Early Childhood Curriculum

Pre-School & Kindergarten
(3 – 6 years old)

During your child’s time in the Early Childhood classroom, he/she will have been exposed an open-ended curriculum, highlights of which are listed below.

• Exercises designed to improve control of the hand
• Table and cloth washing
• Grace and courtesy lessons: how not to interrupt, how to answer the phone, etc.
• Polishing silver, glass, wood and shoes
• Sewing, weaving
• Use of scissors
• Carrot peeling and cutting
• Dressing frames for buttoning, zipping, snapping, buckling and tying
• Care of pets and plants
• Sweeping, dusting, mopping
• Use of screwdriver, hammer, pliers, etc.

• Many exercises for learning the sounds of letters including sandpaper letters
• Writing exercises, sheets and books
• Metal insets to aid in the development of writing
• Material for relating words to objects
• Exercises for phonetic reading
• Special reading books and workbooks
• Phonogram object boxes (sh, ch, ee, etc.)
• Material for sight reading to supplement the phonics
• Whole Language activity
• Library and reading corner
• Grammar units
• Many opportunities for free expression and writing their own stories
• Vocabulary development exercises
• Use of a dictionary

• identification and understanding of numbers 1 – 10,000
• the decimal system
• addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
• fractions
• squaring and cubing
• coins
• telling time
• weights and measures

1. Activities that help the child develop a clear sense of time.
2. Activities that present the story of the universe and people’s role in it.

• magnets
• prisms
• digging in our garden
• anatomy lessons with “Mr Insides”
• puzzles, books, slides and materials on plants, animals and minerals
• various activities on the dinosaurs are always favorites
• pets and visitors from the animal kingdom over the years have included guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, a rabbit, frog, butterfly, snake, fish and hatching baby chicks.

• painting, with instruction and exercises on color mixing and brush strokes
• crafts, with emphasis on the use of natural materials
• material on the fundamentals of drawing
• books on famous artists and their paintings

A few educational principles of Dr. Maria Montessori:

• Educational research indicates that children ages 3 – 6 are fully capable of learning meaningful things, and that intellectual stimulation given at this age level helps set the foundation for later academic success. A program of play does not help the young child to organize his/her mental processes, which is necessary for academic success. Therefore, a Montessori program is a learning program with a curriculum.
• The children find their work-play environment thoroughly satisfying and enjoyable.
• Montessori is interested in the development of the whole child – not just the intellectual. The goal of a good Montessori program is the integration of the child’s personality and the organization of his thought processes. This provides the basis for later academic success, and is accomplished through direct experiences with meaningful activities and materials. Dr. Montessori puts it this way: “Develop interest rather than give facts.”
• Young children have amazing mental concentration if given activities and material that fulfill their need to grow and discover themselves.
• Children will prefer meaningful work to play.
• The classroom is ungraded, permitting the children to learn according to their ability and not forcing them to keep within a particular age group. No grades are given; the children’s accomplishments are their rewards.
• Allow each child to experience the excitement of learning by his/her own choice, and he/she will maximize their potential to become an independent, secure, loving and balanced human being.
• Your child literally absorbs knowledge from his/her environment. Therefore, if this environment is enriched with special material suited to their needs, the child can learn easily and joyfully.
• Children can learn to read, write and work with numbers in the same natural way that they learn to walk and talk.
• In order for the child’s ability to expand at the same rate as their interest and aptitude, it is best to start the Montessori experience at age three.
• Gently saying “no” to a child and setting reasonable limits does not suppress qualities within the child. Rather, it aids his/her development by giving them a basis for making judgments. No child is happy without a sense of self-discipline and order.
• When a young child has a positive experience with the learning process, it influences them for the rest of their life.