Lodestar Montessori Preschool

One of the first areas the child is introduced to is the Practical Life area. The Practical Life activities act as a link between the child’s home environment and the prepared Montessori environment. They are the exercises the child sees performed in the home environment even before the child comes to the Montessori environment. These exercises that care for ourselves, for others and for our environment make up the Practical Life exercises. The exercises reflect the culture that the child is in; so that by working with these materials, the child will be able to adapt to the local environment.

Our senses help us to understand our world; they act as “scouts” and are the pathways to intelligence. Senses gather information, but the brain processes and analyses the information as it is connected to every sense. Education of the senses is educating each sense to be aware of the smallest stimuli, thus increasing the sensitivity of each sense. The Sensorial activities allow the child to discriminate small differential stimuli and gives the child means by which he or she can order the mind. With refinement of the senses, the child learns to appreciate the world and this deepens the understanding of it.

When the child comes to the Montessori environment, the child already has the foundation of language. The Montessori guide helps the child to be aware of the sounds that make up the word. When the child becomes familiar with the symbols and sounds the letters represent, the child realises that thoughts can be expressed into symbols and transmitted to others. The child progresses from forming and reading phonetic words, to double phonogram words, to sight words, to simple phrases, and finally, to simple sentences. The Montessori approach is to help the child achieve reading, comprehension and appreciation of language.

Mandarin is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and the second most widely spoken language in Singapore after English. The child is introduced to Mandarin through simple songs, stories and conversation. As the child begins to understand Mandarin, the child is introduced to writing, reading and comprehension of Chinese characters. Through learning Mandarin, the child learns about Chinese traditional festivals and customs, culture, art and stories.

Culture in the Montessori environment is a broad heading that includes Geography, Botany and Zoology within it. It is usually placed together with the Sensorial materials in the Sensorial area. The child is introduced to the world he/she lives in through the Culture materials which give the child the nomenclature of the different types of animals, their parts and the continent they can usually be found in. The continents and the countries within them are also presented to the child.

Play, especially free play, is often overlooked in childhood but it is an important aspect of childhood where the child learns about his/her world through play. During play, the child learns social interaction with the other children as well as fine and gross motor skills in the games that they play. The children enjoy free play daily; outdoors when the weather is good, and indoors on rainy days.