Playgrounds
Class Environments
Toddlers
The time spent in the Toddler Area is among the most important of your child’s
cognitive development. This is the where the true foundation in academic,
cognitive, social and emotional skills are created and nurtured. During this time,
the child is actively seeking out information and learning spoken language
rapidly, as before he had only communicated through non-verbal cues. Toddlers
crave independence, knowledge, order, consistency and exploration of their
environmental surroundings. Therefor our Toddler Environment is carefully
prepared for Toddlers to explore safely and achieve these developmental ideals.
Exposing children to a wide variety of artistic, expressive and technological
subjects at a young age allows the child’s love of learning and aptitude to grow
immensely in a short period of time. After completing one year in the toddler
environment, Toddlers are better able to process, make sense and order of
their surroundings and develop necessary cognitive, social and emotional skills
before moving on to study more advanced academic subjects.
Sports
1. Developing fundamental gross motor skills:
Walking
Running
Jumping
Throwing
Kicking
2. Developing components of physical fitness:
Balance
Coordination
3. Physical development:
Trunk development
Lower body development
Practical Life
Spooning objects (small and large)
Sweeping objects (small)
Pouring objects (wet and dry)
Squeezing objects (small and large)
Care of self: Brushing hair, folding/rolling napkins, folding a sweater,
Dressing one’s self (buttoning, zippering, Velcro, tying, lacing, etc.)
Polishing items (shoes, silver, etc.)
Transferring objects (using the whole hand, tweezers and tongs)
Grading and matching objects (by colour, size, shape, etc.)
Water activities (fishing for objects, basting water, scrubbing table,
making bubbles with whisk, etc.)
Understanding of opposites (on-off, up-down, etc.)
Sensorial
Recognizing and grading objects based upon size, shape and colour.
Differentiating between patterned objects and matching accordingly.
Refining the senses through grading and matching activities such as:
Smelling jars (differentiating between smells)
Sound cylinders (differentiating and matching sounds)
Tasting jars (differentiating between tastes)
Touch boards (feeling rough and smooth objects)
Sight (grading by size, shape and colour)
Motor Skills
The toddler is refining both fine motor skills and gross motor skills.
Fine motor skills are heightened through practical life activities such as
pouring, sorting, etc.
Gross motor skills are heightened in physical activities such as
rhythm/music movement and outdoor play.
Drama
Warming up Bodies through varied activities.
Warming up voices through voice modulation.
Group Interaction.
Remembering Techniques eg. Dance routines.
Interpretation and interactive performing eg. Becoming different
objects.
Working with emotions.
Toddler Environment focuses on mastering these important skills
- Building concentration span.
- Building self-confidence, personal discipline & independence.
- Fine & gross motor skills.
- Hand-eye coordination.
- Order within the environment (cleaning up)
- Listening, comprehension, following directions and classroom rules.
- Ability to share with others.
- Showing empathy towards others.
- Language and verbalization of needs or emotions.
Art
- The Toddler is able to use various materials to express creativity and to
enhance fine motor skills. Language skills are further reinforced through
the child’s description of the art and its personal meaning. - The Toddler makes use of various implements: Brushes, sponges, stamps.
- The Toddler is allowed to explore various crafts: collages, pictures, egg
carton art. - The Toddler engages in Free-Form Art for self-expression and
exploration. - Purposeful art: gift projects for Special Days and Events.
Maths
- Mathematical concepts are introduced to the child using concrete
sensorial materials. - Initial explorations with sensorial materials encourage children to
understand basic maths concepts such as learning number recognition,
counting and sequencing of numbers. - Maths in the Toddler Environment is basic, and focuses on recognizing
numbers 0-9, recognizing and drawing shapes and early quantifying of
numbers. - Sorts objects by shape/ size/ colour.
Language
- Language activities are developing at a rapid rate during the toddler
years. - Nomenclature and Matching Cards introduce foundations for alphabet,
vocabulary and language. Stories, finger plays, singing, and spontaneous
conversation time encourage both social and language skills. - This Area is also aimed at developing wrist movement and lightness of
touch for future writing tasks through work with the Insets By Design
and other tracing activities found within this area.
Computers
- Develop an understanding of how to operate the tablet with their fingers
i.e. Learning how to tap or drag finger across the screen. - Introduce basic functions on the tablet such as how to change the volume
and how to open different applications. - Introduce the concept of Technology into the Environment.
- Integrate concepts learnt in the Environment with the varied Apps on the tablet.
Outdoor Activities
- Some learners prefer working outdoors than in the confines of the
Environment. - Practical Life activities are duplicated using water on outdoor
shelfs. - Science experiments from both the Practical Life and Knowledge
and Understanding of the World Area respectively are also laid out
for the Toddlers to interact with.
Pre-School
If you take a glimpse into a traditional Pre-School Montessori Environment you
will find it abuzz with activity. This Environment offers children experiences in
the Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics and Cultural, (Geography,
History, Science, Art, Sports, Drama, Computers and Music) areas. They are
free to choose their own materials, developing large and fine motor skills as
they interact with the materials, investigating as they explore activities in all
areas of the classroom.
Practical Life
The Practical Life activities are focused around care of self, care of environment, "grace and courtesy," and movement, helping the child to develop particular lifelong skills (for example, zipping or tying, pouring or cutting,greeting a visitor), together with the enhancement of coordination,
concentration, understanding of order and sequence,
and self-confidence.
Language
Language materials are designed to enhance vocabulary and explore both written and spoken language.
Through language-based activities, such as the sandpaper letters and the moveable alphabet, children learn phonetic sounds and how to compose words phonetically.
They progress using concrete materials to compose their own written work, read the work of others, and learn to communicate their unique thoughts and feelings.
your child will develop the small muscle coordination necessary to master writing, through the exercises of practical life and sensorial.
Mathematics
The Pre-Schooler will learn basic mathematical functions and operations by using manipulative materials such as rods, beads, sandpaper numerals, cards and counters, which give concrete form to the abstraction of numbers.
The Montessori materials are self-correcting, thus allowing your child to learn to solve mathematical problems based upon a real experience of the concept.
Computers
Familiarize learners with the tablet and the various programs.
Teach learners basic functions on the tablet i.e. How to change volume,
turn tablet on and off, enter and close different applications.
Develop cognitive thinking through various applications.
Cultural
Cultural activities lead the child to experience music, stories, artwork and items from different cultures.
The areas of geography, science, zoology and botany are all included in this area.
A range of globes, puzzle maps and folders containing pictures
from different countries all help to give the child an insight into
different cultures.
The culture area encourages children to develop their capacity for creation, and develop fine motor skills. Whilst learning to freely express themselves.
Through cultural activities, children develop an awareness and appreciation of the world around them.
Drama
Basic warm ups, vocals and bodies.
Learning poems and monologues.
Group work with dialogue interpretation skills.
Working on imaginative skills, thinking out of the box.
Building stories together.
Charades and understanding of what is being portrayed.
Primary School
Peace Education
It is the great work of the Elementary child to develop a strong self-concept and find a place in the community.
Therefore, the academic and social mission of the Upper Elementary program inspires a dual sense of responsibility in which students learn to take care of their own needs while growing in sensitivity and responsiveness to the greater good.
The result is an atmosphere dominated by an expectation of caring for oneself, for each other, and for the communal physical environment.
In such an atmosphere of mutual respect the student’s own inner clock of development sets the pace and direction of their social and intellectual movement towards independence.
Consequently, the boundaries of the Upper Elementary child’s
environment expand in response to the continuing strides being made toward the ability to reason, both cognitively and morally, as well as the irresistible pull to seek one another’s company and form groups of all kinds in search of lasting individual and community-oriented habits of heart, mind, and hands.
Language
In the Upper Elementary, Language is the holistic thread that binds the Montessori curriculum and ignites the imagination.
Throughout the three-year learning cycle, students develop essential skills and strategies common to all proficient communicators.
They are guided toward awareness, and ultimately a self-monitoring, of their own thought processes when engaging the spoken or written word as it relates to their own depth of comprehension or that of their very own audience.
As these habits of mind take root through introduction to, practice with, and internalization of the rules governing the use of language, the writing process, oral expression, literary analysis and dialogue, and the research process, students begin to experience the active creation and absorption of language as meaningful, sophisticated, and relevant tools for growth.
Mathematics
Mathematics in the Upper Elementary is presented in a scope and
sequence prepared to stimulate the constantly developing abilities of the nine to twelve-year-old.
The Upper Elementary student possesses a mind that has the ability to judge, decipher, deduct, and reason: thus, to think abstractly. This is a blossoming critical thinker for whom the journey from the concrete experiences in the Lower Elementary to abstract reasoning and calculation in the Upper Elementary leads to the exploration and grasp of complex mathematical and geometric concepts.
Through the manipulation of familiar and more advanced materials, students continue to move at their own pace in a step-by-step progression toward more abstract operations and relationships.
It is precisely these gifts of time and materials, along with the practical integration of Maths into the broader curriculum, that help students better appreciate the language of numbers and their functions while providing a leg up in the climb to abstraction in preparation for the next level of reasoning and calculation contained in the initial studies of Algebra.
Computers
Apps on Tablets.
Teach learners how to work with different programmes ie. Word and Excel.
Set up for Projects and Assignments.
How to do Power Point Presentations.
Sending an email.
Project presentations.
Reiterating work done in other subjects ie. Mathematics and English.
Using apps to improve problem solving and cognitive skills.
Teaching learners coding strategies.
isiZulu and Afrikaans
Learners will learn to use the language effectively in the environments.
To improve their knowledge and understanding of the language.
The aim is to achieve a level of practical communication ideal for everyday use.
Build skills from reading and word recognition to advance level comprehension.
Increase vocabulary and grammatical precision.
To expand their knowledge of the world and introduce them to new areas of interest.
Writing Skills activities.
Cultural
In the Upper Elementary students explore the advent of humans on earth and the development of human cultures.
Students extend their exploration of other life on earth through the study of biology and botany. We weave ecological concepts into both of these studies.
Important to the students’ understanding of the world around them is the study of the physical sciences. The physical sciences are integrated into our studies of history, life sciences and geography. For example, students study simple machines when we explore ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and we explore chemistry as part of our botany study and human body study. Physical geography is woven throughout the cultural curriculum as students explore how the physical world shaped human cultures.
Art
The goals of the Upper Elementary Art program are to strengthen visual awareness, aesthetic appreciation, creative expression, and imaginative thinking.
Students refine technical skills and make in-depth explorations with elements and principles of visual design. Structured lessons are designed to promote individual initiative and the development of a personal style.
Drama
What is Drama (mode of representation through dialogue and performance)
What they will learn (pronunciation, projection, social skills, gaining confidence
through performance, writing and commenting on our surroundings,
improvisational understanding, working with others through dance.)
How we will achieve this (thorough discussions and clear understanding of what is expected)
What we are hoping to attain in this Area (to create a comfortable, creative space in which they can explore their imaginative side. Overcoming the fear of speaking in front of others. Exploring and expanding their ideas)
Link to Orals (drama teaches us to find our inner courage and apply it throughout every environment. It helps them to carry over their ideas with a certain presence and confidence.)
Sports
Work on Refining sports skills, such as kicking with a follow through, throwing with a follow through, running using the correct action.
Improving cardiovascular fitness and strength.
Improving components of physical fitness such as Balance, Flexibility and Coordination.
Continue with Physical Literacy Development.
Skills particular to the varied codes ie. Soccer, cricket, softball, netball, athletics, etc.
Help learners to be happy and healthy individuals.