THE MONTESSORI MATERIALS

The Montessori materials cover the development activities designed to meet the needs of the child in five curriculum areas:-

Practical Life Skills

The activities develop concentration and co-ordination of movement. It includes exercises such as pouring, spooning, threading, sorting, cutting, dressing frames (buttons, buckles, hooks & eyes, bows), opening and closing (bottles, padlocks, boxes). Apart from teaching the basic skills needed for everyday life, they also promote independence, introduce the child to mathematical concepts (such as volume) and encourage the child to correct their own mistakes.

Sensorial Apparatus

Our sensorial materials help children to develop their five senses. Some of these are: The Pink Tower; Cylinder Blocks; Colour Tablets; Sound Boxes; Smell Jars; Touch Fabrics and Geometric Cabinet. The sensorial materials provide concrete experiences.

Mathematics

Dr. Montessori carefully designed the maths materials to give the child a sound understanding of numbers and their relationship. An idea is always introduced in a simple and sensorial way so the child can see, hold and feel a number or a concept. Gradually the child is led to a more abstract understanding. The mats material includes number rods, sandpaper numbers, seguin boards and golden beads.

Language

Language materials take the child step by step through all stages of language development; including oral expression, writing and reading. Sand paper letters are used to teach the sounds of the alphabet to the child. When the child knows all the sounds a phonetic reading scheme is used which is graded in difficulty; the pink series (three letter words), the blue series (longer words) and the green series (phonograms such as ‘sh’ or ‘ch’).

Cultural Subjects

Cultural Materials introduce the child to geography (using globes, puzzle maps etc..), nature studies (life-cycle games, matching cards), art and music.