Pre-Kindergarten Program
Within the pre-kindergarten (upper early childhood) class, children transition from a sense of parallel play, defined in the previous paragraph, to an attitude of cooperative play. During this stage of development, the child gravitates toward a desire to work along with her/his peers. The child has moved from a sense of working alone, among a group of children, to working along with the group. The pre-kindergarten classroom allows these concepts to develop naturally through the role modeling of the teachers as well as the integration of age levels and interests.
In this environment, the children explore these Montessori materials in a more advanced manner. In mathematics, concepts of 1-10 progress into addition and subtraction with the golden bead material which are used for counting.
The sensorial area concentrates more on geometry that eventually ties in with concepts in math. Language and reading materials guide the child toward recognition of the alphabet both by letter as well as phonetically. Upon mastery of these tasks, pre-reading and reading skills are integrated with the use of small primer books designed at allowing the child to begin putting together in book form, what she/he has experienced visually. Writing extensions are integrated here to strengthen the interest in reading. D’Nealian Style Manuscript handwriting is incorporated in all areas of the classroom, both in pre-writing or tracing activities, along with actual experience stories. The children move through writing of lower case letters first, and follow with the UPPER CASE LETTERS.
The practical life area of the classroom enables the child to extend her/his concentration and coordination of independence into a stronger sense of order for the future. The cultural subjects in pre-kindergarten explore the areas of zoology, botany, geography, history, art and music. Within each area, specific units of study are presented. Physical education is also explored within a group process indoors as well as out.
The child in the preprimary or early childhood program is provided an opportunity to learn with other children using the Montessori materials. Trained Montessori teachers direct and supervise the children’s use of these materials. The children gain experience in work-concentration habits and socialization skills within the indoor and outdoor classroom environments. The experiences that the child gains allow her/him to progress naturally toward the next plateau of development.
The daily schedule consists of work time with the materials; outdoor play and classroom time; and a group structured time during which children experience sharing, songs, stories, and demonstration of the materials’ use(s). Children may be enrolled for four or five days per week. Under special circumstances, a child may be enrolled for three days per week. During any of these programs, we provide breakfast, morning and afternoon snacks, lunch, as well as an optional nap for those children remaining through the regular program or extended portion of the day. Optional services: [CCR, Title 22, §101218 (a)]
As your young child matures, (s)he transitions from a sense of parallel play, defined in the previous paragraph, to an attitude of cooperative play. During this stage of development, the child gravitates toward a desire to work with her/his peers. The child has moved from a sense of working alone among a group of children to working along with the group. The Montessori Preschool Program allows these concepts to develop naturally through the teachers’ role modeling as well as the integration of the children’s age levels and interests. In this environment, the children explore Montessori materials in a more advanced manner.
