Kindergarten is the harvest year for all the planting and intellectual tending that has gone on during the preceding years in preschool. The kindergarten child’s learning explodes into an avalanche of reading and writing and math. All of the earlier preparation (practical life, sensorial) now finds academic outlets. The kindergarten child not only gains a wider breadth of knowledge but a deeper understanding of what he or she has learned and now is able to use this knowledge to enhance his or her own intellectual pursuits.
A Typical Daily Schedule*
|
8:30 - 11:30 am
11:30 am -12:00 pm 12:00 - 12:30 pm 12:30 - 1:00 pm 1:00 - 1:30 pm 1:30 - 2:30 pm 2:30 - 3:00 pm 3:00 - 3:30 pm |
Regular classes
Outdoor play (or indoor gross motor play if bad weather) Lunch Quiet time Group time (lessons and presentations) Directed work, then free choice Group story, review of lesson, transition to goodbye Outdoor play (indoor if bad weather) |
* Subject to change based on the needs and interests of the children.
Curriculum
Math
The spiral moves from the concrete to the abstract by laying a solid sound foundation in mathematics and geometry. Using Montessori material the students are introduced to the basic math concepts of associating quantities to numerals, working with addition, multiplication, and subtraction using the decimal system.
Language Arts and Written Communication
Montessori's interrelated spiral plane will enable the students to participate in a language rich environment to enhance oral skills. Descriptive vocabulary will be introduced to the students through history, social science, geography, science and literature. With the use of phonetics, the student will master the basic skills of reading and gradually attain higher reading levels. They will be able to communicate ideas through pictures and writing. The student will be introduced to simple and compound sentences and learn to analyze sentences (distinguish noun, verbs, and adverbs.) BMS students are also taught reflective thinking and basic writing skills.
Social Science
As history is interrelated to geography, our intention is to study history with a global perspective -- to study other cultures as well as American cultures. Parental involvement is encouraged to acquaint other cultures to the students. For geography, the students will work with specially designed maps and be able to name the world's continents and countries. They will also be able to distinguish the difference between rivers, lakes, deserts, islands, archipelagos, gulfs and straits.
Science
Science lessons enhance a hands-on approach to investigate and learn topics concerning the world, the solar system, and the sea world. The students are introduced to hands-on experience for understanding the life cycle of insects and the life cycle of plants. Such experiences allow children to question and research the interdependence of nature and living things.
Music/Yoga
Students participate in singing, dancing and creative movement.
Arts & Crafts
As part of the interrelated spiral plane, arts and crafts are incorporated into the program through the curriculum. We appreciate expressing individualism through drawing and believe in the art of children.
Physical Education
To develop fine motor and gross motor skills, the students will be encouraged to participate in school programs such as dancing, organized physical play, walking on a line, walking on a balance beam and rigorous free play on the expansive play grounds.
Math
The spiral moves from the concrete to the abstract by laying a solid sound foundation in mathematics and geometry. Using Montessori material the students are introduced to the basic math concepts of associating quantities to numerals, working with addition, multiplication, and subtraction using the decimal system.
Language Arts and Written Communication
Montessori's interrelated spiral plane will enable the students to participate in a language rich environment to enhance oral skills. Descriptive vocabulary will be introduced to the students through history, social science, geography, science and literature. With the use of phonetics, the student will master the basic skills of reading and gradually attain higher reading levels. They will be able to communicate ideas through pictures and writing. The student will be introduced to simple and compound sentences and learn to analyze sentences (distinguish noun, verbs, and adverbs.) BMS students are also taught reflective thinking and basic writing skills.
Social Science
As history is interrelated to geography, our intention is to study history with a global perspective -- to study other cultures as well as American cultures. Parental involvement is encouraged to acquaint other cultures to the students. For geography, the students will work with specially designed maps and be able to name the world's continents and countries. They will also be able to distinguish the difference between rivers, lakes, deserts, islands, archipelagos, gulfs and straits.
Science
Science lessons enhance a hands-on approach to investigate and learn topics concerning the world, the solar system, and the sea world. The students are introduced to hands-on experience for understanding the life cycle of insects and the life cycle of plants. Such experiences allow children to question and research the interdependence of nature and living things.
Music/Yoga
Students participate in singing, dancing and creative movement.
Arts & Crafts
As part of the interrelated spiral plane, arts and crafts are incorporated into the program through the curriculum. We appreciate expressing individualism through drawing and believe in the art of children.
Physical Education
To develop fine motor and gross motor skills, the students will be encouraged to participate in school programs such as dancing, organized physical play, walking on a line, walking on a balance beam and rigorous free play on the expansive play grounds.
More about the curriculum
Kindergarten is a time when skills that have been developing over previous years start to solidify. Kindergarten is particularly important: an explosion into new and challenging work takes place.
Our Montessori classrooms offer many opportunities for children to expand their knowledge during the years when they are naturally motivated. The focus of our Kindergarten curriculum and projects revolve around language, math, biology, botany, geography, physical sciences, history, Spanish (reading/writing) and yoga.
Children mature at very different rates and their periods of readiness vary a great deal. The five year old can gain an early understanding of many difficult concepts which are the usual stumbling blocks in grade school. Long before he is faced with abstract terms (unit, fraction, etc), he explores them in simple concrete materials. For example, he can build a peninsula, put pictures on a timeline, act out verbs, "carry one" in addition, change ten units into one ten, add fractional quarters to make one-half, etc. The use of individual concrete materials accommodates many levels of ability.
Our kindergarten program uses the “Spiral of Montessori Curriculum” approach to teach students in all academic areas. Everything is interrelated in an inclined spiral plane; one lesson leads to many others. Math leads to Science and Language, and Language leads to History and Geography. Dr. Montessori found that at every age level, students learn in different ways at different rates and learn much more effectively from direct hands-on experience. All lessons are presented individually, through hands-on activities in a sequence from the concrete to the abstract.
Kindergarten is a time when skills that have been developing over previous years start to solidify. Kindergarten is particularly important: an explosion into new and challenging work takes place.
Our Montessori classrooms offer many opportunities for children to expand their knowledge during the years when they are naturally motivated. The focus of our Kindergarten curriculum and projects revolve around language, math, biology, botany, geography, physical sciences, history, Spanish (reading/writing) and yoga.
Children mature at very different rates and their periods of readiness vary a great deal. The five year old can gain an early understanding of many difficult concepts which are the usual stumbling blocks in grade school. Long before he is faced with abstract terms (unit, fraction, etc), he explores them in simple concrete materials. For example, he can build a peninsula, put pictures on a timeline, act out verbs, "carry one" in addition, change ten units into one ten, add fractional quarters to make one-half, etc. The use of individual concrete materials accommodates many levels of ability.
Our kindergarten program uses the “Spiral of Montessori Curriculum” approach to teach students in all academic areas. Everything is interrelated in an inclined spiral plane; one lesson leads to many others. Math leads to Science and Language, and Language leads to History and Geography. Dr. Montessori found that at every age level, students learn in different ways at different rates and learn much more effectively from direct hands-on experience. All lessons are presented individually, through hands-on activities in a sequence from the concrete to the abstract.
