Early Childhood Curriculum
Ages 2 ½ through 6 years

Practical Life
The Practical Life lessons are the first level of work for all children and are a link to the child's home environment, aiding adaptation and orientation to the child's society and culture. The materials involve precise movements and procedures, which aid large and fine motor development. The child's attention span and concentration are strengthened through repeated and increasingly complex activities. Sequential and orderly work habits, independence, and self-control are established with this area. The early social courtesy behaviors, class procedures and expectations are introduced through Practical Life. This preparation is essential for success in the academic areas.

Grace and Courtesy: Class ground rules, social manners, carrying and walking respectfully, conversation and self-expression, table manners and self-care.

Motor Skills and Coordination: Eye-hand coordination, fine and large motor control, pencil grasp, sequencing judgment, left-to-right and top-to-bottom sequence, spatial awareness and body coordination.

Care of Self: Dressing/undressing, hand and face washing, independence with personal hygiene, and care of personal belongings.

Care of Environment: Washing and polishing materials and furniture, plant care and flower arrangement, animal care, setting and clearing tables, respecting materials and environment, returning work when finished, and related environmental activities including the outside environment.

Food Preparation: Pouring, slicing, stirring, peeling, grinding, chopping, measuring, mixing and following a recipe.

Sensorial
The Sensorial materials isolate a particular quality and refine the sense-perceptual skills. These are materialized abstractions which give the child concrete experiences with concepts. By working with matching and gradations of size, shape, form, color, texture, sound, and taste, the child's senses are refined and perceptual awareness is intensified. The sensorial materials are a direct preparation for the development of mathematical thinking and the math lessons.

Visual: Matching and grading colors and corresponding vocabulary; size matching and gradations with cubes, lengths, prisms and corresponding vocabulary; geometric forms and shapes matching, gradations and vocabulary and definitions.

Auditory: Matching and gradations of sounds and musical tones and rhythm instruments.

Gustatory and Olfactory: Recognizing and identifying tastes and smells.

Discrimination Skills: Recognizing same, similar, differences and gradations.

Language
The Language materials are incorporated through many daily experiences. Children between birth and six years are in a long sensitive period for language. Language is the means whereby humans become part of the cultural group to which they belong. It is through language that the child acquires the history, social values and behavior of his/her society. The child is continually developing oral language and communication skills, preparing for writing, reading, and grammar academic work.

Oral Language: Listening and communication skills, auditory discrimination, and vocabulary development.

Writing: Sandpaper letters, metal insets, moveable alphabet, and penmanship.

Reading: Phonetic object boxes, phonetic reading, sight words, phonograms, reading
classification, function of words, alphabetizing, word study, and simple research.

Mathematics
The Mathematical thinking and reasoning skills are developed through precision, order, and logical processing. The Early Childhood Montessori math is process oriented and the abstract concepts are developed through manipulating concrete materials and learning mathematical language.

Numeration and Linear Counting: Discovering the relationship between quantity and symbol; counting 1-10, teens, twenties, to 100, 1000 and skip counting.

Decimal System and Concept of Operations: Discovering the relationship between quantity and quality of ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands; addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division using the decimal materials.

Reinforcement of Operations: Working toward abstraction using the Stamp Game and Dot Game for the four operations.

Memorization: Using boards and charts for the purpose of math fact memorization.

Math Concepts: Working with clocks, money, measurement, and fractions.

Science
The Science curriculum includes the physical sciences, basic zoology classifications, and botany forms. Along with seasons, weather, and an introduction to simple experiments, the children gain a sense of scientific wonder.

Cultural
The Cultural subjects teach the interrelatedness of all things through the study of geography, history and cultures. The cultural concepts are introduced through the use of concrete materials and the corresponding oral language lessons. Most importantly, the cultural subjects develop the child's innate sense of discovery and wonder.

Arts
The Arts are integrated within the curriculum, beginning with basic skills and procedures gained through Practical Life lessons, and perceptual skills are refined with Sensorial lessons. The arts media are used with the Cultural lessons and fine arts are explored through various media. Music is explored through singing, rhythm work and movement activities.

The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes
530 East Day Road • Mishawaka, Indiana 46545
Phone 574.256.5313 • Fax 574.256.5493 • www.tma-el.org
Webmaster contact: m.sheetz@mchsi.com