The Curragh Montessori School
A short overview of the Montessori curriculum
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Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952) distinguished herself, not only as the first woman doctor in Italy, but also as a dedicated scientist and educator, working first with special needs and underprivileged, then normal children. The foundation of her approach is respect for the child. She believed strongly that learning does not have to be forced upon children, and based her teaching methods on a fundamental principle – the child must first understand before he/she can learn and remember. Children learn through actions (working with the materials) rather than simply receiving instructions. Each child is given as much time as they need to work with and understand the material. Each exercise has an inbuilt control of error and so the child can self-correct.
Montessori education aims to encourage the child to develop to his own potential and tries to inculcate a love of learning for its own sake. The Montessori “Graduate” ideally will have acquired the skill of learning to learn, will have strong self-identity, will be independent and capable of working on his/her own, and will seek out work and take great satisfaction in overcoming obstacles that are within his reach. Learning to concentrate is one of the key aims in the Montessori class, and this skill, once learned, will benefit the child throughout the remainder of his school days.
Montessori Materials
The Montessori materials are each designed to allow the child to learn one concept at a time, such as colour, size, shape, sound. Each apparatus has a control of error built into the material so that the child can discover the error himself rather than have it pointed out by another.
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Practical Life
Young children find immense satisfaction in simple everyday tasks and learning skills that help them on the road to independence. The Practical Life exercises assist the child in acquiring self-help skills, encourage them to care for themselves and their environment and teach them the importance of courtesy and listening to each other.
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Sensorial
The sensorial exercises give the child practice in working with all five senses and encourage exploration of concepts such as shape, size and dimension. Many of the exercises form the basis for later Mathematics work.
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Mathematics
Working with the mathematics materials gives the child the opportunity to work out the answers through use of actual objects. The child moves from concrete to abstract; sums can be worked out through counting beads, etc. The Montessori approach to mathematics allows children to first understand and so to remember various mathematical concepts.
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Language
After initial work in building language skills and vocabulary, children are taught the sounds of the alphabet phonetically. In this way, children are enabled to begin to read independently as they can break down the component sounds and put them back together to make the word. Early writing skills are also practiced.
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Cultural and Environmental Studies
The geography, biology and history materials give the child a chance to explore the wonders of our world, the people and animals who inhabit it, the customs, traditions, cuisine and music to be found in it and where our place is in it all.
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A Short Overview of the Aistear Curriculum
Aistear is the National Curriculum Framework in Ireland for children aged from birth to 6 years. It establishes principles and themes that all early childhood services in Ireland work towards.The aim of Aistear is to help every child to grow and develop as a competent and confident learner. Ultimately, according to Aistear, early childhood care and education must support a child’s sense of: Well-being, Identity and Belonging, Communicating, Exploring and Thinking. These are the 4 main goals of Aistear and it proposes that they are achieved through the contexts of play and supported by caring, learning relationships with adults and peers. In this way Aistear makes very strong links between care and education in the early years and firmly establishes the child’s right to a safe, stimulating, nurturing and play-based environment.The Education JourneyAistear is the Irish word for journey. As the name implies, education is a lifelong journey that can take many different routes. As such, the framework does not prescribe any one type of curriculum, but instead it establishes the shared principles and themes which must underpin whatever curriculum practitioners and teachers choose to use, which in our school’s case is the Montessori Curriculum.Therefore, at The Curragh Montessori School whilst our curriculum is based on Montessori methods and practices, we have, however, also broadened our curriculum to include an enhanced play-based educational environment specifically prepared with the purpose and meaning of stimulating and educating each child through enjoyable and interesting activities.
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Finally
The Curragh Montessori School is here to support the parents, not to take over their role. Communication is the key to a good relationship between staff and parents, as well as staff and children. We carry out Parent /Teacher meetings in the school at the end of October to discuss how the child has settled in to preschool life and to give the parent an idea about what the child is doing every day. The staff, however, are always available to discuss any misgivings you may have. Parents are encouraged to talk freely and openly with the staff, or to make an appointment to come in to discuss any issues at any time. When your child is attending the school ensuring his/her well-being is a joint venture and there should be a mutual feeling of trust between parents and staff.