Purpose and Goal

Dr. Montessori believed that no human being is educated by another person. The young child possesses what Montessori termed "the absorbent mind" and seeks to build or construct his/her very being. Truly educated individuals continue to learn long after the hours and years spent in the classroom because they are motivated from within by a natural curiosity and quest for knowledge.

Dr. Montessori felt, therefore, that the goal of early childhood education should not be to fill the child with facts from a pre-selected course of studies, but rather to cultivate the child's own natural desire to learn. Most lessons in the Children's House environment are given as individual presentations because the young child is creating his/her own intellect and personality.

In the Children's House environment, this objective is approached in two ways: first, by allowing each child to experience the excitement of learning by his/her own choice rather than by being led; and second, by helping the child perfect his/her natural tools for learning, so that the child's abilities will be maximized for future learning situations. Montessori materials have this dual, long-range purpose in addition to their immediate purpose of giving specific information to the child.

Practical Life Exercises

For young children, there is something special about tasks which an adult considers ordinary--washing dishes, paring vegetables, polishing shoes, etc. These tasks, which to adults may seem mundane, are intriguing to children because they allow them to act as adults do. Imitation is one of the strongest urges during the child's early years. One of the child's first and fundamental tasks is to adapt and orient himself/herself to her immediate environment.

In the Practical Life area of the classroom, the exercises and activities help children perfect their coordination as they repeat and become absorbed in an activity. Children gradually lengthen their span of concentration and also learn to pay attention to details as they follow a regular sequence of actions. Finally, through the exercises of practical life, the children learn life-long working habits: orientation to tasks, perseverance, self-directedness, satisfaction and a confidence they transfer to later academic work.

Sensorial Exercises

The sensorial materials in the Montessori classroom help children to distinguish, to categorize, and to relate new information to what they already know. Dr. Montessori believed that this process is the beginning of conscious knowledge. It is brought about by the intelligence working in a concentrated and ordered way on the impressions the child has collected through his/her senses.

Children learn about their world by comparing. sequencing and abstracting different heights, lengths, weights, colors, sounds, smells, shapes and textures. Through working with concrete materials that help them abstract these qualities, children build their intellect by generalizing from the concrete to the abstract.

Mathematics

Dr. Montessori demonstrated that if children have access to concrete mathematical materials in their early years, they can easily and joyfully assimilate many facts and skills of arithmetic. Montessori designed materials to represent all types of quantities, after she observed that children who become interested in counting like to touch or move the items as they enumerate them. By combining these materials, separating, sharing, counting, and comparing, children can demonstrate to themselves the basic operations of mathematics.

The children's early experiences with these materials form a solid foundation that supports the understanding of abstract mathematical concepts introduced in the elementary years.

Language

The Montessori classroom provides rich opportunities to develop and enhance oral language, vocabulary enrichment and language appreciation. The individual presentation of language materials in a Montessori environment allows the teacher to take advantage of each child's greatest periods of interest.

Children learn the phonetic sounds of letters before they learn the alphabetical names in a sequence. The phonetic sounds are given first because these are the sounds children hear in spoken words and the most easily lead the child to reading. Phoneme awareness is practiced with "I Spy" games and other activities the children enjoy. The children then become aware of the symbols that represent the phonetic sounds when the teacher introduces them with activities such as Sandpaper Letters.

The individual presentation of language materials in a Montessori environment allows the teacher to take advantage of each child's greatest periods of interest. Writing, or the construction of words with the "moveable alphabet," precedes reading because the decoding of words follows phoneme awareness as the first step to reading. The child begins by creating simple 3-letter phonetic words and moves on to reading phonetic words.

Gradually the children learn irregular words ("puzzle words") and words with two and three syllables by performing many reading exercises that offer the child variety rather than monotonous repetition. Proceeding at their own pace, children are encouraged to read about things that interest them. Beginning grammar is then presented through games and activities.

The child's interest in reading is cultivated as the most important key to his/her future learning. Children are encouraged to explore books for answers to their own questions, whether they are about frogs, rockets, stars, or dinosaurs.

Other Areas

Additional materials are available for children to pursue their interests in such topics as geography, geometry, science and nature, art, music, and history. Large motor activities, group discussions, stories, and songs are also part of the Montessori Children's House day.

All Day Montessori: Extended Care

All Day Montessori classes meet Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

For 3-4 Year Olds: Extended Care

This program, one of the first of its kind in the United States, has been carefully designed with the help of the North American Montessori Teachers Association (NAMTA) for children ages 3-4 who require extended care for more than our half day Children's House experience . Casa 3 has been designated as the All Day Montessori environment and is staffed by two trained Montessorians whose hours overlap and assistants who span morning and afternoon hours.

Traditionally, "day care" in Montessori schools required the children to make a transition to a day care room (enrichment center) after the three-hour morning program ended. This meant a transition to different staff members, a different community of children, and a different environment. Research indicates that these transitions are very difficult for the young child, who requires consistency and order in his/her day.

All Day Montessori at Oak Hill means just that - and is designed to eliminate unnecessary transitions, allowing the child to remain in the familiar and protected Children's House setting for the full day. The Montessori environment offers an ideal child care situation. providing a range of activities to serve the child's developmental, physical and emotional needs.

The children who enroll in the All Day program will find that it is an extension of their home environment. After the three-hour Children's House morning cycle, the children play outside in our beautiful outdoor environment. Then they have a full hour for lunch, which encompasses family rituals: the children share responsibility for setting tables and for cleaning up after meals, they use china plates, glassware and cloth napkins. All this takes place in the "round room," which serves as an extension of the Children's House environment of Casa 3.

After lunch, the door between the classroom and the round room is closed to offer a protective environment for those who rest or nap, while the other children resume working with Montessori materials and activities. The afternoon portion of the day also provides the All Day child with opportunities for outside play and care of the outdoor environment.

All Day Montessori: Kindergarten Year

All Day Montessori classes meet Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

For 5-6 Year Olds: Kindergarten Year

This program, one of the first of its kind in the United States, has been carefully designed with the help of the North American Montessori Teachers Association (NAMTA) to specifically meet the needs of children ages 5-6.

Children who are experiencing their Kindergarten year continue their Children's House experience in a full day setting. This child has reached a level of maturity requiring a longer work cycle and this rich exploration is the culmination of their Children's House experience resulting in the reinforcement of reading and math skills in preparation for entering elementary. This is also the period which allows the child to become a leader in the community, and provides greater opportunities for socialization with peers in the afternoon hours.