TODDLER
COURSE OF STUDY
The Montessori Toddler Program at Visitation is preliminary to the Montessori Department. The Toddler program offers young children, between the ages of two and three, a unique year of self development and growth in a gentle atmosphere of love, understanding and respect.
The Toddler classroom is a prepared environment offering a variety of materials with which the children are free to work. The children are allowed to explore the environment and are guided by the Directress (teacher) when necessary.
"The education of a very small child does not aim at preparing him for school but for life."
-Maria Montessori
The Montessori Toddler environment is divided into the following areas:
Religion
The children are exposed to Religion in a variety of ways in the classroom. They learn to "Live Jesus" and treat each other and their environment with respect. They say a prayer before meals and they learn to thank God for his wonderful gifts. They listen to Bible stories, sing religious songs and they visit the Chapel.
Language
The activities in the Language area help the children build their vocabulary. The activities respond to the needs of the child to give a name to everything. This is a critical sensitive period as the children are just learning to speak the language. The area includes objects and pictures for vocabulary building, categorizing, matching, classification and identification of symbols with the sandpaper letters. Auditory skills and vocabulary are developed through story time, simple rhymes and finger plays. Fine motor skills are developed through pin-pushing, stencils, metal insets, tracing sandpaper letters and drawing lines.
Math
The activities in the Math area expose the child to simple counting exercises and rote counting. As the children progress, they move to matching the quantity to the numeral. Daily discussion of the calendar is also used to develop the "mathematical mind."
Practical Life
The activities in the Practical Life area appeal to the young child’s sensitive period of order, imitation and self-awareness. These include grasping, spooning, using tongs, pouring beans and water, scooping, opening and closing, stringing beads, and care of the environment through the use of sponges and a broom and dustpan.
Sensorial
The activities in the Sensorial area help the child develop his awareness of the different characteristics and qualities of objects around him by using his senses. The area includes the knobbed cylinders, the knobless cylinders, pink tower, brown stair, color tablets and sorting exercises.
Science
The activities in the Science area expose the children to the concept of "sink and float," magnets, weather, farm and zoo animals, birds and insects.
Music
Music is used throughout the day with children. We sing when we gather at the circle and we sing to mark the end of our day.
The children also have structured music class where they experience singing of seasonal and thematic songs, rhythm and dance and musical instruments.
Physical Education
Physical Education is designed to help Toddlers develop a variety of skills. These activities focus on developing body awareness, balance, movement, creative play, rhythmic activities and other physical skills. The activities also teach the Toddlers to follow directions and to gain a better understanding of body parts.
Art
The activities in the Art area expose the children to coloring with crayons, markers and colored pencils, painting with water and paint, pasting and cutting.
Geography
The children are introduced to the world map and learn the names of the continents. They are also introduced to the concept of land, air and water.
MONTESSORI
COURSE OF STUDY
Children learn best when placed in a social environment. Educational needs are met through multi-age grouping, ages three to six. This grouping promotes peer group learning. Montessori caters to the needs of each individual child since it is known that children develop at different rates. The Montessori environment offers a variety of materials for all individual learning styles.
Religion
The children continue to "Live Jesus" in their thoughts and actions. They learn about moral values such as honesty, patience and respect. They participate in informal prayer such as praise, petitions and thanksgiving for God, family and the environment. Formal prayer is also introduced with the Sign of the Cross, the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary. The children celebrate feast days and holy days. They attend church activities such as the Celebration of Christ’s birth during the Christmas concert, Ash Wednesday and the Mary Crowning. They also enjoy Bible stories and singing religious songs.
The children also participate in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. This is a Montessori-based approach to the religious formation of children, beginning at the age of three. We seek to create and facilitate a sacred, "hands-on" space for children. In our prayer corner, both the children and the catechists can hear, ponder, and celebrate the most essential mysteries of the Christian faith as revealed in the Scriptures and the Liturgy.
Language
The young child has a natural sensitivity for language development. The Montessori Language program begins immediately and is continuously woven into each day. There is time devoted to discussion, poetry, songs and interpretation of stories. The language materials aid the development of speaking, writing and reading. Reading is presented with a phonics base, adding a sight word vocabulary and extending into a language experience program.
Math
The Montessori Math curriculum has a strong emphasis on the use of manipulatives. Many manipulatives are Montessori materials or teacher-made materials. Some of these include the golden bead materials which teach place value and many 1-10 activities. There are many presentations followed by practice, repetition and finally precision. Stress is placed on experience with order, sequence, exactness, sensorial experience, manipulation and repetition. Children are encouraged to enjoy math by working with the right tools. Faculty assist the child in developing a mathematical mind by helping him or her start with concrete ideas and progress to the more abstract concepts.
Practical Life
The Practical Life area provides the foundation for future learning. Through the use of the activities, the child develops the skills of order, concentration, coordination and independence. The activities are designed to enable the child to explore his environment through movement while gaining harmony with his brain, senses and muscles. This area gives the child direction and movement through repetition and promotes confidence to face challenges and change.
Sensorial
The Sensorial area allows the child to explore the world around her/him through the senses. These exercises help the child develop a keener eye for discrimination of contrasts and minute details. Each material isolates one defining quality such as color, weight, shape, texture, size, sound and smell. In using these exercises the child will gain a sharpened sense of perception, learn basic problem solving and have the opportunity of abstract learning.
Cultural Subjects
The Montessori classroom provides many different materials to teach the topics of geography, history and science. It is through cultural subjects that we can get a view of the cosmos, the whole world. Both scientific language and common names are used. Geography gives an introduction to the globes, maps and mapping, physical geography, cultural geography, flags and the solar system. History introduces children to the passage of time and the measurement of time. The science area is an introduction to nature study, botany, zoology and physical science. The cultural area allows the child to observe, explore and discover the world in a concrete manner.
*The Montessori program utilizes specialty teachers who teach our children in the subjects of music, physical education and French.
Music
The goal of the Montessori Music program is to give the children joyous, hands-on involvement with the many facets of music so that they can begin a lifelong love of music. Concepts such as steady beat, tone color (instrument, voice, body and environmental sounds), dynamics (loud and soft), tempo (fast and slow), rhythm (long-short), pitch (high-low) and melody (upward, downward and repeated tones) are presented through a variety of media which include speech, singing, listening, movement and playing instruments.
Physical Education
Physical Education activities focus on developing a variety of skills. These include body awareness, balance, movement, eye-foot and eye-hand coordination, muscular strength, rhythmic activities and other physical skills. These activities teach Montessori students to follow directions while gaining self-confidence and the ability to work independently or as a team.
Art
The Art environment in the Montessori classroom is teacher-prepared. The activities are designed to encourage independence. There are many opportunities for creative expression by the child. The children learn techniques such as cutting, pasting and gluing. They experiment with crayons, colored pencils, watercolors, paint and markers.
French
The Montessori French curriculum is based on oral work with songs and simple conversations. Some topics presented are animals, colors and numbers to 10. Also included are seasonal events such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter.
FULL-DAY PROGRAM
Visitation Academy offers a Full-Day Program for students who are 3 or 4 years of age.
Our Montessori Full-Day Program is designed for children that are three or four years of age. The program allows our children to remain in a safe, nurturing, stimulating and consistent environment throughout the entire day. There are two components that make up our Full-Day Program. The morning component of the program is centered around the Montessori Curriculum and Program of Study. The afternoon component consists of a more relaxed and less structured environment. The program adheres to our Montessori philosophy and is taught by certified Montessori Directresses.
Full-Day Morning Class
- Montessori Curriculum
- Physical Education
- Music
- French
- Recess
- Lunch
- Songs and Stories
Full-Day Afternoon Class
- Library Time and Sustained Silent Reading time after rest time
- Work Time
- Rest Time (1 hour)
- Art
- Outdoor Gross Motor Activities (recess)
- Songs and Stories
- Toy day (Friday only)
MONTESSORI KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM
The Montessori Kindergarten Program is an all-day program for those children in their final year of the Montessori Program. Children must attend their regular Montessori classes (either in the morning or afternoon) and Montessori Kindergarten for the other half of the day. In addition to the Montessori philosophy of teaching, a more structured component is introduced, and more lessons are presented in large group settings. Individual work periods allow the students time to develop concepts and practice skills, while progressing at their own rate. The Montessori Kindergarten Program gives the students the opportunity to expand on the materials and subjects taught in the Montessori Program. Formal texts are used only for teaching Religion and Handwriting. Montessori Kindergarten serves as a transition to the Primary Grade 1 program.
Religion
The Montessori Kindergarten student will begin a more formal study of religion. Using the I Am Special religion series, the child is introduced to the concepts that God gave us self, family, friends, the world around us, our senses and feelings. Following the church calendar, the student is exposed to various activities for All Saints Day, Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. After learning about the sacrament of Baptism, each child is given a special week during the school year to celebrate their Baptismal day. Formal prayer is introduced with the Sign of the Cross and Grace before meals.
Text: I Am Special, 5th Edition. Our Sunday Visitor Publishing.
Language
The Language program in Montessori Kindergarten focuses on the "whole language approach." Group and individual exercises are used to present beginning reading and writing. Activities include big books, picture webbing, language experiences, writing, handwriting and individual story writing.
Text: Letters and Numbers for Me. Handwriting Without Tears, 2004.
Math
The slightly more abstract mathematical concepts of time (hour and half past), money (penny, nickel, dime and quarter) and measuring (ruler, liquid and dry) are introduced. In the second half of the year, an economics program is presented. Stories from literature are used to introduce the concepts of want, need, capital goods, human capital, saving, etc. Children learn linear counting to one hundred and skip counting by twos and fives. Fractions to tenths are presented as well as the geometric names for straight-line and curved-line shapes and solids.
Practical Life
Exercises in this area continue to help students develop order, concentration, coordination and independence. The emphasis is on self care required in everyday life. The children practice tying, lacing, buckling, pinning, packing a suitcase, using paper clips and button sewing.
Sensorial
Using the traditional Montessori materials the children do expanded exercises. For example: they learn the geometric names of the various shapes made by the constructive triangles and they graph knobless cylinders. In addition, the children work with visual and auditory exercises designed as games to encourage these skills in the context of cooperative work.
Cultural Subjects
The history of life on Earth is presented with the Montessori Time Line. Vertebrate and invertebrate animals are studied and compared. Earth science also includes a study of the solar system, maps and the geography of North America. The human body (heart and senses) and health topics (nutrition, illness, prevention, safety, growth, etc.) are studied. Other units are designed around holidays and the diversity of our student population.
French
The kindergarten French program is made up of songs, greetings and simple conversations. Topics presented are animals, colors, numbers to 20 and seasonal events such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter. Other topics are weather and songs on their birthdays.
Computer Education
The curriculum begins with learning the PC desktop. Students choose from these applications: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, Power Point and Publisher), Inspiration, Kid Pix, Kidspiration, Kid Keys and Internet Explorer.
The focus is one of incorporating these applications into project-based learning in the various subjects of the academic curriculum, which gives students experience using paint and draw programs, word processing and multi-media.
All students are taught to save and retrieve their projects from their own folder on the server.
All students, closely monitored by teachers, are taught to use the Internet with a focus on safety, the value and quality of sources, and copyright issues.
Art
During the school year the girls will work on their Kindergarten Art Book. The projects that are included in the art book teach them about the elements of art - line, shape, texture, and color as well as some of the principles of art - pattern and balance. During this time the students will learn the process of creating art as well as appreciating their works of art and the work of others. Students will learn to listen to directions and apply them as they develop their own creations.
Additional Classes
The children attend special half-hour classes in computer and art on different days during the week. They also visit the library weekly to check out books to take home and to read in their classroom.
