From birth to 3 years old
From birth to 3 years oldDuring the first three years of life, the bases of future development are established. Montessori calls this period the “spiritual embryo”, during which the child carries out in the psychological sphere what the embryo already carried out in the physical sphere. This process is achieved thanks to the “absorbent mind” of the child, which incorporates experiences, relationships, emotions, images, language, and culture, through their senses and simply by living. These life experiences shape their brain, creating neural networks that have the potential to remain on the person throughout their life. In this stage from birth to 3 years of age, Montessori education concentrates on the development of speech, coordinated movement and independence, which give children confidence and allow them to discover their own potential and their place within a community.
From 3 to 6 years old
Practical Life
These activities promote children to care for themselves, for others and for the environment in which they live. Activities include familiar tasks for children such as washing, polishing, setting the table, arranging vases, etc. Through these, and other activities, the coordination, control of movement and exploration is achieved. Children learn how to carry out a task from start to finish. They develop their will, self-discipline and the ability to concentrate and feel confident within themselves.
Language
When children come into the environment at 3 years of age they enrich their acquired language. They can use it cleverly with precision and beauty, gradually realizing its properties. They learn to write using the senses (hearing, touching…) and, as a natural result, they learn to read. As an extension of language activities, children learn about geography, history, art and music. These areas help them to know the environment that surrounds them and raise awareness about their place in the world, driving them through respect and solidarity for the whole human family and their habitat.
Sensory
A child of this age learns through their senses more than through their intellect. Sensorial materials are tools for children to refine their senses since, because each material isolates a particular quality: smell, size, weight, texture, taste, colour, etc. In this preschool age, in which children receive excessive sensorial information, these materials allow them to find order and sense in the world, they increase their capacity of perception, promote observation and sense of admiration for everything that surrounds them.
Mathematics
Montessori materials help children to learn and understand mathematical concepts by working with specific materials, which intuitively lead them towards abstract concepts. They offer them sensorial impressions of the numbers and lay the foundations for algebra and geometry.
From 6 to 12 years old
The 6 to 12 class curriculum presents a historical, evolutionary and integrated view of knowledge and human development. It includes five great lessons or fundamental lessons from which specific studies are developed in different areas. Lessons are designed to awaken imagination, curiosity and admiration for the creative and innovative capacity of the human spirit.
Great Lessons
- Coming of the universe and the Earth.
- Coming of life
- Coming of human beings
- Communication by signs
- The story of numbers
Specific Studies
- Astronomy, meteorology, chemistry, physics, geology and geography
- Biology, botany, environment, the evolution of life and zoology
- History, culture, social studies, scientific discovery and invention
- Reading, writing, linguistics, language structures and literature
- Mathematics, origin of numbers, number systems and geometry
