The curriculum is designed to develop the intellectual, physical, spiritual, artistic and academic excellence inherent in each child.
We strive to lay a solid foundation for later learning by introducing the young child to activities, exercises and games that will assist him/her in the more intellectual pursuits of Mathematics, Language, Geography, Biology, Science and History.
Taking the individual level of each child into account we promote everyday life skills and provide manifold sensorial experiences.
In order to round up our approach to educate the whole child we include Music, Creative Arts, Physical Education and Peace Education in our program.
The Montessori curriculum is divided into the following core areas of study: Practical Life, Sensorial, Mathematics, Language and Cultural Enrichment.
Practical Life
All children, irrespective of their age, are introduced to practical life exercises and are encouraged to engage in them throughout their preschool time. These exercises satisfy the child’s need to imitate adult behaviour and achieve increasing levels of independence. They serve to lengthen attention span and aid in the development of motor coordination. As time goes by, practical life exercises evolve from care of self into care of others and care of the environment, which lead to activities such as science experimentation and discoveries.
Examples of Practical Life Activities: pouring, sorting, polishing, sewing exercises, hand washing, fruit slicing, pairing, buttoning, tying, snapping, zipping, table scrubbing, sweeping, cutting/pasting, folding, social graces.
Sensorial
The Montessori sensorial apparatus allows the child to classify sensorial impressions in an orderly, organized and scientific manner. Each piece of material isolates one concept and allows the child to absorb and internalize the specific quality. They assist the child in the development and refinement of his sensory organs. These activities prepare the child for the more advanced math and geometry activities of the kindergarten year and provide vocabulary enrichment in the process.
Examples of Sensorial Activities: pink tower, knobbed cylinders, red rods, geometric cabinet, geometric solids, binomial cube, baric tablets, broad stair, knob-less cylinders, colour tablets, constructive triangles, fabric matching, thermic tablets, sound cylinders, rough and smooth boards.
Mathematics
Mathematics is introduced individually as the child demonstrates interest and readiness. The Exercises of Practical Life have given them the opportunity to develop logical and sequential thought patterns. The clear concepts of the sensorial materials laid the foundation for math work. The introduction begins with a clear and concrete sensorial impression, movement and activity on the part of the child combined with the provision of number vocabulary.
The child gradually moves from concrete objects to the abstract level that is required for advanced math work.
Examples of Math Activities: red and blue number rods, sandpaper numerals, spindle box, cards and counters, gold bead material, teen and ten boards.
Language
Namibia is a culturally diverse society and this means that many children will learn more than one language. It is important for children to feel the language they speak at home is valued. We will aim to respect and value bilingual and multilingual children and adults and see them as an asset of the whole school.
In our Montessori environment the child is “bathed” in language, i.e. stories, poetry, songs, rhymes, listening games, matching cards, singing songs are all part of the daily program. Furthermore, the children have the freedom of speech, which means they can talk to friends and teachers at all times. The teachers take the time to listen to the children.
As the teacher ascertains a child’s readiness, the child is introduced to the formal language activities. Language is taught through a variety of multi-sensory activities: visual, auditory, tactile and kinaesthetic.
Examples of Language Activities: Writing activities include gross motor skills, fine motor skills, practical life activities, sensorial activities, metal insets, perceptual games, matching activities, sequencing cards. Reading activities include sandpaper letters, object boxes, classified cards, moveable alphabet, language baskets, grammar studies, phonetic and non-phonetic spelling sequences.
Cultural Materials & Enrichment
Through the cultural materials your child will be engaged in delightful activities that instil a lifelong love of sciences, history, cultures and the arts.
Geography
The large, colourful wooden puzzle maps introduce the children to the maps of continents and countries. They learn about people, customs, food, music and flags of distant countries and the cultural similarities that unite all people. They are introduced to the concepts of land and water formations and weather and climate. A variety of hands-on activities help to reinforce these concepts.
History
Montessori offers the children a concrete presentation of history by letting them work with time lines, clocks and calendars.
Science and Nature
Beautiful sets of cards and puzzles introduce the plant and animal kingdoms. Curiosity is stimulated through natural specimens, discovery projects, and experiments.
Creative Arts
The school has an art area with different papers, drawing materials, and mediums including chalk, crayon, marker, watercolours, coloured pencils etc.. Children are offered open-ended art activities that foster and encourage the great joy that can be found in creating something of their own. Creativity is not curtailed by an imposed curriculum but rather complements the children’s sensory explorations with each medium.
Music and Drama
The children actively participate in singing and use un-pitched percussion instruments to foster an understanding of pitch, dynamics, and further elements of music study. The children are introduced to elements of drama using poetry and nursery rhymes, games, and role plays.
Physical Education
Children engage in two types of physical activities during the year: gross motor activities and yoga. A non-competitive approach is taken in all of the physical education activities.
Outdoor Play
Our children go outside to play and work daily.
It is in the outdoors that children can fully and freely experience motor skills like running, leaping, jumping, climbing and balancing. It is also the most appropriate area for the practice of ball-handling skills, like throwing, catching, and striking. And children can perform skills as pushing a swing, pulling a wagon, and lifting and carrying movable objects.
During outside play time the children invent games, i.e. social/emotional development is impacted. Inventing rules for games (as pre-schoolers like to do) promotes an understanding of why rules are necessary. Although the children are only playing to have fun, they’re learning.