curriculum

Maria Montessori was one of the first educators to recognize the power of teaching in creating peaceful, empathetic, and caring citizens of the world. As she once wrote, “If peace and salvation are to come, it will be from the children, for the children are the makers of men.” She believed that if children are exposed to the wonders, diversity,

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In the science curriculum, children continue to build their understanding of the components which make up our planet Earth. They learn about the elements of our Earth and build understanding through first classification, then nomenclature, and later research on the infinite components of our planet. Such studies are often child directed and may include: botany, zoology, anatomy, physics, and astronomy.

In the cultural curriculum, children begin by learning that all of humanity lives on planet Earth. Through visual and tactile exploration of the Montessori globes, the children see and feel the differences between land and water. Later, children learn about the continents that make up our Earth, and soon after, the individual countries that make up each continent.

The Montessori Math materials are sensorially interesting, beautiful, and engaging. Through concrete explorations, children first begin to discover relationships between size and number.

The Montessori language curriculum is broad and robust. Beginning with oral language, children in Montessori classrooms are exposed to songs, poems, riddles, and games that not only help to build their vocabulary and awareness of sounds in speech, but also ignite within them a passion for words, stories, reading, and writing. Following experiences with oral and visual work, children in Montessori classrooms begin to learn that words can be broken into smaller parts, and that these smaller parts are called sounds.

Dr. Montessori writes in the Absorbent Mind, “The senses, being the explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge”; meaning that learning occurs naturally for children through the exploration of their senses.

The practical life exercises are likely one of the most essential aspects of Montessori classrooms. This area of the classroom provides hands on experiences for children to learn the skills they need to be independent in their everyday lives.

The art program is an integral part of the Philly Montessori classroom. As such…