Curriculum
Practical Life
Practical life forms the core of the child’s work. This area aids the child’s development in: care of the person, care of the environment, control of movement and social relations. This area is the foundation for subsequent academic learning because it provides:
A sense of order; a task’s beginning, middle, and end
A sense of independence- “I can do it by myself.”
A sense of coordination- the child brings his/her muscles under his/her own control.
Most important of all, an ability to concentrate, because learning can only occur when concentration is present.
Tasks are broken down into simple steps so that the children learn to button, tie, zip, buckle, pour, wash tables and chairs, polish silvers, brass and wood, wash and hang clothes, sweep the floor, prepare and serve food for themselves and others, all with grace and courtesy. As soon as the child has the basis for integrity; given by the experiences of practical life, she/he moves to sensorial.
Major Components of Practical Life:
I. Transitional Materials
A. Puzzles
B. Bead Stringing
C. Peg Boards
D. Nesting Barrels
E. Stacking Towers
F. Pop-it Beads
II. Care of Person
A. Personal Care and Habits
B. Dressing Frames
C. Grooming
III. Care of the Environment
A. Bathroom Structure and Procedures
B. Carrying (rugs, trays, boxes, chairs, tables, etc.)
C. Cleaning
D. Polishing
E. Care of Plants/Classroom Animals
F. Food Preparation
G. Outdoor Environment
IV. Fine Muscle Development
A. Pouring (dry and liquid)
B. Squeezing (grasping, clamping, sorting, bubbles, tongs, droppers, scissors, pasting, etc.)
C. Twisting (spooning, screw drivers, lids and containers, suds whipping, hammering, etc.)
V. Gross Muscle Development
A. Indoor/Outdoor Play and Games
VI. Social Development
A. Snack Time
B. Grace and Courtesy
VII. Control of Movement
A. Walking on a line
B. Silence
C. Line Activities
Sensorial Area
Between birth and six years, the child has a special sensitivity to sensorial impressions. Therefore, Dr. Montessori designed sensorial materials to help the child develop his/her senses and powers of observation. This development of children’s physical sense enhances their readiness for greater intellectual work. The child works with Montessori sensorial materials designed to develop and train his/her sense of:
Taste: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, etc.
Hearing: pitch, tone, loud and soft, etc.
Sight: many series of blocks for long and short, broad and narrow, small large, and puzzles with geometric shapes
Touch: smooth and rough, hot and cold, heavy and light, etc.
Smell: spices, herbs, flower scents, etc.
There are also activities for the development of the senses of balance, and concepts such as shortest to longest, smallest to biggest, smooth to rough, and color tints.
Through the use of these materials, children begin to sharpen their awareness and increase their perception of the world around them.
Major Components of Sensorial:
I. Visual Sense
A. Sizes
B. Colors
C. Forms
II. Muscular-Tactile Sense (Touch)
A. Finger Sensitizing
B. Surfaces
C. Textures
D. Stereognosis (Tactile Discrimination)
E. Temperature Discrimination
F. Pressure/Weight Discrimination
III. Auditory Sense
A. Sounds
B. Tones
IV. Olfactory
A. Smell Discrimination
V. Gustatory
B. Taste Discrimination
Math
Concepts of Montessori math are always first presented in concrete, manipulative terms, and only later when the child has understood the meaning and use of symbols by using Montessori materials are more abstract forms introduced. The materials are designed to help the child understand basic mathematical concepts, beginning with 1-10 (sandpaper numbers), associating quantity and numerals (spindle boxes) and extending to the concepts of the decimal system and place value. As the child progresses, materials such as the bead stair are used for working with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Children in a Montessori class never sit down to memorize addition and subtraction facts; they don’t simply memorize multiplication tables. Rather, they learn these facts by actually performing the operation with physical materials.
Major Components of Mathematics:
I. History of Mathematics
II. Number Sense
A. Numbers to Ten
B. Number Rods
C. Sandpaper Numbers
D. Number Rods & Number Cards
E. Zero Activity
F. Spindle Boxes
G. Memory Game of Numbers
H. Numbers & Counters
I. Math Step Board
J. Short Bead Stair
K. Teens & Tens
L. Formation of Quantities 11 to 19 with Bead Material
M. Formation of Numerals 11 to 1 with Teen Boards
N. Teen Frame
O. Formation of Quantities 10 to 90 with Bead Material
P. Introducing the Numerals 10 to 90 with Ten Boards
Q. Formation of Quantities 11 to 99 with Bead Material
R. Formation of Numerals 11 to 99 with Ten Boards
S. Hundred Board
III. Decimal System
A. Introducing the Decimal System
B. Bead Material
C. Presentation with the Large Number Cards
D. Counting the Decimal System Material
E. Counting the Large Number Cards
F. Combining the Decimal System
G. Bead Material & Number Cards
H. Change (Bank) Game
IV. The Four Operations:
A. Stamp Game:
B. Dot Game
C. Short Chains
D. Long Chains
A. Addition (short bead stair, small number rods, snake game, strip board)
B. Subtraction (short bead stair, small number rods, negative snake game, strip board)
C. Multiplication (multiplication board)
D. Division (division board)
Language Area
Although language is one the four basic learning areas in a Montessori class, it spans every other area. Language consists of verbal skills, visual perception, and small muscle coordination. Therefore, language education begins with listening games, training the hand with the metal insets and puzzles, and familiarizing the child with the symbols of the alphabet using the sandpaper letters. The period for writing generally occurs between ages 3-1/2 and 4-1/2, and development in this area leads directly into the period for reading between 4 and 5.
A complete reading system is available to the students. Through the use of these materials, students gain an understanding that separate sounds can be blended together to make words. Even the learning of reading incorporates movement, from the tracing of the sandpaper letters to manipulating the letters of the movable alphabet to form words.
Major Components of Language :
I. History of the Written Language
II. Phonetics
A. Phonetic Objects
B. Phonetic Pictures
C. Phonetic Picture Cards
D. Phonetic Booklets
E. Phonetic Word Lists
F. “I Spy” With Sound Pouches
G. Combining Sandpaper Letters & Objects from the Sound Pouches
H. Pink, Blue, Yellow Material (consonant-vowel-consonant, double consonant blends, etc.)
III. Writing
A. Metal Insets
B. Sandpaper Letters
C. Phonetic Alphabet Scrapbook
D. Placing Letters on Lines
E. Printing and Sound Booklets
F. Large Movable Alphabet
G. Creative Writing
IV. Language
A. Language Mystery Bag
B. Parts of Speech
C. Introducing the Noun
D. Naming the Farm/House with Nouns
E. Introducing the Article
F. Naming the Farm/House with Nouns & Articles
G. Introducing the Adjective
H. Naming the Farm/House with Nouns, Articles & Adjectives
I. Introducing the Verb
J. Naming the Farm/House with Nouns, Articles, Adjectives & Verbs
K. Word Bank Activity
V. Literature/Reading
A. Reciting Poetry and Songs
B. Children’s Storybooks
C. Non-fiction Text
D. High-Frequency Sight Words (HFSW)
E. Sight Word Bingo
Geography /Cultural Studies/Science and Nature
The children are introduced to the three basic elements: land, air, and water. At first, the students use large wooden continent puzzle maps simply as puzzles. Gradually they learn the names of the continents, and then move on to country maps, studying climate, people and products. Culture units then cover food, dress and music from different countries, while typical geography units include world flags, land formations, the globe, beginning mapping (exploration of the neighborhood) and even the solar system. Hands-on projects reinforce geographic concepts, such as actually making island and peninsula land formations out of clay.
Students learn science and nature through simple experiments with familiar materials, such as sink/float and magnetic/non-magnetic as well as hands-on experiences of gardening, seeds and flowers. The students will also classify living/non-living, plant/animal and vertebrate/invertebrate. Classroom science units cover such topics as minerals, the official cycle of a butterfly, bones and skeletons, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds. In addition, the calendar, seasons and telling time will be covered.
Major Components of Culture/Science:
I. Introduction to Geography
A. Land, Water & Air
B. The Globe
C. The Continents
D. Geography Pictures
E. The Continent Puzzle Maps
F. Land and Water Forms
G. Flags of the World
II. Introduction to History
A. The Calendar
B. Seasons
C. Sequence of Day
D. Family Tree
E. “Walk Around the Sun” Birthday Celebrations
F. Time Line of Child's Life
G. Stories of Famous People
III. Introduction to Botany
A. Introducing the Plant
B. Parts of the Plant
C. Parts of the Root
D. The Function of the Root
E. Parts of the Stem
F. The Function of the Stem
G. Parts of the Leaf
H. Parts of the Flower
I. Parts of the Fruit
J. Parts of the Seed
K. Growing Plants
IV. Introduction to Zoology
A. Vertebrates and Invertebrates
B. Classes of Animal Folders
C. Animals of the World
D. The Fish
E. The Frog
F. The Turtle
G. The Bird
H. The Horse
V. Introduction to Science
A. Magic Mixture
B. Vanishing Sugars
C. Disappearing Water
D. How Hard is Ice?
E. Sink or Float
F. Volcanoes
G. Sickly Plants
H. Colored Carnations
I. Magnetic Attraction
J. Copper Cleaning
