Fun, Friendship, Learning
At Montessori 3-6 we have created a culture where children teach and learn from each other.
Here the children are playing a game called "What's missing?". They are learning the names of each of the 3D objects that are part of the geometry materials in our Sensorial curriculum. Parents are often astounded when they hear their children naming cylinder, cube, pyramid, cone, sphere, ovoid and ellipsoid.
Children are inspired to learn through the Montessori materials
and empowered to teach their friends and other children who need or want help. This allows them to contribute to their community.
Developing Concentration
Children at Montessori 3-6 gather briefly each morning for karakia and waiata in English, Te Reo & Spanish followed by Montessori three hour work cycles between 9 to 12 and again after lunch from 1 to 4.pm. They have complete indoor/outdoor flow
and can choose to use any of the activities they have been shown. Research shows that by not interrupting children you allow their concentration to develop. Children take a mat to define their workspace. They have the freedom to work by themselves, in pairs or with a group of friends.
Our children love to repeat activities and teach others. When they have finished children learn to return their activity to the shelf ready for another child to choose/use. They learn they have the right to choose activities
and the responsibility to respect them and put them back in the right place. Contact us for more information
Sequential Montessori Materials
At Montessori 3-6 our environment is filled with opportunities for children to develop their oral language. We play "I Spy" games
with objects to help children associate initial sounds with things they know. Then we introduce the sandpaper letters to teach the formation of letters and the sounds
they can make. Once children know half of the sounds of the alphabet we introduce our large moveable alphabet and pink work which is 3 letter phonetic words (pictured above). Ask us to show you the blue and green work (phonograms) that follows when you visit. This work lays the foundation for spelling, writing and reading. When children have mastered the correct pencil grip they are offered writing books inside and outside and are free to write as often as they wish. News is at before lunch each day and at 5pm as opportunities for children to develop their oral language skills and self confidence talking to and participating in a group.
Nature in Action
Some of our children spend the majority of their time outdoors. There are a multitude of opportunities provided.
They love gardening, growing their own spring flowers from bulbs and in September their own sunflowers from seed, observing our swan plants and the life cycle of monarch butterflies, making their name with their own unique box of sandpaper letters, finding bugs, playing in the autumn leaves, kicking the rugby ball, feeding our food scraps to the worms in our worm farm, climbing and swinging from trees, playing tag, riding the bikes, tractor and scooters, playing cricket and tball, choosing from the shelves, painting, swinging on the wobbly bridge, reading at the rainbow table, balancing on the triangle of logs and making volcanoes in the sandpit...