Montessori
Montessori Primary Environment Ages 3-6
In our Montessori primary program, we educate the whole child - spiritually, intellectually, and physically - within a carefully prepared environment that allows children to respond to their natural tendency to work.
Mixed Ages
A distinctive feature of the Montessori approach is the integration of mixed-age groups within each environment (classrooms). Environments are organized according to developmental stages: a primary environment includes ages 3 to 6; lower elementary serves ages 6 to 9; and upper elementary includes ages 9 to 12.
At St. Charles, we offer a primary environment.
The Montessori environment includes natural materials and furniture that is child-sized and supports the child’s concentration. The set-up of the environment allows children to move and work freely at tables or rugs on the floor. Children learn through “works” that are ordered to isolate skills to be learned. In the mixed-age environment, children learn to rely on and teach one another in the diverse environment. Children are taught grace and courtesy lessons to support their appropriate social development.
There are six core curriculum areas in the primary environment:
Practical Life
Sensorial
Math
Language
Art
Cultural
The Practical Life area offers children the opportunity to take care of self and the environment, exercises of grace and courtesy, and coordination of physical movement.
The Sensorial materials aid the children in learning to order and classify by touching, seeing, smelling, tasting, listening, and exploring.
The Language area teaches oral and written language, vocabulary, reading, and grammar. The written word is integrated throughout Montessori programs, coupled with sensory experiences at the foundational level of tracing letters with one’s hand, to sounding out all the letters of the alphabet.
The Mathematics area helps children to understand abstract concepts by working with concrete manipulatives.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is incorporated into our Montessori program. Students spend time in the atrium for a Montessori-based catechesis that aids the child’s encounter with God and prepares him or her for a life of full participation in the Catholic Church.
HOW DOES MONTESSORI EDUCATION FIT INTO THE CLASSICAL MODEL?
The philosophy of Montessori education is to support students in their natural development of mind, body, and soul. This development happens through independent work sessions and a natural environment that enriches the students’ love for learning.
Both Montessori and classical education foster student learning through the art of observation and becoming equipped to think critically and objectively in finding the Truth.
Finally, both Montessori and classical education are rooted in what comes naturally to children. The natural development of students in a Montessori classroom offers an excellent foundation for the natural progression of students through their years in a classical school.
The St. Charles Catholic Montessori is a 5-day a week (Monday-Friday) 8:30am - 11:30am program. An optional 3-day (T,W,TH) a week schedule is available for newly enrolled 3-year-olds.
Complete our online inquiry form and our Admissions and Enrollment office will respond to your inquiry.
Maria Montessori
Born in Italy in 1870, Dr. Maria Montessori became the first woman medical doctor in Italy. Her clinical work in medicine led her to analyze how children learn and how they build themselves from what they find in their immediate environment.
In 1906, she worked with a group of sixty children of working parents from the San Lorenzo district of Rome. There she founded her famous Casa Dei Bambini, or Children’s House. What ultimately became the Montessori method of education developed there, based upon Montessori’s scientific observations of the children’s almost effortless ability to absorb knowledge from their surroundings, as well as their tireless interest in manipulating materials. Every piece of equipment, every exercise, every method Montessori developed was based on her observation and experience with children.