The teachers observe each child's inclinations and typical areas of focus, and encourage them to develop in those directions, so that they grow according to the best in their own being. By close observation, the teachers try to understand the child’s needs, strengths and limitations. The children are not scolded, but discipline is lovingly encouraged.

The child becomes conscious of his/her body through organized physical activities: games, yoga, and dance are used to develop coordination of movement. Special importance is given to training of the senses, and the child is guided to take his first steps in creativity by interesting him in drawing and handwork.

All the children are taught to be brave and fearless. They are encouraged to tell the truth at all times.

In the preschool program, thematic learning forms the core curriculum, with some Montessori instruction as well, with an emphasis on practical life, sensorial development (see below) and social development. Throughout the year there is a progression in complexity of materials offered, and the precision and refinement of skills and performance expected of the child increases as he matures. We introduce the children to a wide variety of information during the year through our weekly themes. Our themes are as varied as: outer space, pond life, dinosaurs, flowers, the 5 senses, weather, farm life, etc. Additionally, we have two letters of the week, number of the week, colors of the week, shape of the week, and community worker of the week. We offer some form of creative movement, dance or yoga daily. And we introduce a new continent every eight weeks to the children as well. During each continent’s period, we introduce countries, their languages, customs, food, dress, etc.

Areas of Integral/Montessori Preschool Curriculum

Practical Life

Purpose: To help the child develop coordination, concentration, a sense of personal independence, and a sense of order.

Children are first drawn to the Practical Life area because these materials are most familiar to them. The exercises of Practical Life have objects normally encountered in everyday living experiences such as cleaning, pouring, dressing, and polishing. These exercises fall into four main categories: Care of Self; Care of Environment; Grace and Courtesy; and Control of Movement. Many are fundamental exercises that the child needs to master to be able to live and participate in the real adult world.

Sensorial Development

Purpose: To help the child learn to observe carefully, to make comparisons between objects, to form judgments and to reason and decide.

The Sensorial area consists of materials that educate and refine the child's senses. The child learns to recognize similarities and differences, and to discriminate between, and grade, similar objects. These materials help to organize sensory impressions. These skills form the foundation of mastery of tasks involving Math and Languages at the Kindergarten level.

Language

Purpose: To prepare the child for writing and reading.

The Language materials provide a step-by-step progression of activities to develop the necessary skills for speaking, writing, and reading. The hand is strengthened through the use of the Practical Life exercises and the knobbed materials in all areas. Through the use of activities that reinforce precise skills of visual perception, the child learns to observe slight differences of size and shape, which prepares her to discriminate between letter shapes. The child learns the phonetic sounds of lower case letters.

Math

Purpose: To help the child develop concepts of numeration, place value, fractions, and the basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Montessori principles hold that a child's mind is mathematical and based on the order and perceptual awareness found in the development of the senses. The acquisition of mathematical principles is seen as developing logically from concrete to abstract, and from simple to complex. The child that has mastered the basic concepts involved with Practical Life and Sensorial materials progresses naturally to the Math Materials.