Although the Montessori curriculum fulfills Anchorage School Districts standards, it is not the curriculum taught in traditional and optional schools. It is carefully integrated so that the child’s work in one area supports work in other areas. The following examples show the sequential nature of activities in a Montessori classroom; this pattern is applied to all areas of learning.

 

Practical Life

Work in this area helps children learn to become independent, helps children learn to concentrate, and teaches children the work cycle.

a) Care of Self Examples: Kindergarten: washing hands; Primary: nail care; Intermediate: first aid

b) Care of Environment (classroom) Examples: Kindergarten: sweeping, polishing; Primary: care of seedlings and plants; Intermediate: rotation of classroom tasks

c) Grace and Courtesy Examples: Kindergarten: greeting a visitor; Primary: parents’ tea parties; Intermediate: mediation skills

Sensorial Materials

These materials isolate the senses so that the child can refine his/her perception and awareness of the world around him/her.

Sensorial Material Examples: Kindergarten: smelling bottles, fabric box; Primary: geometry solids/constructive triangles; Intermediate: continued use of early math and geometry sensorial materials, as well as materials for area and volume and algebraic concepts.

Language

The language materials proceed from concrete to abstract, from simple to complex. Reading and writing are taught simultaneously, using sandpaper letters. Three senses are employed: the child sees, hears, and feels the letters. Written grammar is taught concurrently with reading and writing. The materials are color coded so that the child absorbs the rules sensorially before being taught them formally. Reading is taught phonetically.

Language Examples: Kindergarten: sandpaper letters, materials which strengthen the hand for writing; Primary: journal, grammar materials, sentence analysis construction; Intermediate: grammar materials, charts, texts

Mathematics

The math materials also proceed from concrete to abstract, from simple to complex. The child manipulates concrete (and wonderful) objects before doing the operation with paper and pencil. The materials are based on the metric/decimal system: 10 blocks in the pink tower, 10 colored cylinders, 10 red rods. The dimensions of all the materials are in metric measurement. The materials are color coded throughout the curriculum(red for units, blue for tens, green for hundreds, etc.)

Mathematics Examples: Kindergarten: red and blue rods; Primary: stamp game, bead frames; Intermediate: checkerboard, test tubes, trinomial cube, square root board

Science

The science materials lead a child to learn from personal experience in addition to teaching scientific classification and nomenclature

a. Botany(Plants are grown in the classroom.) Examples: Kindergarten: names of leaf shapes; Primary: plant life cycle; Intermediate: independent research, experiments

b. Zoology Examples: Kindergarten: animal care; Primary: classification of animals; Intermediate: evolution and characteristics of different phyla

c. Physical Science. Experiments the children do themselves are at hand.

Geography

There is a strong emphasis on world geography.

Geography Examples: Kindergarten: land forms; Primary: puzzle maps, primary pin maps; Intermediate: pin maps of the world, geography cards, research

History

Time lines are used extensively to give the child a linear sense of the development of history and time. They give the child a sense of order.

Music

The bells set is used for sound discrimination, matching tones and sequencing (the scale). Music classes are also taught by a school district music teacher.

Art

All art is open-ended. Only the techniques are taught. Art materials (clay, colored pencils) are always available. A school district art teacher also offers structured lessons.

A detailed description of the primary curriculum at Denali is available in the school library. The kindergarten and intermediate curriculum documents will be forthcoming.

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