Children's House Program
Between 3 and 6 years old.
Dr. María Montessori
"Scientific observation then has established that education is not what the teacher gives; education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment."
The Children's House program is an opportunity to nurture your child’s individual development within the context of a group setting. He will emerge with a set of skills – social, emotional and academic – while, more importantly, knowing how to function within a group.
Children possess a once-in-a-lifetime ability to simply absorb information and concepts from their surroundings. The Children's House environment, for children between the ages of three to six, is designed to meet the needs of your child in this crucial phase of her life. Her experience in the classroom affects not only on the amount of knowledge and skill she will have at her command, but, more importantly, her attitudes toward herself, her world, and learning.
Children are independent.
We carefully teach your child how to care for her own needs and provide opportunities to practice and improve. When she can successfully care for herself and the environment in which she lives, her demeanour becomes one of self-accomplishment and self-confidence
The learning takes place through the child’s own activity.
Our AMI Montessori guides are trained to introduce your child to many activities and concepts each day, based upon her unique development. The learning, however, is not so much taking place in the lesson, as it is through independent activity when she comes back to explore it, repeat it and perfect it.
The classroom is child-centered.
In the Children's House environment the guide is trained to observe each individual child stage of development and interests so she can plan for activities in the curriculum that are appropriate for that child. The Montessori teacher is down at your child’s level, engaged with her or a small group of children.
The curriculum is highly individualised.
The teacher is trained to recognise and respect the unique potentials operating within your child, and strives to connect him to the activity best suited to him at that moment. The art of being a Montessori teacher is in finding the activity that combines both interest and the right level challenge – not too hard and not too easy. In this classroom, your child will become engaged with an activity, increasing her ability to focus and concentrate.
Scientifically designed materials.
The materials help to develop a new skill or reveal a new concept through your child’s use and exploration. Some provide the opportunity to perfect the practical skills of caring for her own needs or for the classroom environment. Some enrich her vocabulary and open the door to writing, reading, and the parts of speech. Others build on your child’s natural interest in counting and introduce an understanding of the decimal system and the processes of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Some encourage artistic self-expression through the introduction of skills and media. Use of the materials builds a foundation of concrete experiences of abstract concepts, such as mathematics, assisting your child to a deeper level of understanding.
Self-directed activity, group activities and play.
The teacher may gather a group for songs and stories about social, biological, geographical, and historical themes of interest and your child will have a choice to participate or continue on with his activity. Indoor classroom space extends to a safe and contained outdoor environment with gardens and activities, so your child can work outdoors. We also incorporate an outdoor playground for large motor activity and play.
3 years cycle
Your child will stay in the Children's House for 3 years. Montessori is a continuum of education that allows your child to build upon his/her experiences each year. In the first year, the days will be filled with activities centred around “Practical Life”. Here, he learns to sweep the floor, bake bread, polish silver and clean the leaves of plants. He experiments with sensorial materials that educate his visual, auditory and tactile senses. He plays vocabulary sound games and sings and dances when children gather for group activities.
As the child continues, she is introduced to sounds and symbols which lay the groundwork for reading and writing in the future. She is introduced to numbers and the decimal system – with the most amazing concrete materials to show her the way. She learns about land and water forms, geometric figures, the political countries of the world; she learns about the parts of plants and animals and about music and art – at her own pace, in her own time.
It is during his third year, that everything comes to fruition for your child. Reading, writing and mathematical understanding blossom from the many seeds that were planted in the previous two years. The child leaves the program with a strong set of academic skills; but, far more importantly, with the attitude that learning is fun, exciting and boundless.
Enrolment options
Children in this environment attend 5 days a week.
| Program | Hours |
|---|---|
| Half day | 8:45 am - 1:30 pm |
| Full day | 8:45 am - 3:30 pm |
