Gallatin Montessori School Curriculum Overview

Gallatin Montessori School provides an environment based on Maria Montessori’s research and philosophy of early child development and focuses on the four major conquests of a 3 to 6 year old child: Concentration, Coordination, Order and Independence.  The 5 main curriculum areas are as follows:

Practical Life: Lessons in this area support students’ development in learning self-care, carrying out tasks unaided, cleaning up messes, building the skills necessary for increasingly complex multi-step processes, eye tracking for reading, and dexterity for writing.  The repetitive and meditative nature of the activities in this area proves time and time again to be not only appealing but also immensely satisfying for the young child.

Sensorial: This area of the classroom helps children develop a stronger understanding of the world around them through “education of the senses” by isolating aspects of it to thus avoid confusion.  Color, texture, size, length, width, sound, smell, shape, temperature, weight are all experienced separately within each lesson to promote clear categorization in the mind.

Math: Montessori math materials focus on concrete experience rather than abstraction of concepts.  Three-dimensional representations of algebraic equations and a color-coding system build the foundation for lifelong fascination, enjoyment and confidence in all things numeric and quantitative.

Language: Using the senses first and foremost, language is experienced through interaction with materials that engage the absorbent mind.  Phonemic awareness is built by learning letter sounds rather than their names (this promotes ease with phonetic reading later), then moving into objects that match initial sounds, followed by pictures.  Once the foundation of letter sounds is strong, the child can then move into inventive spelling, writing (which occurs before reading for most) and then reading.  This sequence creates confidence and an understanding of the structure of language that leads to future success in academic endeavors.

Cosmic Education: This curriculum area engages the mind in a greater understanding of the world and promotes global citizenship.  Geography, Botany, Biology, Oceanography, Geology, Weather/Climate, World Cultural Studies, and Peace Education are all included here.  Topics can be revisited repeatedly throughout the three-year cycle to provide a unique experience that grows along with the individual child.