Little Mia Nursery | Montessori Method

Prepared Classroom Environment
At Little MIA, we have also adopted the Montessori method; One of the classrooms that the children visit during their scheduled rotation is the Montessori class whereby children work in a “prepared classroom environment”. It is equipped with materials that first teach through the senses and later lead to reading, writing, advanced mathematics, problem solving, geography, science, and cultural studies.

The five key areas of learning in the Montessori environment include:

Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics, and Culture.

Five Key Areas

- Practical Life
  Practical life includes life skills to help develop independence, coordination, concentration, self-control, self-awareness, confidence and include:
  
  Care of Self
  
  (food preparation, dressing, washing)
  
  Care of Environment
  
  (cleaning, gardening, care of pets, environmentalism)
  
  Grace and Courtesy
  
  (greetings, manners, social interactions)
  
  Control of Movement
  
  (refining movements, walking the line, moving quietly)
- Sensorial
  Sensorial activities allows the child to refine each of their senses:
  
  Sight (visual)
  
  Touch (tactile)
  
  Smell (olfactory)
  
  Taste (gustatory)
  
  Sound (auditory)

- Language
  Language is based on phonetic awareness. Children work through specific hands-on and tactile language materials such as the sandpaper letters and the moveable alphabet. Language is not an isolated topic but runs through the curriculum. The spoken language is the foundation for writing and then reading.
- Mathematics
  Mathematics is developed with the use of concrete learning materials. The sensorial area is the preparation for mathematics. Hands-on materials are used such as number rods, sandpaper numbers, number boards, and spindle box. Each exercise builds upon another and the child gradually moves from concrete to abstract areas.

- Culture
  Culture allows the child to explore the natural world around them and includes:
  
  Geography
  
  (continents, landforms, earth layers, solar system)
  
  Zoology
  
  (classification, physiology of animals)
  
  Botany
  
  (ecology, classification, physiology of plants)
  
  History
  
  (time lines, using a calendar)
  
  Science