The Materials
Montessori elements are designed to feed the natural curiosity of children and to help them grow in their love of learning.
PRACTICAL LIFE
Children need and want to engage in purposeful activity, imitating the adults around them. To facilitate this, practical life materials allow children to immerse themselves in tasks which include pouring, scrubbing, folding, using tweezers, tongs and eyedroppers, scooping, polishing, and managing buttons, buckles, laces, zippers, hooks and eyes, and snaps. Through a particular sequence of actions, from set-up to clean-up, children learn to pay attention to detail and to employ good work habits. This also helps develop their coordination and increase their concentration span.
SENSORIAL
Sensorial materials are designed to engage children’s powers of observation. By manipulating a specific assortment of objects, children’s senses are sharpened. The objects (i.e., color tablets, sound cylinders, baric tablets, etc.) employ contrasts in color, sound, weight, smell, texture, size, and shape. Each set of items isolates one defining quality, requiring the children to distinguish and categorize the information. This develops the ability to understand what they perceive and to apply new understanding to already-obtained information… the beginning of conscious knowledge.
ACADEMIC
During these critical years of development, children’s desire to become competent and capable is characterized by spontaneous interest in the things around them. Children have an instinctive tendency to touch and investigate items, which is served by the hands-on nature of the Montessori classroom. Because abstract concepts are easier to grasp when introduced in ways that can be manipulated, Montessori materials are utilized in all areas of learning. This allows children to absorb, apply and retain principles which provide them with foundations for future learning. Listed here are some examples of tools used and the learning that occurs:
- Writing – Metal Insets and Sandpaper Letters develop intellectual knowledge of letters as well as the muscular ability to write.
- Reading - Moveable Alphabet and Nomenclature Cards connect the written and spoken word.
- Mathemetics - Spindle Boxes and the Thousand Chain facilitate enthusiasm for learning mathematical operations
- Grammar–Command cards and Parts of Speech materials promote proper sentence structure and use of nouns, verbs and adjectives.
- Geography – Puzzle Maps and Land/Water Formations introduce children to the natural features of countries, continents and the Earth.
- Botany – Leaf Cards and Botany Puzzles demonstrate the characteristics of a wide variety of plants, flowers and vegetables.
- History - Time lines are used to illustrate the progression of history, which children can apply to themselves and to world events.
In addition, exercises in the Silence Game and Line Skills teach children to manage their own voices and bodies.
