Lambs and Shepherds Montessori

Two of the basic foundations of the Montessori method are reality and truth. The child must rely on these to truly understand and function in the world in which he/she lives everyday. So I believe that reality and truth are best taught through our Creator and all of His amazing creations. What better way to capture a child's attention but by presenting them with these lessons about our world that can be integrated into all of the areas of the Montessori classroom and home again. They encounter each of these creations everywhere they go day and night. By gaining a better understanding about the world they live in and their creator, children at a young age begin to understand what their purpose is and how very important they really are.

In Addition to the other lessons in the Montessori classroom these creation themes are lessons that I have been teaching for many years and have found that the children interalize them easily and carry the information with them for years and years. I teach the lessons to all the children in a group setting as we sit together for our daily line time. I have based these lessons around the 6 days of creation. We follow the days in order, presenting lessons once or twice a week until the concepts are presented for that category, then the next one is introduced, one building on another The order that God created the world was intentional, each one dependant upon the previous one to survive. That idea is also presented and discussed as we go along.

Each lesson may be a little different from year to year. Either expanding on the lesson from last year or introducing a totally diffent aspect about that subject this year. So when we talk about light or water or land, there may be attributes about those we didn't cover the year before like magnitism, refraction, reflection, volcanoes, land forms, habitats, weather etc.

Each theme is about 4 to 6 weeks on one subject. Concepts are introduced using visual, auditory or tactile demonstratons when possible. Exercises pertaining to a concept are then placed on the shelf to further incorporate the theme as a hands on independent learning experience for the child. Fun question games are played on the last day to reinforce concepts taught earlier in the week or month. This way I can see what was internalized.

These are the general themes that are taught based on the days of creation.

Darkness and Light
Water
Land and Green Growing Things
Lights that rule the day and night
All the creatures that Fly
All the creatures that Swim
Creatures that walk on many Legs: animals, and insects
Creatures that walk on two legs: people

What is a Montessori Preschool?

* Maria Montessori's own clinical observations led her to analyze how children learn, how children build themselves from what they find in their environment.

* Children under the age of six have extraordinary powers of the mind. They have a universal, once in a life-time ability to absorb knowledge from their surroundings just by living. Because of the absorbent mind, pre-school children do not need direct teaching in order to learn.

* The Montessori environment therefore allows them to move, touch, manipulate and explore a variety of materials. It gives them freedom to choose their own work independently, based on their own initiative.

* Because of their constant interactions, the children learn to take responsibility for themselves and for each other. They also learn to get along with children of different ages and abilities, to respect each other’s work and work space, and to treat each other with courtesy. They learn to excuse themselves, to greet each other, and to phrase requests politely. They also take an active role in maintaining their classroom by, among other things, putting material away in their proper place, ready for the next child to use.

* In short, the classroom becomes a thriving community where children are treated with respect and dignity and want to treat others with the same respect and dignity.