“The essential thing is to arouse such an interest that it engages the child’s whole personality.”
Maria Montessori
Dr. Montessori observed that children pass through definite periods of sensitivity for acquiring knowledge and skills. The classrooms at Four Seasons Montessori are organized to facilitate learning in the following areas:
Step 1 – The Observation
Set a date and time to observe a classroom in session. This half hour visit provides you with a first-hand experience of our programs.
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Practical Life exercises relate directly to daily living; they are activities children observe being carried out everyday in the world around them. For young children, there is something special about the tasks that adults consider ordinary: washing dishes, paring vegetables, sewing a button, sweeping, etc.
By manipulating the materials, children develop the fine motor control, coordination, concentration and organization that is essential for future work with the more complex academic materials.
Dr. Montessori put great value in the child’s ability to care for oneself. At Four Seasons Montessori your child will gain independence and good work habits, and will learn how to care for oneself and the environment through the work with the Practical Life activities.
The Sensorial materials help in refining the child’s senses. Young children use their senses to explore the world around them, making this the ideal time to provide experiences that will sharpen the senses and enable them to distinguish, categorize and understand the many impressions received. These skills are the building blocks for organization and problem solving abilities.
At Four Seasons Montessori your child will have the opportunity to do matching and grading activities with the Sensorial materials according to colour, texture, weight, size, shape, sound and smell. Dr. Montessori believed that this process of educating and training the senses to be able to discriminate and appreciate sensory impressions is the beginning of conscious knowledge.
Dr. Montessori discovered that children are sound conscious well before the age of three. The Language materials are designed to meet this need. In a Montessori classroom children learn the phonetic sounds of the letters first because these are the sounds they need to be able to read.
Gradually the rules of grammar are introduced with different games. In parallel, the hand is being prepared for writing with materials designed to perfect the motor skills required to use a writing tool and form letters.
Sometime during the years when a child is in a Montessori class, an exciting thing happens. After working with the materials, a day comes when he realizes that he is able to express his thoughts on paper with a pencil. Dr. Montessori called this phenomena the “explosion into writing.”
When writing begins in this spontaneous way, writing is effortless and fun! Because the child has already learned control, the repetition necessary for developing neatness and style does not tire him.
The Montessori Mathematics materials are extensive, beginning with the concrete and moving into the abstract, allowing continual challenge and growth in the area.
Young children love to count, taking pleasure in the rhythm and the language of numbers. Dr. Montessori demonstrated that, when children have access to mathematical materials at a young age, they will easily and joyfully assimilate many facts and skills of arithmetic.
At Four Seasons Montessori your child will enjoy the opportunity to manipulate concrete materials that represent various mathematical quantities. The beauty of the coloured beads and lacquered wood number cards invite children to touch and to move them around as they count, separate, share and compare the equipment, learning the basic operations of arithmetic.
At Four Seasons Montessori geography is an integral part of the curriculum. The children gain an awareness of the world around them by exploring other countries, their customs, language, music, art, people, animals, flora and fauna, and climate. This helps to raise their consciousness about other people, to gain an understanding and tolerance and, therefore, compassion for all people in the world.
Children begin with the study of the globe, then the land and water forms, followed by the continents and individual countries. The materials include colour-coded wood puzzle maps, flags of the world, geography folders with pictures for each continent, and small animal figures.
Music is a vital part of the classroom environment. Our daily group time includes songs and finger plays. Musical instruments are provided for the children and are used to teach songs, rhythm, listening skills and a love of music. At Four Seasons Montessori classical and world music are played in the classroom to bring a variety of instruments, composers and styles to the child’s awareness.
At Four Seasons Montessori the earth sciences and life sciences are introduced through observation, experimentation and exploration of materials. The areas of science chosen for study are initiated through the curiosity and interests of the children and the curriculum will then be designed to fill these areas of interest.
“The essential thing is to arouse such an interest that it engages the child’s whole personality.”
Maria Montessori
Young children find satisfaction and joy in the creative process. At Four Seasons Montessori we provide a wide variety of experiences and exploration through art.
Each classroom supplies a variety of mediums to work with, including: pencils, pastels, scissors, glue, brushes, paint, and different types of paper. Lessons are given in the use of the artists’ tools, introducing the techniques and language of the genre: Shade, tint, tone, palette, brushstroke, collage, crimson, bronze… On the wall hang beautiful reproductions of artwork representative of various artists, eras, countries, and styles.
Special crafts and activities are done for celebrations and thematic topics.
Outside play is incorporated into the daily programs: 30 minutes per day for the Preschool class; 1 hour per day for the All day class. The children enjoy opportunities for movement through imaginative play, games, and exploration in our natural outdoor setting with large playground and pavilion.
At Four Seasons Montessori we also strive to offer additional opportunities to develop gross motor movement and skills, including dance, yoga and sports. Social interactions and friendships are fostered and strengthened during these shared activities.
At Four Seasons Montessori we recognize how important it is for developing young minds to learn about the world directly from nature. Our large outside space with garden boxes, green house, flower boxes, fruiting bushes, vines and trees provides opportunities for discovery, creativity and learning.
During the course of the day, children can venture outside and learn about the care of the outdoor environment: Raking leaves in the fall, planting flowers, herbs and vegetables in the spring and watering, weeding and harvesting in the summer. They can also record their observations and paint pictures at the outdoor easel or paint rocks for the rock garden.
Benefits to the child include: Coordination, balance, agility, self-awareness and self-expression. Hands-on learning fosters a deep-rooted connection to the earth that will last a lifetime.
At Four Seasons Montessori your child will have the opportunity to participate in extra-curricular activities designed to enhance their Montessori education. The types of activities will vary from year to year and may include: Music, dance, yoga, art, cooking, or a second language.