LITTLE STAR MONTESSORI
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CURRICULUM
At Little Star Montessori, we follow an enriched, varied, and unique curriculum and adjust it to the needs of the child.
Each child is carefully observed to gauge the level of development and is then led to appropriate learning materials. Once a child masters a skill, he/she is introduced to more challenging ones. Thus a progression of learning is taking place, and each child is working at their own pace.
The essence of this unique approach lies in its beauty, simplicity and flexibility. Each child works at his/her own pace and level, and are challenged and absorbed by our rich, stimulating environment.
Our Montessori classroom is arranged with special working centres and each centre is explained below.
| Practical Life | Language | Biology |
| Sensorial | Art | Crafts |
| Math | Geography | Music |
Practical Life:
The Practical Life activities are the first activities a child is introduced to in the Montessori environment. This is because they can immediately begin to satisfy the young child’s inner desire for skills and self-sufficiency. They are activities a child sees being carried out daily at home (e.g. dressing oneself, cleaning the home and greeting people). Through working with Practical Life materials a child gains independence and develops fine motor skills.
Sensorial:
The Sensorial activities helps the child to sort out the many and varied impressions given to the senses. The activities are scientifically designed and begin with simple tasks they progressively move towards materials that require more skill.
Language:
In the first two years of life, the young child sees, hears, and experiences many things without thinking about them in a rational way. All these myriad impressions are stored up waiting to be identified and understood. Our Language activities help the child to define and organize these impressions and become aware of the sounds in our language. They quickly begin to pick out the first phonetic sound in a word, relate that sound to a letter symbol, and thus a child begins to gradually read and write phonetically. This process is done through a series of lively and fun games where a child suddenly finds that he/she can sound out an entire word. This exciting discovery further encourage them into many series of advancing games and activities that refine their reading and writing skills.
Mathematics:
Our primary task is to help children realize that a quantity is associated with a number. We then introduce the symbol. These concepts are introduced through small group activities and individual games that a child enjoys. The children are also introduced to the four operations in math: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The repetition of little individual or group games related to these various math concepts adds excitement and fun to learning.
Geography:
It is exciting and fascinating for a child to learn about the world, which we live. At Little Star Montessori the children enjoy playing and learning from “puzzle maps” of the world, Canada, and other continents. We also introduce the continents one at a time and present a detailed picture of its location, culture, customs and people. The interest and enthusiasm of the children makes this aspect of our classroom learning very lively, engaging and interesting. Land and water forms as well as the Solar System form part of our studies. The children have access to globes, maps, and books to find exciting examples. Visitors are often invited to give presentations.
Science:
When introduced through experiments, themes, and hands-on projects, science is fascinating to children. Themes are presented based on different topics, e.g. Under the Sea, Volcanoes, Dinosaurs, Plants, etc. Circle time activities and Arts and Crafts projects based around these themes add interest to learning science.
French & Spanish:
Children absorb another language and learn very it quickly. At Little Star Montessori, both French and Spanish are introduced each week at Circle Time in the form of flash cards, objects, games, activities and songs & rhymes. The children delight in learning new sounds and thus acquire the basis of learning a new language.
Music:
At Little Star Montessori, music is an important part of our program. A qualified and experienced music teacher comes every week to introduce music concepts, sounds and techniques. We have a wide variety of instruments for the children to play with and try out. We have a portable organ and CD player to enhance our music experience further. The children love playing the instruments joining in sing-a-long sessions at Circle Time and listening to music at school.
Arts & Crafts:
The children are able to use a wide variety of Arts & Crafts materials in our arts centre. Guided creative crafts as well as spontaneous art activities are available at all times. Other mediums include Play-doh, clay, fancy scissors, glue, paper, crayons, felt pens, coloured pencils, construction paper, felt cloth and household items suitable to use as crafts, for e.g. paper rolls, buttons, etc. Sewing is also an enjoyable activity we encourage.
Enriched Play Material:
We have a variety of blocks, puzzles, games, learning computers, and learning games available to add variety, interest and enjoyment. Physical exercise such as dancing, and jumping are fun when done to music in group time activities.
Field Trips:
The children really enjoy going on outings with their peers at the pre-school. Field trips include going to the fire hall, the pumpkin patch, Save-On-Foods, library, and others. Parent Volunteers help to drive and supervise along with the teachers. Advance notice is given via our newsletter of details about the upcoming trips.
Program and Curriculum Benefits at Little Star Montessori
With our enriched curriculum and vast variety of materials available along with our trained, experienced and nurturing staff, the children derive tremendous benefit from our unique program. The foundation laid in the early years of a child’s life last for a lifetime and pave the way for a high standard of learning and achievement.
Our annual events include:
Summer Concert (summer graduation ceremony)
Winter Concert and celebrations
Halloween celebration
Thanksgiving celebration
Christmas (winter celebrations)
Hanukkah (winter celebrations)
Diwali (winter celebrations)
Valentine’s
Easter
Mother’s Day Tea
Father’s Day Tea
Sports Day
Open House
Parent Workshop nights
Parent-Teacher Interviews