Our Montessori Curriculum

montessori materials and the uninterrupted work cycle

A hallmark of Montessori education is its hands-on approach to learning. Students work with specially designed materials, manipulating and investigating until they master the lesson inside. Beautifully crafted and inviting to  touch, Montessori’s distinctive learning materials are displayed on open, easily accessible shelves. They are arranged (left to right, as we read in Western languages) in order of their sequence in the curriculum, from the simplest to the most complex. Each material teaches a single skill or concept at a time—for example, the various “dressing frames” help toddlers learn to button, zip, and tie. And, built into many of the materials is a mechanism (“control of error”) for providing the student with some way of assessing her progress and correcting her mistakes, independent of the teacher. The concrete materials provide passages to abstraction, and introduce concepts that become increasingly complex. As students progress, the teacher replaces some materials with others, ensuring that the level of challenge continues to meets their needs.

Another unique feature of the Montessori approach us the Uninterrupted Work Cycle. The purpose of long, uninterrupted blocks of work time is to allow students to freely select work, eventually becoming absorbed in work that has a particular fascination for them at this point in their development. Interruptions disturb the development of the child's focus, concentration, and opportunity to deeply delve into work. During this uninterrupted work time, teachers also have the opportunity to present lessons to the children, ensuring that lessons are given and work is explored in all areas of the classroom.

The Little Village Montessori School observes strict guidelines for the uninterrupted work cycle. Please note that the work cycle begins when the majority of children have arrived. We provide large blocks of unscheduled time to ensure that individual children have the time to settle into a task that interests them and are not unnecessarily interrupted when they are engaged in a worthwhile activity. During the work period, teachers observe the behaviors of the children and invite individuals and small groups to short lessons when they see opportunities to assist a child’s progress. Optimally, the majority of each morning and afternoon is devoted to self-motivated work. This time may include individual- or self-chosen small group activities and short lessons by the teacher for children who have accepted an invitation to the lesson.

The uninterrupted work period does not include whole-class lessons or other activities such as adult-led group circle meetings for which participation of all children is required. Outdoor play time, specials, and enrichment classes for the whole group should not interrupt and are not included in the work period.

order and harmony in the learning environment

Order, Harmony and Choice are the defining elements in the design and flow of the Montessori classroom. Each material and activity has designated space, and materials are highly organized, therefore there is minimal clutter. Natural materials, lighting and tones characterize the space. There are spaces suited to group activity, and areas where a student can settle in alone. Parts of the room are open and spacious, allowing a preschooler to lay out strands of beads for counting, or an elementary student to ponder a 10-foot-long Timeline of Life. You won’t find traditional rows of school desks; instead, children work at tables or on the floor, rolling out mats on which to work and define their work space. You are also unlikely to find walls papered with brightly colored images of cartoons and syndicated characters. Rather, you might see posters from a local museum, or framed photographs or paintings created by the students themselves. There are well-defined spaces for each part of the curriculum, such as Language Arts, Math, and Culture. Each of these areas features shelves or display tables with a variety of inviting materials from which students can choose. Many classrooms, including ours have an area devoted to peace and reflection: a quiet corner or table with well-chosen items—a vase of daisies; a goldfish bowl—to lead a child to meditative thought. And always there are places to curl up with books, where a student can read or be read to. Our library is a designated space for reading and relaxation.

The Montessori environment is uniquely suited to the needs of the students. Preschool rooms feature low sinks, chairs, and tables; a reading corner with a small comfy chairs ; reachable shelves; and child-sized kitchen tools and serving ware—elements that allow independence and help develop small motor skills. Above all, each learning space is warm, well-organized, and inviting, with couches, rugs, and flowers to help children feel calm and at home.

Culture, Creativity & Community

Practical life

Characteristics of Practical Life 

Children are naturally interested in activities they have witnessed. Therefore, Dr. Montessori began using what she called “Practical Life Exercises” to allow the child to do activities of daily life and therefore adapt and orientate himself in his society. 

It is therefore the Directress’s task to demonstrate the correct way of doing these Exercises in a way that allows the child to fully observe the movements. Montessori says, “If talking don’t move, if moving don’t talk”. 

The directress must also keep in mind that the goal is to show the actions so that the child can go off and repeat the activity in his own successful way. Montessori says, “Our task is to show how the action is done and at the same time destroy the possibility of imitation”. The child must develop his own way of doing these activities so that the movements become real and not synthetic. 

During the child’s sensitive period between birth and 6, the child is constructing the inner building blocks of his person. It is therefore important for the child to participate in activities to prepare him for his environment, that allow him to grow independently and use his motor skills, as well as allow the child to analyze difficulties he may have in the exercise and problem solve successfully.

Montessori also saw the child’s need for order, repetition, and succession in movements. Practical Life Exercises also helps to aid the child to develop his coordination in movement, his balance and his gracefulness in his environment as well as his need to develop the power of being silent.

Characteristics of Practical Life 

Because Practical Life Exercises are meant to resemble everyday activities, it is important that all materials be familiar, real, breakable, and functional. The materials must also be related to the child’s time and culture. In order to allow the child to fully finish the exercise and to therefore finish the full cycle of the activity, the material must be complete. 

In the environment, the Directress may want to color code the materials as well as arrange the materials based on difficulties in order to facilitate the classification and arrangements of the work by the children. 

The attractiveness is also of utmost importance as Montessori believed that the child must be offered what is most beautiful and pleasing to the eye so as to help the child enter into a “more refined and subtle world”.

education for peace, Grace and Courtesy

"Averting war is the work of politicians; establishing peace is the work of education."

Dr. Montessori recognized children as the redeeming factor in the evolution of humankind. In order to bring about a world of peace and tolerance, where war is an absurdity, it is important to focus and teach peace early.  Dr. Montessori said “…we must gather together all the elements of the world and organize them into a science of peace.” The essentials for peace education are inherent in every level of the Montessori curriculum.

Children in the preschool classroom study Continents and Peoples of the World which provide a global view of life and humanity's part in it. Montessori believed education was the most powerful and universal way through which to reconstruct society; a way to transition from war to peace. Therefore, it is necessary to think of education as peace, not education for peace. While the curriculum teaches about peace, it cannot by itself result in peace. The Montessori environment is intended to promote the development of peaceful individuals. We cannot create this peaceful environment if we ourselves are interacting negatively or competitively with others. Children easily pick up on hypocrisy around them. If we teach and value peace in our classroom, we must strive for peace in our lives, in our home, and in our workplace. We are the models of peace. We are teaching and nourishing the peace keepers of the future.

Lessons in Grace and Courtesy are a cornerstone in the Montessori methodology. Indeed, these lessons can be expanded to include courtesy to those outside our immediate community in the form of community service. There is a natural need in every human being to find one’s place in the universe by finding fulfillment both inside and outside oneself. Montessori believed that it is the duty of every person to work toward and be part of something great which not only serves individual interests but those of all humanity. To understand this great relationship, children must be nurtured in the ways of grace, courtesy and service in order for it to flourish and grow throughout their lives. 

Within every young child is the need for order. The initial lessons of Grace and Courtesy center on building the Montessori classroom community, and are often presented in the context of the Montessori Practical Life curriculum. They answer the child’s questions of how they fit into and participate in their environment. Using clear language and modeling, the Montessori teacher presents these lessons to provide structure so the child can know her place, not only in the Montessori environment, but in the world at large.

art, music, movement

Art, music and movement education are  important parts of our curriculum. They offer children ways to express themselves, their feelings, experiences and ideas. These activities  help children develop control of their fine and gross-motor movement. Dr. Montessori believed in that children should be given the opportunity to express themselves freely. She was fully aware, however, that they can often  get frustrated by the fine motor skills they need for such things as gluing and cutting, using playdough ect. She therefore developed many indirect .exercises that help children develop these necessary .skills. .Our Montessori .classroom is full of opportunities to experiment with creative materials. Children are invited to express their individuality through painting, singing, playing instruments, dancing or performing. 

community, Sustainability, and nourishment

The Montessori approach can be done with any task, and involves breaking the task down into a series of manageable steps. Children at the Little Village Montessori enjoy healthy, communal meals, which provide rich opportunities for lessons in practical life and grace and courtesy. Children bring a packed lunch that they arrange on their plates. Snacks and supplemental components to each meal is served family style. Snacks are served in the classrooms when children complete their work cycles. At lunchtime, our dining room is transformed and students play an integral role in the set-up and clean-up rituals, gaining ownership over their meals. Children share in the tasks of food preparation, table setting and arrangement,  learning how to work cooperatively in creating elaborate arrangements and rearrangements of the plates and silverware. Children use authentic tableware: real porcelain plates, glass cups,  metal silverware and cloth napkins. Montessori students also practice pouring exercises in a progression of different pitchers until 2 and 3 year olds are able to pour on their own and serve themselves snack. Even young children can learn to treat breakable objects with respect. With some guidance and careful observation, children learn to gauge the weight of glass cups and learn how to properly put them down on the table. When we empower young children to handle real materials carefully, we create a foundation of care and responsibility that will last a lifetime. Spills are a normal part of the school day – when they occur, children learn to wipe them up. Children are expected to learn to serve food and pour for themselves in a Montessori classroom. A guide to colorful and nutritious lunches is available for parents upon request. 

Sustainability is a goal that is infused throughout our program. We minimize waste, recycle, and compost for our garden. 

Our Little Village organic garden is an important part of our mealtime program. In partnership with the UNG Georgia Appalachian Studies Center, we grow local heirloom seeds, harvesting their yield and saving some seeds for the UNG seed bank. The gardening curriculum also supplements the daily snack and provides sustainable, nutritious experiences for our children.