We have been exploring the Montessori materials this term and the following galleries illustrate how much fun the children have had already. Click any of the galleries below to see all of the photos. Use the back button to come back to this page.
We performed a Nativity play for the parents and we had a visit from Father Christmas.
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Here are some examples of the activities that we got up to in the second half of the Autumn Term.
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The Sensorial apparatus provides the child with activities that have been specifically chosen to heighten the five senses. Where possible each sense is isolated to provide an intense experience. Many of the materials give the child both direct and indirect experiences in the field of mathematics, reading, science and music. The materials help to promote hand-eye co-ordination. The child experiences handling sets of ten objects that have to be place in the correct order. Further exercises include working with sound boxes, touch boards, taste bottles and grading fabrics and textures. The child is also encourages to work with geometric shapes, constructive triangles and geometric solids.
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The Montessori Practical Life Skills Children need to develop concentration. They should be encouraged to learn to do tasks for themselves. The main objectives for including practical life exercises in the Montessori curriculum are to promote independence, concentration, co-ordination, self-esteem, social awareness and intellectual development. There are exercises to develop fine motor skills such as sorting, threading, cutting, sticking and pouring and transferring water. The exercises for care of self include the dressing frames, learning to change shoes and put a coat on. Children should be encouraged to care for the environment and learn the importance of social skills.
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We have had fun going on nature walks to look for signs of Autumn.
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The Montessori Mathematical Material Before the children begin to work with the Maths material they are well prepared. The Practical Life exercises have given them the opportunity to develop logical and sequential thought patterns. This logical order has been complemented by the mathematical order inherent in the Sensorial materials. These materials allow the children to work with the quantities 1 to 10 in several dimensions and with the Maths material they are given their numerical value. Every piece of material isolates one concept and these isolated concepts integrate to form the basis for a further step in the development of the child’s mathematical understanding.
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Communication, Language and Literacy Children develop language skills as a natural process. These include listening, speaking, writing, reading and body language. The Phonic approach to reading is structures and logical and it gives the children skills so they can spell words. It helps them to articulate words clearly and also helps children to tackle new words on their own. The Montessori approach to reading introduces the children to three letter phonic words and this is known as the Pink Series. Good pencil control is important in the early stages of handwriting and this can be helped with the use of the Insets for Design and the Sandpaper letters.
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Creativity emerges as children become absorbed in action and explorations of their own ideas, expressing them through movement, making and transforming things using media and materials such as crayons, paints, scissors, words, sounds, movement, props and make-believe. Creativity involves children in initiating their own learning and making choices and decisions. Children’s responses to what they see, hear and experience through their senses are individual and they way they represent their experiences is unique and valuable. Being creative enables children to explore many processes, media and material and to make new things emerge as a result.
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