Why should I send my child to pre-school?
Most educators and psychologists agree that the highest development of a person’s intelligence occurs between birth and age five. A child’s mind is extremely absorbent and his curiosity is at the peak during those early years. When properly nourished and stimulated the child’s mind forms patterns for learning that serve him well throughout his life. The Montessori system of preschool education has proven to be one of the most effective methods to guide the child throughout these critical years.
How is Montessori Pre-School different from other pre-schools?
In most pre-schools, the teacher teaches children educational concepts in a group. In a Montessori setting, the children learn spontaneously as they work independently with the many materials in the environment.
What is the main purpose of the Montessori Method?
The main purpose of Montessori method is to develop an environment where the child can unfold spontaneously and manifest he person within. As the child begins to develop this inner self, their love of life and learning expands continuously.
What is a Montessori classroom?
The Montessori Classroom is a child sized world. Whatever is in the world outside can be incorporated meaningfully in the classroom. To a child the world is unmanageable. It is too big. It is too big, too complex and too confusing. By careful selection of materials by the teacher, an environment is setup that allows the child to explore life at a level the can understand. Exercises are designed to stimulate independent exploration. This prepared environment entices the child to proceed at their own pace from simple activities to more complex ones. Through this process the child’s natural curiosity is satisfied and they begins to experience the joy of discovering the world around him.
What is the difference between Preschool and Pre-K?
One of the main differences between a preschool and a pre-kindergarten classroom is the age of the children and their developmental abilities. Depending on state licensing regulations and enrollment needs, the preschool age range is typically from 2 ½ to 4 ½ years old; children in a pre-kindergarten class are generally 4 or 5 years old. While each child develops at his or her own pace, in general, children in a pre-kindergarten class engage in kindergarten readiness activities involving deeper learning and more structured skill building.
Think of pre-kindergarten as an integral bridge between preschool and kindergarten. Both preschool and pre-kindergarten emphasize rich, inquiry-based experiences, but a pre-kindergarten program dives deeper into kindergarten readiness: building skills children will use in kindergarten.
How 6-7 Year Olds learn, grow and process information?
Physical and social skills:
- Listen for longer periods of time
- Work independently at her/his desk
- Listen to longer sets of directions
- Complete homework and turn it in the next day
- Stay seated for a longer period of time
- Be able to see things from another person’s point of view
- Relate experiences in greater detail and in a logical way
- Problem-solve when disagreements arise
- Experience minor difficulties with friends and working out problems with peers
- Be able to plan ahead
Academic skills you can expect:
- Read directions off the board, some children may still have difficulty with this
- Write words with letter combination patterns such as words with the silent e like make
- Read and write high-frequency words such as whereand every
- Write complete sentences with correct capitalization and punctuation
- Read aloud first-grade books with accuracy and understanding
- Count change
- Tell time to the hour and half-hour
- Quickly answer addition and subtraction facts for sums up to 20
- Complete two-digit addition and subtraction problems on paper