Primary Program
(pre-K through Kindergarten)
Enter a Primary classroom at Metropolitan Montessori School and you will see children engaged in a variety of activities. Some may be sketching leaves they collected in the park or a chrysalis they watched develop from a cocoon. Some may be preparing apple slices, or scrubbing a table, or carefully folding napkins to be used at lunch. Some may be tracing sandpaper letters as a first step to writing or studying the relationships of different geometric solids, or tone bells, or the continents. An atmosphere of tranquility and industry envelops the room.
From an early age, MMS children discover that "work" is not drudgery, but a satisfying, often joyous pursuit. Montessori work can mean practicing a skill, acquiring knowledge, creating artwork, or taking care of practical needs. With teacher guidance, the children learn to make appropriate choices for their day's work. Gradually, the work increases their powers of concentration, sharpens their attention to detail, and establishes orderly working habits.
Practical Life
A cornerstone of Montessori philosophy is multi-age classrooms. MMS is organized into three levels of three-year programs, with Primary serving ages 3 to 6; Lower Elementary, ages 6 to 9; and Upper Elementary, ages 9 to 12. Recognizing the "absorbent mind" of young children, Dr. Montessori saw that children learn naturally from their environment and each other. The sun-filled classrooms at MMS are carefully designed to be stimulating, comfortable places to learn. A vast array of activities is available. The tasks range from the simple to the complex, but they all share an important underlying purpose: to lead the children to a greater sense of competency and self-reliance.
The Montessori primary program recognizes that at a very young age, children instinctively seek to care for themselves, their homes and their natural environments. They want to feed themselves, sweep the floor, rake leaves, pour milk into their cup. What Dr. Montessori called "practical life" skills is a valuable component of the MMS Primary program. Children practice simple dressing exercises, cutting fruits and peeling vegetables. They help prepare and serve the morning snack. They plant and tend vegetables and flowers in the school's rooftop garden, water and care for the class plants and pets, and arrange fresh flowers. Through these activities, children develop coordination as well as self-reliance.
Sensorial
Sensorial materials isolate a defining quality such as color, weight, shape, texture, sound, temperature or smell, encouraging children to distinguish, organize and describe their experiences and impressions.
Mathematics
Montessori math materials enable children to understand concepts through concrete explorations. Once the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are familiar, the child is ready to work with fractions, elements of geometry and algebra, and problem solving on paper.
Language arts
A phonetic approach to reading begins with sandpaper letters to identify sounds and shapes, and to trace letters, training the muscles needed for writing. With the moveable alphabet, children construct words, phrases, sentences and stories in preparation for written expression. Children's reading comprehension is also developed by learning about story elements and how to ask questions.
Cultural activities
Music, art, foreign language and movement education are part of the integrated cultural curriculum. Children also experience the basics in geography, history and life sciences.